It’s Tuesday, July 28, and the U.N. secretary-general is getting some new climate advisors: youth activists.
The United Nations is finally giving the youth climate movement a seat at the table. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres announced yesterday that a group of youth climate leaders, ages 18 to 28, will advise him on climate action. The new Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change will take a formal role advising the U.N.’s chief administrative officer as he pushes world leaders to make climate action part of their recovery response to COVID-19.
“We have seen young people on the front lines of climate action, showing us what bold leadership looks like,” Guterres said in a video announcing the formation of the seven-member advisory group.
The Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change includes youth leaders from Brazil, Fiji, France, India, Moldova, Sudan, and the United States. The announcement comes 10 months after Greta Thunberg famously berated world leaders for not taking action on climate change, which she called a “betrayal” of her generation, at last year’s U.N. Climate Summit. It’s unclear how much power the new group will hold, but its establishment marks the first time youth will have an official role advising the secretary-general.
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