Platforming youth voices in planetary health leadership and advocacy: an untapped reservoir for changemaking

Although there was an effort to include diverse voices at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), many youths’ pleas for ambitious climate action were not met in the updated commitments, highlighting the reality that time at the podium does not necessarily influence the key policy and finance decisions that shape our climate-dependent future.

Many of today’s youth are already experiencing the worst impacts of our destabilizing climate. Over half of the world’s youth population live in countries that are deemed extremely high risk for climate disasters,¹ and the mental health of countless more young people has been impacted by climate instability.²

Given the considerable stake and tenacity that young people have in addressing climate change, it is essential to platform their voices in high-level decision-making.

Youth activists, such as Greta Thunberg, have mobilized and demanded accelerated climate action from their leaders. Other young people have passionately taken to policy, technology, the arts, and advocacy as their tools for action. Vinisha Umashankar, the 15-year-old Indian student and entrepreneur who invented a solar-powered ironing cart to replace the charcoal-powered versions that are commonplace in India, addressed world leaders at COP26, saying, “we [the youth] will lead if you don’t”.

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