Media Global
17 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Future generations will inherit a world where rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns disrupt agriculture, diminish biodiversity and put millions at risk of violent storms and rising seas. This week the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a youth version of its 2007/2008 Human Development Report on climate change, which calls for immediate action to avoid irreversible environmental damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Produced entirely by young people, the youth report highlights the key points of UNDP’s official publication, and includes poems and drawings by children and young adults from all over the world. The report also includes ideas on adaptation and mitigation strategies. “The youth in particular got very engaged with the idea of renewable energies,” Cecilia Ugaz, Acting Director of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office who oversaw the creation of the report, told MediaGlobal. “They talk about policies at the broad level, but they also talk about individual policies,” and what young people can do to reduce emissions starting in their own homes and schools. In their introduction, the report’s authors stress the need for individual action and global cooperation. They write, “We can change our today, little by little, person by person and with that obtain a more sustainable tomorrow for coming generations.”
Climate change was a primary focus of this year’s International Youth Day. United Nations officials and youth from around the world came together to discuss preventative action.
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