On 15 November 2023, UNU-IAS will co-organize a Youth4Capacity session as part of the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2023 held on 13–17 November 2023 in Johor, Malaysia. The session aims to build the capacity of youth to lead a just transition, foster knowledge exchange, share concrete examples of green economy and just transition leaders, programs, policies and best practices, and create a space for conversations to engage youth at scale in the green economy and just transition. UNU-IAS expert Mark Akrofi (JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow) will be one of the panelists.
Participation
This in-person session is open to all Asia-Pacific Climate Week participants.
Language
This event will be held in English.
Programme
Programme details are available on the event page.
Organizers
This event is co-organized by United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), UNU-IAS, Youth Empowerment in Climate Action Platform (YECAP), and Official Youth Constituency of the UNFCCC (YOUNGO).
Background
Many young people are struggling to access education and employment. While globally more than 160 million youth are working, many are living in poverty. At the same time, there is hope and promise in the green transition: up to 60 million new jobs in the green economy could be created by 2030, according to the ILO. Green jobs present an opportunity to foster decent youth employment while simultaneously preserving the environment and increasing climate resilience.
The preamble of the Paris Agreement underscores the close links between climate action, sustainable development and a just transition of the workforce, with decent work and quality jobs for all. In the Our Common Agenda report, the UN Secretary-General emphasized the critical role of education and skills development to support people’s capacity to navigate societal transitions throughout their lives. The green transition is shaping the experience of today’s youth in education and work and young people who are equipped with green skills will be better prepared to act as catalysts who can lead the transition to a greener future. Therefore, there is an urgent need to engage youth in the green economy and just transition at scale.
