Youth Statement Rio+10

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UNEP GLOBAL YOUTH FORUM 2002 YOUTH DECLARATION We, youth, as the future of the world, have gathered many times to join efforts and identify issues before and after the Rio Summit. We have achieved victories at the local level, demonstrating that sustainable development is an achievable goal. We have written documents such as the Borgholm ‘Resolution for Change’ and the Dakar Youth Empowerment Strategy that should guide decision makers as they provide fundamental understanding of our priorities. We the participants of the UNEP Global Youth Forum 2002 from all six regions of the world - Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia & Pacific, North America, Europe, Africa, and West Asia recognize efforts made at the Rio Summit to address sustainable development. However, we are highly frustrated at the continued lack of commitment and political will to implement its outcomes. As outlined in Chapter 25 of Agenda 21 and Principle 21 of the Rio Declaration, increased meaningful participation of youth and children at all levels of decision-making processes is required. Specifically, governments must recognize their obligations to include democratically elected youth delegates in all international, national, regional, and local meetings. Furthermore, it is necessary to form national and local youth councils in every country and provide adequate funding for their activities. We are scared about the fate of the Earth. Governments can no longer compromise the imperative need to implement sustainable development. The WSSD offers the world a critical opportunity to reinvigorate action by governments, the United Nations and civil society groups in the quest for sustainable development. We therefore make the following resolutions: We affirm that prerequisites exist to achieve sustainable development: achieving peace, democracy, transparency in governments, the eradication of corruption, the elimination of discrimination in all forms, and the stabilization of the human population. We continue to stress that sustainable development is an effective alternative to militarization in ensuring peace. Poverty! Recognizing the growing gap between rich and poor, we demand the immediate cancellation of the external debt of developing countries. We also demand the acknowledgment of the ecological and social debt of industrial countries. Developing nations and economies in transition must be financially enabled to invest in employment, health, social dialogue and conservation to achieve sustainable development. We demand the implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration on poverty reduction with the target of 2005 in Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, Asia and Eastern Europe. We commit to network, to contribute to poverty alleviation projects in our communities and to increase public awareness and participation. We call for empowerment of people through local regulations, which will encourage the development of self-reliant sustainable communities. The unsustainable activities by


corporations damage the environment and violate human rights; hence they cannot lead to sustainable development. Recognizing that humans and nature are more important than the profits of trans-national corporations, we demand that international trade agreements are re-evaluated based on sustainability and when necessary are cancelled if they do not meet the set criteria. We insist that governments guarantee all youth and children have the opportunity to pursue education. We are upset with the minimal implementation of Chapter 36 of Agenda 21. We demand access to information and empowerment through capacity building, with an emphasis on formal and informal education to promote an overall awareness on sustainable development. We call for substantial funds to be allocated to support young researchers and scientists. All countries must consume sustainably. Today, inappropriate and excessive consumption in developed nations occurs at the expense of developing nations who themselves have the potential for excessive consumption in the future. We have a joint responsibility to ensure that this current and future consumption is sustainable. Youth have a powerful influence on the economy and as such are a crucial part in achieving a just and sustainable one. This must include fair trade, life cycle product management, and climate justice through renewable energy. We further encourage governments and industries to adopt cleaner production technologies, minimize production of toxics and greenhouse gases and put limits on corporate advertising pollution in public spaces. Water is scarce in many parts of the world. The world’s fresh water resources are not adequate to meet the increasing water demands resulting from growing population. These demands are further aggravated by climate change and the results of war and conflict. We insist on the prompt enactment and ratification of international treaties and the strengthening of international environmental laws to protect fresh water supplies. We recognise the right of refugees to safely return to their homeland. We also demand the recognition of the inherent right of indigenous and native people to self-determination and their right to use resources. We commit ourselves to and demand government action in combating HIV /AIDS by advocating women’s empowerment, ethics, safer sex, comprehensive sexual health education, availability of sterile needles and free drug treatment. We further demand integrated practical policies to be financed to stabilize the pandemic by 2005 and reduce the spread by 2010. We as youth have been and will continue to make sustainable development commitments a reality. We call for an ethical framework for sustainable development in accordance with regional priorities that builds upon past documents and declarations. We commit ourselves to speaking out and we demand the implementation of our solutions for sustainable development. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) must yield real plans for action and cannot follow a long line of empty promises and missed opportunities. Signatures are not enough! We need concrete action! Adopted 29.03.02


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UNEP Global Youth Forum 2002 25-30 March 2002 Denmark

Youth Action Plans Dedicated to Sustainable Development: Small Steps in A Long Journey Education 1. Ensure that all actions youth take to implement sustainable development education, is based on environmental justice. Youth will work to ensure that all youth have equal and fair access to a healthy environment, equal enforcement, and a movement to protect marginalized and indigenous communities from environmental hazards. 2. Support “For youth by youth� education programs that will educate and advise community, activists, leaders and businesses about youth perspective. 3. Work with school board to establish networking, promote knowledge sharing, organization of events and creation of sustainable development relevant educational materials. 4. Use the Earth Charter as an education tool and lobby our governments to adopt and endorse the document as a sustainable development framework. 5. Spread information on sustainable development training. 6. Organize high profile events such as global sustainable development day. 7. Organize scientific information centres or databases. 8. Make public information easier and understandable for youth. 9. Use already existing environmental education materials and share them with youth colleges. 10. Inform media, government and other youth organizations at home about existing youth participation and youth events related to sustainable development. 11. Contribute to the local Agenda 21 process in your home community. 12. Promote the establishment of free universities, where youth can teach others about sustainable development and other issues. 13. Integrate sustainable development into existing environmental education programs and environmental campaigns. 14. Partner with labor unions to set up a job training program in clean energy to produce a fossil free economy and stop global warming.

UNEP Global Youth Forum 2002 Youth Action Plans: Small Steps in A Long Journey

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15. Use famous people and public figures respected by youth to incorporate consumption awareness in outreach. 16. Support a “Sustainable Schools” initiative to encourage integrated sustainable initiatives.

Poverty 1. Raise awareness of environmental issues and capacity building to encourage sustainable lifestyles, including sustainable production and consumption, family planning and no discrimination of any form. 2. Create incentives and opportunities for self-sustaining poverty alleviation initiatives 3. Partner with other stakeholders to guarantee the government’s transparency, law enforcement and implementation. 4. Create job opportunities for young people through education, training, internships, and employment centres. 5. Promote youth-based income generating activities, including traditional occupations. 6. Call on governments to implement the polluter-pay-principle as an incentive for environmental sustainability. 7. Form functional youth networks between developed and developing nations, especially between young professionals, to facilitate technology and knowledge transfer and to encourage entrepreneurship acumen in developing nations.

Consumption 1. Promote annual international youth “buy sustainably” and/or “buy nothing” day to promote consumer awareness starting after Johannesburg this year. Partnerships must be formed with consumers organisations, youth organisations, fair trade NGOs, universities, schools, chambers of commerce. 2. Partner with local authorities in the whole world to establish by 2002 and maintain “media-free” zones in public parks, and in schools and universities replacing billboards and advertisements with artwork created by youth and children. This campaign should be launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. 3. Promote consumption reduction campaigns by youth and for everyone, such as “The BET” campaign for youth to partner with governments in reducing greenhouse gas consumption to reduce pollution and consumption and make consumption more sustainable.

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4. Launch an international youth campaign before 2003 to require that product labelling include environmental and social impacts by 2005 5. Launch an international environmental campaign by 2007 to require an independent national institution to label in a transparent way products on environmental and social impacts 6. Partner youth with all peoples, particularly NGOs and indigenous people and women to raise awareness and promote the purchase of fair trade products by 2005. 7. Launch by 2006 community youth campaigns to collect labels of sustainable products, including non-sweatshop produced goods, bought by youth and show them to local stores to emphasize youth buying power. 8. Demonstrate youth purchasing power by launching community youth campaigns to collect labels of sweatshop produced products to write the producers of these products to encourage the immediate cessation of sweatshop labour-produced items. Partner with local authorities. 9. Establish partnerships with scholar management to apply cleaner technologies and do green purchasing by 2005 by partnering with universities and producers. 10. Set up national youth projects to lobby the government to improve national and international tax systems by 2006 which reflect the limits of our environment to provide us with resources as well as to serve us a sink for pollutants. 11. Press governments to phase-out unsustainable subsidies by 2005 for energy, fuel, resource exploitation, agricultural products. 12. Lobby through green groups to change the educational institutions policies on sustainable practises. 13. Make ‘consumption happenings’ in grade schools, showing the pupils and staff how to save energy, how much they consume and how much they can consume to live more sustainably.

Conflicts, War and effects on the development and environment Youth Actions 1. Local level/NGOs: Help refugees and people affected by the war a. Collect donations and medical aids b. Voluntary Social work (Schools, Medical centres, Building houses, reports as observers) c. Declare the year 2003 to be the year of Voluntary to work for refugees. 2. International/National Youth Action Day Calling for peace and stopping the war. Examples: Marches, TV cooperation, petitions.

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3. Create and support International Youth Programmes calling for peace, stopping the war and help the refugees. Examples: Euro-Med projects. 4. Call international community to provide a sustainable life style for refugees until they gain their rights. 5. Link youth groups regionally and internationally to promote understanding, support one another and achieve goals. 6. Lobby for restriction distribution and trade of weapons to conflicted regions. 7. Lobby on governments to reduce any investment in military and conflict structures.

HIV/AIDS 1. Build capacity, particularly for young women, and increase awareness of all HIV/AIDS issues to help reduce the spread of the disease and to cope with the disease 2. Demand free access to preventative measures 3. Lobby for national policies to take into consideration the rights and needs of all those infected and affected, including issues such as mother to child infections, voluntary testing, and easy access to anti-retroviral drugs by targeting pharmaceutical enterprises. 4. Call for the accelerated commitment to the Global HIV Fund in order to begin a global program of action before the end of 2003. 5. Lobby for more intensive research of HIV/AIDS , and support and be involved in the process.

Water Management 1. Create awareness campaigns: a. Schools b. Competitions c. Media Campaigns and advertising d. Lobby for legislations focusing on consumption and protecting water resources 2. Promote World Water Day 3. Commit to practising water-preserving individual initiatives. 4. Include global warming education in water management campaigns.

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5. Build capacity to involve women in integrated water resources management, particularly through empowerment and awareness campaigns at all levels of the society. 6. Create community based water management. 7. Create programs educating schools and voluntary steam watch test water contamination. 8. Lobby and campaign for more efficient agricultural practises and clean technology transfer. 9. Implement separate bills for payment of water where applicable. 10. Collect and use rain water for practical uses such as washing. 11. Take part and lead water resource investigation and protection programs involving communities similar to those run be "streamwatch" around the world. 12. Participate in and promote world water day in their communities, to raise awareness on the lack of water in the world and to fundraise to support water supply projects in the developing world.

Youth empowerment: coordination, strengthening and institutionalization 1. Establish partnerships with other multi-stakeholders to mobilize and encourage meaningful participation in the decision-making process at the local, national and international levels. 2. Promote the creation of a legal framework that promotes the well-being and development of youth. 3. Create a General Plan toward Rio+10 and beyond 4. Hold regional and international meeting to follow up and evaluate outcomes of the process of Rio+10 5. Establish permanent communication (bulletin, email) and other kinds of alternative communication. 6. Liaise and empower the national environmental youth networks. 7. Coordinate and implement actions and projects of the regional youth network with the support of international organizations including UNEP. 8. Exchange of best practices among countries about sustainable development in order to increase awareness. 9. Transfer and exchange of clean technology.

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Go back to: Main Menu Mechanisms for action 1. Youth Activity at WSSD. Currently, youth are planning to have a large presence on the ground before and during the WSSD. These plans include: a. Funnel youth participation during the WSSD through an organisation based in South Africa. b. Create and continue partnerships with the eight other major groups, through dialogue. c. Create and/or further develop partnerships with clear commitments that include a financial plan of project implementation. d. Create and support Sustainable Development Demonstration Projects (example: The Midrand Eco-City Project as a showcase) e. Hold National Summits and an International Youth Summit before and during the WSSD. f. Erect International Youth Tent outside the main venue.

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Youth Statement for the Multi-Stakeholder Event Delivered by Catherine Kamping, Secretary general of Youth for sustainable development Assembly, Phillippines In 1992, the youth message was so controversial that the microphone was cut off. So technicians: Please bear with us. Governments of the world, once again you’ve asked the youth to make a statement. Frankly, we are sick and tired of th empty promises and political-posturing that we’ve witnessed time and time again over the past ten years. We are fed up with your bracketing and debating the placement of the commas in the plan of action. The irony and hypocricy of holding the summint here in Santdton speaks volumes for the lack of progress and flawed process exhibited by our current world “leaders.” How can you claim to be representing the whole world, when one third of the world makes less than 2 dollars a day? As the planet and the people suffer, we sit here in consumer’s paradise, an enclave of the rich. We now this room is divided. Youth are divided too. We have spent these weeks debating our issues, just as you have done. While we have many, many commn concerns, we have struggled - as have you - on questions of how, how soon, how much, for whom and by whom. Though some have failed to meet their respnsibilities in bringing about a sustainable world, we as youth will not evade our responsibility to ensure the goals on Agenda 21 are acheived. Key Areas With the aim of establishing global equality, we demand that the national debt of developing countries be immediately cancelled in order to empower them to eradicate poverty among their people. We demand that International financial institutions end their economic and political intervention, and the impositions of unsustainable economic, political and cultural models in developing countries. Global markets must be fundamentally changed der to redress the inequities between the North and the South. An even playing field between developing and developed countries must be ensured in all trade endevours. You industriallised coutries: You always talk about free trade, but where is the open market for developing countreis in Europe or North America? Youth call for fair trade and an end to government export and agricultural subsidies in developed countries, which directly disadvantages the agricultural production of the farmers from developing countries. Violent conflict between peoples damages the environmental and social sustainability. We must take joint action to reject the drumbeat of war and redirect funds from militarism towards sustainable development. We are appalled by the complete absence of the principle of disarmament in the plan of implementation. As youth we condemn the continuing resistance of governments in addressing human rights. We reaffirm the rights of the Indiginous Peoples to self-determination, land and resources.


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Climate change can no longer be further gnored by certain developed countries. Targets and timeframes have been lost here in Johannesburg. All countries, especially the United States and Australia, must ratify the Kyoto Protocol and exceed its emission reduction targerts in accordance with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Here in Johannesburg you have failed us! Signatures do not feed people. Words on paper do not stop deforestation. Where are the mechanisms? Where are the timeframes? Where are the commitments? There are those who are pleased with the progress of the Summit, and also those who are ready to walk out due to a failed process. But we are working to move forward, watching, and are aware - for all our criticisms - that you, Heads of State and negotiators, are trying to work together. We are all commited to the creation of a better global community existing within the context of sustainable development. Lets work together At the end of the Summit, let’s take the first steps together. We, as youth, implore you to take action with us, starting right here, right now, in this room. (And don’t worry - this has been cleared with UN security!) --Youth and children: We wil be around in 50 years to deal with the outcomes of this Sunmmit. We are commited to bringing about a beter world, and stand in agreement that human kind must act together in pursuit of this vital objective. Youth- please stand and remain standing. Heads of State - don’t be fooled. There are few of us here in this room, but we assure you that there are many more of us (indeed, half the world’s population!) standing with us throughout the building and around the world. --Could Major Groups (and Educators!) and inter-agencies - with all the diversity we represent - stand up in agreement that we, as stakeholders, are responsible to take tangible actions to implement what was agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development? (Please stand.) -- An finally, could everyone stand, who agrees that sustainable development is imperitive to the future of all Peoples and this Planet? (Stay standing and) Look around the room, and etch this scene on your memory, so that it can be recreated when youth appear before you - before us - at Jo’burg + 10. Just as we are standing now, in 2012 we must be able to stand together when asked if we have reached our Johannesburg commitments.


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