Speech by UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Vladanka Andreeva at the Youth Climate Conference

Your Excellencies,

Dear partners and friends,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to start by thanking the ADA university, British Embassy and IDEA  for organizing this important Youth Climate Conference.

The world is home to 1.8 billion young people aged between 10 and 24 — the largest youth cohort in history.

The need to include youth voices is more pressing than ever before.

It is their futures that are most threatened by accelerating global warming. And young people are increasingly demanding action towards a more just, equitable, and climate-resilient society.

Two weeks ago, when the world celebrated Earth Day, the urgent message was that our Earth needs healing.

Science tells us that the next ten years are the final chance for humankind to avert climate catastrophe, reverse the effects of pollution and end the currently exponential loss of species.

Major challenges lie ahead.

We will need to replant and protect our forests. We will need to clean our rivers, seas and oceans. And we will need to green our cities.

Each and every one of us has a role to play. Above all, we are counting on young people to drive these changes.

The new generation has increasingly strong social and environmental awareness, together with the energy and knowledge to lead our societies towards a low carbon future.

During COP26, young leaders came together in Glasgow with negotiators and ministers from across the world, demanding the action needed to prevent catastrophic climate change in our lifetimes.

Young people have also been actively engaged at local and national levels in raising awareness, running educational programmes, conserving our nature, promoting renewable energy and adopting environmentally friendly practices.

I am very glad to see how strong this movement is in Azerbaijan.

Every day I see more evidence of the youth in this country striving to persuade their elders to help do what is best for the environment.

I see this in classroom projects to raise awareness of the need to protect biodiversity, for example, and in young people’s engagement in community projects to plant trees and other nature conservation projects.

And I hope to see these inspiring waves of social mobilization grow stronger, with young people using their skills as agents of change, entrepreneurs and innovators to influence their parents, classmates, teachers, neighbours and governments to do more and to do better.

The United Nations family has been working to do more and do better in Azerbaijan for thirty years now – especially in our support of the country’s efforts to tackle climate change and preserve its valuable biodiversity.

Over these decades, UNDP has been working closely with the Government of Azerbaijan and national partners to support the development and adoption of prudent policies on climate change adaptation and mitigation, including measures to increase energy efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions, and build resilience to extreme weather events.

Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization has also been working together with the Government to support sustainable agriculture and strengthen food security.

Looking to the future, a hopeful prospect is that investing in a new green economy will help create a vast number and range of job opportunities for young people, including in renewable energy, innovative technologies, recycling and waste management.

These opportunities can help to ensure sustained employment for young people and at the same time address our shared environmental concerns.

As important as these changes may be, however, we believe the best way to do more for young people is to involve youth by giving them a seat at the decision-making table.

As torchbearers for the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, today’s youth are our best hope for a better tomorrow.

Achieving these ambitious goals and implementing national climate strategies will simply not be possible without meaningful youth participation.

Young people must be involved in every single step– from design to implementation and monitoring – to ensure the process incorporates their views and protects future generations.

The UN family in Azerbaijan will continue working together with the government, civil society and young people to promote green initiatives and climate action.

We strongly believe that young people have a unique stake in this dialogue on climate change and we hope you will continue to make your voices heard in the most inspiring ways.

Thank you.