The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme participated in a side event today at the UN Climate Change Conference COP 23. The event is an Inter-generational Inquiry held to discuss the role of youth in climate action.
The UN Climate Change Conference COP 23 is taking place in Bonn, Germany, between 6 and 17 November. UNV is also present in different ways to make sure volunteerism is part of the conversation around the protection of the environment and the fight against climate change.
The Inter-generational Inquiry provides a platform for youth and decision-makers on how young people can enhance the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. UN Youth Volunteer Victoria de Mello will be speaking at the event on the role of youth volunteers in climate action. Victoria is an International UN Youth Volunteer from Brazil, and currently serves as Business and Human Rights Officer for the United Nations Development Programme in Asia and the Pacific. She says:
There are over a billion people who volunteer regularly across the world, with over 380 million active youth volunteers today like myself. Volunteerism can harness the creative energy of youth for sustainable development. That is why United Nations Volunteers deploy youth volunteers every year, and advocate for volunteerism to become an integral means of implementing the Paris Accord and Agenda 2030. Youth volunteerism helps climate action go further, faster and together for peaceful, resilient communities and empowered youth.
The event is a major highlight of UNV’s engagement at COP23 as it engages youth delegates from around the world with key players on the intergovernmental climate change arena.