By 2060, the world’s youth population is expected to peak at 1.4 billion. That means there will be even more demand for food, housing, clothing and travel to fulfil their needs and aspirations. As we face a looming triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – we need to find grassroots solutions that inspire change. The youth of today may just be the driving force needed to put us on a pathway towards more sustainable lifestyles.
This was the main takeaway of a virtual event on 21 September organized by the Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) initiative and the Swedish Ministry of Environment in cooperation with the Children and Youth Major Group, as part of the YOUNGA 2021.
The event – Youth: A driving force for innovative lifestyles under 1.5 degrees – brought together high-level representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Swedish government, youth entrepreneurs and others to talk about how young people can promote sustainable lifestyles, and play an active role in the lead-up to next year’s Stockholm +50 summit.
“We need to work together with the youth on the road to Stockholm +50,” said Ambassador, Johanna Lissinger Peitz, who was recently appointed by the Swedish government to take the lead on preparations for the 50th anniversary of the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, to take place in Stockholm, Sweden on 2-3 June 2022. “This is a shared responsibility and collective work.”
Ligia Noronha, Head of New York Office of UNEP, added: “Stockholm +50 will be a space for youth participation, not only to raise their voices, but to bring their solutions and actions to co-create our path towards a healthy planet.”
The key to success will be to inspire imagination and action for desirable futures that are inclusive, low-carbon, healthy and even joyful. Lewis Akenji, Managing Director of the Hot or Cool Institute, offered recommendations to help change consumption patterns and adopt more sustainable lifestyles. This includes developing 21st-century indicators for well-being and a healthy planet, and ensuring capacity development for radical change.
Innovative solutions
The panel, moderated by GO4SDGs head Adriana Zacarias, discussed the need to act and inspire change for a better environment.
“The key is to get involved in a healthy way,” said influencer Alejandra Kopaitic, co-founder of @Vayaconsumismo. “Look for groups in your community that you can support, start from home but think globally, set small goals, and motivate others but don’t lose the final objective which is to take care of the planet.”
"We need to inspire startups, investors and entrepreneurs to provide appealing alternatives to reduce, for example, meat consumption and have more balanced diets," added Jichen Liu, Youth Leader for the SDGs 2020 and CEO of Chinese ClearPlate, a youth-led social enterprise from China whose mobile app rewards people for reducing food waste.
Partnering with restaurants, private companies, and government, ClearPlate has some 5 million users who have taken more than 42 million zero food waste actions, which is equivalent to reducing food waste by 1,600 tons and carbon emissions by 6,200 tons.
Working with farmers and in rural areas will also be important for transforming lifestyles and improving the sustainability of the agro-food sector. Loay Radwan, UN Youth Ambassador of Egypt and co-founder of G-Beetle, shared the work his start-up is doing in the agri-tech field, which helps farmers rationalize the usage of water in irrigating their fields. G-Beetle is a rover that is equipped with sensors that enables it to manoeuvre fields while monitoring the soil’s water content in addition to the plants’ temperature. The data is useful for measuring the efficiency of irrigation systems and the discovery of which areas are in need of extra care to protect plants from damage due to water stress.
Youth leadership and inputs will be a central part of next year’s Stockholm +50, and with this in mind participants were invited to join the All Hands on Deck social media challenge, which will take place from 28 September to 12 October. The aim of the challenge is to create an aspirational mosaic of what sustainable living already looks like and build momentum towards Stockholm +50 in 2022.