IFSA and other Youth environmental organizations demand policy changes from governments

12 January 2020 — Transparency, transformative education, radical inclusion, transformative action: these are the urgent needs that the International Forestry Students’ Association, together with 18 other youth activist and environmental organizations, is demanding from global governments in response to how the climate crisis is affecting our generation. The four demands are penned in a open letter released at the start of 2021, the year in which a new global framework for biodiversity conservation, which underpins planetary health, is set to be put in place this year by one of our policy partners, the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD). The message is clear:

“We, the youth of the world, have a plan for the health of the people and of our planet”.

The letter also serves as a preamble to a set of seven policy recommendations to combat biodiversity loss, the drafting process for which was also led by youth – putting their demand for inclusion into practice – in collaboration with a legion of environmental organizations and research institutes convened by the Global Landscapes Forum and Youth in Landscapes initiative (YIL). The recommendations were created to support the implementation of the new framework and ensure its equitability for all those whom its success or failure most directly affects. Watch the video and learn how you can be involved in the process, by signing the Youth Open Letter that IFSA has co-authored.

An introduction to the letter:

We, the youth of the world, have a plan for the health of the people and of our planet.

The current patterns of production, consumption, landscape degradation and pollution have led to the many challenges that all generations are collectively facing: particularly the biodiversity, climate and health crises.

As youth, we are already taking action on these issues.

Now we urge world leaders, decision-makers, civil society organizations, and individuals to recognize the importance of sustaining a healthy planet and address the inevitable products of our capitalist and colonial system.

We must achieve a world where all communities have access to restore and practice stewardship over their landscapes.

We need to find the resources and tools that are grounded in inclusive knowledge to build a sustainable, resilient, and equitable world for current and future generations.

We need everyone to realise that the Earth’s health is our health, and that having a safe place to call home is not an option, but a fundamental human right.

Sign the open letter. Support IFSA and other activist organizations’ demanding international governments to reform policy – for an equitable, sustainable and resilient world – by going to GLFs webpage and leaving your signature.

Or for more information, watch the Youth GLF Live on Instagram airing on 14 January @ 18:00 CET / 12:00 EST – Youth climate activists’ 4 demands of global governments. In this GLF Live, produced in collaboration with YIL, two authors of the open letter will discuss why they are making these demands now and the great potential for what could be achieved if they’re met.