On the occasion of the International Youth Day (IYD), 12 August 2023, the Congress calls for educating and training young people from an early age onwards, both to adapt their own behaviour and to better orient local public policies on environmental protection and climate change.
The Congress Deputy Spokesperson on Youth, Veronique Bertholle (France, SOC/G/PD) and the Congress Spokesperson on Environment and Climate Change, Cemal Bas (Türkiye, EPP/CCE) jointly welcomed this year’s IYD theme “Green skills for youth”, underlining the important role of young people in contributing to environmental protection in all spheres of society and the profound ecological transformation of modern societies. “Green skills will be instrumental in allowing young people to shape greener local communities and societies.”, they highlighted.
Through the promotion of its own texts such as the report and recommendation on a green reading of the European Charter of Self-government or the Human Rights Handbook on the Environment, the Congress will continue to convey such messages. It also made a substantial contribution to young people’s awareness for environmental matters through its SDG leaflet for children “How to make your town a better place”.
The importance of reaching out to the younger generation for delivering the UN SDGs at local and regional levels was also underlined on 11 July 2023 at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum 2023 in New York, where the Secretary General of the Congress, Mathieu Mori, underlined that “the rights to education, proper healthcare, clean environment are at the foundation of the 2030 Agenda, and they cannot be delivered without proper engagement from local and regional governments”.
International Youth Day (IYD) is commemorated on 12 August every year to bring youth issues to the attention of the international community and celebrate the potential of youth as partners in today’s global society. The 2023 IYD theme is “Green Skills for Youth” and meant to draw attention to young people’s important contribution to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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