Youth’s Role in Climate Crisis and Disaster Recovery

Youth's Role in Climate Crisis and Disaster Recovery

The “Global Youth Leaders Side Meeting of United Nations Climate Conference COP28”, jointly hosted by the Peaceland Foundation and Global Youth Philanthropy, will be held in Dubai on December 6th

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 6, 2023 – Today, Peaceland Foundation, holding the consultative status of the United Nations, and Global Youth Philanthropy, dedicated to nurturing global youth philanthropic leaders, jointly hosted the Global Youth Leaders Side Meeting with the theme of Youth’s Role in Climate Crisis and Disaster Recovery during the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP28). Young leaders from various countries participated in this side meeting, sharing their experiences in academic research exploration or innovative philanthropic practices in the field of climate change. Additionally, about a dozen young leaders from China, the United States, Canada, and other countries issued a joint youth action initiative and launched the “Youth Environmental Art Global United Exhibition.” They urged more young people to creatively showcase their concern for the impacts and challenges of climate change through artistic expression and actively participate in global climate change decision-making and actions.

Youth’s Role in Climate Crisis and Disaster Recovery – “Global Youth Leaders Side Meeting of United Nations Climate Conference COP28”

The side meeting occurred at the China Pavilion in the Blue Zone of the COP28 conference on December 6, 2023, from 1:00 to 2:45 pm. Over a hundred youth representatives from China, the United States, Canada, and other countries participated online and offline in this side meeting.

 

Professor Zhang Qiang, Director of the United Nations Development Programme and China Risk Governance Innovation Project Laboratory attended the youth side meeting and delivered a speech on “Cultivating Future Dual-Carbon Talents, Actively Responding to Climate Crisis.”

 

 

Former Deputy Director of China Meteorological Administration and President of the China Meteorological Services Association Mr. Xu Xiaofeng also made a speech. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Sherry Yuanyan Xie, the Founder of Global Youth Philanthropy, made a keynote speech on “Tackling the Climate Crisis: Global Youth in Action”.

 

 

About a dozen global young leaders individually delivered speeches at the side meeting. Dominick Franklin Lombard from Harvard University, USA, spoke on “Youth Along the Coast.”  Anushka Rawat from Stanford University addressed “Combat climate change using technology and legislation.” Chen Xin from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), presented “Navigating Towards Carbon Neutrality: Fostering Collective Wisdom for a Sustainable Tomorrow.” Peter Ma, from San Francisco, USA, discussed “Redefining ESG: A Youth’s Vision for Climate-Aligned Investments.” Anfeng Xie from Concord, USA, talked about “Big or Small, Action is Paramount.” Alice Hu from Toronto, Canada, focused on “The Impact of Plastic Packaging on the Environment and Countermeasures.” Hao Shen, representing Shanghai, China, discussed “Going Green Isn’t Just a Game.” Hanxuan Wang from Renmin University High School in China presented “The Impact of Climate Change for Food Production.” Silu Zhang, a representative of China Youth Climate Action Network, spoke on “Discovering Climate Change on Field with Youth.” Xuanting Wei from the Youth Arctic Pioneer presented on “Young Polar Pioneers.”

The youth representatives gathered together, engaging in discussions on how, as new stewards of the Earth, they can actively contribute to addressing the formidable challenges our world confronts. They discussed ideas and solutions to mitigate and recover from the adverse effects of climate change and disasters while sharing their valuable insights and experiences.

Youth Action Initiative

The ‘Youth Dialogue’ session was hosted by Robin Jialiang Wang, a youth representative from Beijing Aidi School. The youth representative, Hannah Yixuan He, from Beijing No. 11 School, issued the youth action initiative. Youth representatives including Summer Sun, a representative from Harvard University and a director of Global Youth Philanthropy, Ahilan Eraniyan, a representative from Duke University in the United States, Ryan Li, a representative from Canada, and Mayiyan Ma, a representative from China, actively responded online and offline to the initiative. Concurrently, they launched the “Art for Earth Youth Environmental Art Global United Exhibition”. They called for more young leaders to engage actively in global climate change decision-making and planning processes. Additionally, they urged support for the United Nations in accelerating global efforts to address the climate crisis.

At the COP28 Global Youth Leaders Side Meeting, the exemplary artworks from the “Art for Earth Environmental Art Intercity Exhibition” were showcased through images and videos. These representative artworks were selected from hundreds of youth environmental art pieces exhibited in various countries which were developed through professional artistic techniques including oil paintings, watercolor paintings, ink paintings, artistic installations and photography. They creatively express the concerns of young people about the impacts and challenges of climate change, as well as their determination to actively participate in actions addressing climate change.

Previously, with Global Youth Philanthropy’s support and guidance, young people from 9 cities in China, the United States and Canada collaboratively rolled out the initiative of “Art for Earth Environmental Art Intercity Exhibitions”. The initiative was dedicated to combining ecological discussions, artistic creation, cross-city exhibitions, and harnessing the collective power of youth and international organizations to provide creative solutions for multiple environmental crises. Starting in September this year, this exciting exhibition has successfully been held in cities including Beijing and Qingdao in China, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, and New York in the United States. It will continue to unfold in cities, including Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen in China, and San Francisco in the United States over the next two months.

To embrace the grand opening of COP28 and showcase the commitment and actions carried by global youth confronting climate change, Global Youth Philanthropy and Peaceland Foundation have been hosting a series of global initiatives since August, including “Art for Earth Environmental Art Intercity Exhibition”, “Climate Change Academic Research Coaching Camp,” and “Climate Action Philanthropic Innovative Project Incubation”. These initiatives aim to select outstanding young leaders, innovative climate action plans, and exemplary environmental artworks for the COP28 Youth Leaders Side Meeting. These initiatives have garnered widespread attention and participation from young people worldwide, fostering and encouraging more young people to engage in climate action to address the global challenges of climate change.

 

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