Youth and Sustainable Development

Despite being devised by the senior academics and high-level experts, today the idea of sustainability resembles the needs of future generations. The UN Secretary-General’s 2020 New Year’s Message represents clearly the interconnection between the SDGs and the youth. If we analyze the Message, we will notice the fact that Mr. Guterres first commences with enlisting the dangers that our world faces today, i.e. “… Persistent inequality and rising hatred. A warring world and a warming planet. Climate change is not only a long-term problem but a clear and present danger”. Nevertheless, he highlights that “… there is also hope”. As “hope” he defines the world’s youth. Young people have proved able to become a real driving force. Of course, young people are sometimes criticized for lack of experience, yet it is them who have recently been able to raise public awareness about many global issues: climate change (Greta Thunberg) and equal access to education (Malala Yusufzai). In the case of Greta, she managed to launch the “Fridays For Future” movement — or so-called School Strike for Climate in Sweden. In her two-week strike outside the Swedish parliament, she demanded that the Swedish government cut emissions by 15% a year. In September 2016, around 4 million people joined her in that movement across over 160 countries, which made it the largest climate demonstration in the whole history. Greta also participated in the UN Climate Action Summit.

Consequently, the question arises of who the driving force behind this movement is. When asked about funding for her initiatives, she states that she receives awards and scholarships, for instance, the German Goldene Kamera Special Climate Protection award, which helped her even donate some part of the money to the organizations that she believes are doing the right thing for the promotion of the climate change challenge. Therefore, we can observe a clear link between sufficient financing and enhanced youth participation. An interesting case would be France. In 2016, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development announced that it would provide financial support to the “UN CC: Learn” program, which will contribute to the development of the Youth Climate Dialogues organization. This program ensures the partnership of more than 30 multilateral organizations supporting countries to design and implement systematic and results-oriented climate change learning, which corresponds directly to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, in particular Article 12 on climate change education.

It is the youth initiatives that are increasingly being introduced around worldwide and that gain momentum. Antonio Guterres continues, “From climate action to gender equality, social justice and human rights, your generation is on the frontlines and in the headlines”. Senior politicians should consider youth initiatives as serious as they regard their own initiatives, since it is young people who will face the implications in the future. A greater part of the responsibility lies directly on the younger generation, and it should be noted that young people are not rejecting that responsibility. Besides, the initiatives that are introduced by youth should be considered as initiatives that provide world politicians with a new vision. Only then there will be an efficient outcome of such cooperation. Sooner or later, this new generation will take the positions and will continue to make a difference. The UN Secretary-General concludes, “This year, the world needs young people to keep speaking out. Keep thinking big. Keep pushing boundaries. And keep up the pressure”, addressing the global audience and focusing on the driving force that will continue to have its impact with or without strong support from the other groups.

Young people have always been a determining factor in the development process. The concept of sustainability, which involves the fusion of three components (economic, social and environmental) aims to create a secure future for the next generations. It is young people, being the subject of social development and reflecting all, even the smallest changes in society, who become the driving force of social development. Young people are more acutely aware of the changing social anticipation and more inclined to political, economic and social innovation than other social-demographic groups. Moreover, the same social group is more disposed to play the role of both the subject and object of the changes taking place. Young people are the most energetic and innovative part of modern society. The potential of the young generation is of particular importance for those societies that are undergoing transformation and modernization processes, which is especially pivotal for the developing and developed counties. As a result of globalization, the world has become more intertwined, which has an impact not only on overall economic development but on the lives of young people from all over the world. Social networks, media channels—all of this has made it easier to exchange information and, hence, has made the world more open. However, some scholars are referring not to the removal of borders, but their transformation into more transparent barriers. Thus, many young people see that the contemporary generation of politicians is not fully capable of addressing global challenges. Future development is one of such challenges.

Among some other global political initiatives, the sustainability concept stands out. The idea of sustainable development, defined as “development, which meets the needs of the current generation without undermining the ability to meet the needs of future generations” has become a guiding principle for long-term global development, which will only be possible through the progressive commitment of all world policy actors. Sustainable development has three fundamental objectives: economic and social progress, as well as environmental protection. This fundamental formulation first appeared in 1987 in the “Our Common Future” report. It was prepared by the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The concept of sustainable development, amid its theoretical foundations that are constantly being enhanced, is now being actively implemented in practice. Scientists and researchers work closely together, looking for possible ways to adapt the theoretical basis of the Concept to the practical terms. Based on the above-mentioned three pillars, specific indicators can link all three and reflect environmental, economic and social (including psychological, e.g. perception of sustainable development) aspects. Sustainable development indexes are an example of practically applicable indicators: in economic, environmental and social terms. They can be measured and displayed like the multi-factor growth indexes used by the World Bank. There is also a mechanism for practical integration of these indicators into the planning and evaluation system at regional levels. Sustainable development indicators are also used in the empirical analysis of rural/urban settlements management as those are the markers that determine the balanced development of the urban system.

In any science, systematization is of paramount importance, which will then help ensure the practical implementation of the theoretical basis. The idea of sustainability today is reflected through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals until 2030 program. It is a set of goals for future international cooperation, which replaced the Millennium Development Goals at the end of 2015. The SDGs program was articulated in the final document “Transforming our world: An agenda for the future” and contains 17 global goals and 169 related tasks. Therefore, having originated in 1987, the Concept of Sustainable Development has proved its relevance and necessity in reality and has continued to evolve in world politics, economy, ecology and other scientific fields.

REUTERS/Christophe Petit
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai speaks to French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the Education and development G7 ministers Summit

Despite being devised by the senior academics and high-level experts, today the idea of sustainability resembles the needs of future generations. The UN Secretary-General’s 2020 New Year’s Message represents clearly the interconnection between the SDGs and the youth. If we analyze the Message, we will notice the fact that Mr. Guterres first commences with enlisting the dangers that our world faces today, i.e. “… Persistent inequality and rising hatred. A warring world and a warming planet. Climate change is not only a long-term problem but a clear and present danger”. Nevertheless, he highlights that “… there is also hope”. As “hope” he defines the world’s youth. Young people have proved able to become a real driving force. Of course, young people are sometimes criticized for lack of experience, yet it is them who have recently been able to raise public awareness about many global issues: climate change (Greta Thunberg) and equal access to education (Malala Yusufzai). In the case of Greta, she managed to launch the “Fridays For Future” movement — or so-called School Strike for Climate in Sweden. In her two-week strike outside the Swedish parliament, she demanded that the Swedish government cut emissions by 15% a year. In September 2016, around 4 million people joined her in that movement across over 160 countries, which made it the largest climate demonstration in the whole history. Greta also participated in the UN Climate Action Summit.

Consequently, the question arises of who the driving force behind this movement is. When asked about funding for her initiatives, she states that she receives awards and scholarships, for instance, the German Goldene Kamera Special Climate Protection award, which helped her even donate some part of the money to the organizations that she believes are doing the right thing for the promotion of the climate change challenge. Therefore, we can observe a clear link between sufficient financing and enhanced youth participation. An interesting case would be France. In 2016, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development announced that it would provide financial support to the “UN CC: Learn” program, which will contribute to the development of the Youth Climate Dialogues organization. This program ensures the partnership of more than 30 multilateral organizations supporting countries to design and implement systematic and results-oriented climate change learning, which corresponds directly to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, in particular Article 12 on climate change education.

It is the youth initiatives that are increasingly being introduced around worldwide and that gain momentum. Antonio Guterres continues, “From climate action to gender equality, social justice and human rights, your generation is on the frontlines and in the headlines”. Senior politicians should consider youth initiatives as serious as they regard their own initiatives, since it is young people who will face the implications in the future. A greater part of the responsibility lies directly on the younger generation, and it should be noted that young people are not rejecting that responsibility. Besides, the initiatives that are introduced by youth should be considered as initiatives that provide world politicians with a new vision. Only then there will be an efficient outcome of such cooperation. Sooner or later, this new generation will take the positions and will continue to make a difference. The UN Secretary-General concludes, “This year, the world needs young people to keep speaking out. Keep thinking big. Keep pushing boundaries. And keep up the pressure”, addressing the global audience and focusing on the driving force that will continue to have its impact with or without strong support from the other groups.

References

UN Secretary-General’s 2020 New Year’s Message. Electronic source.