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Rabat – The Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN in New York stressed the important role of youth in climate action on Tuesday.
Morocco co-hosted a virtual event on the role of youth in climate action to support the 2019 Global Youth Climate Action Declaration on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate action.
Young leaders and parliamentarians representing several countries attended the event, along with the ambassadors of Costa Rica and Portugal to the UN.
The Permanent Ambassador of Morocco to the UN, Omar Hilale, stressed that the country has always believed that young people hold a key role in the implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda. He highlighted innovative youth-led solutions to protect biodiversity, preserve the environment, and promote sustainable production and consumption.
“As a globally committed country, Morocco has, for several decades, systematically placed young people and citizens at the center of its efforts to accelerate the implementation of sustainable development,” Morocco’s state media quoted Hilale as saying.
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He added that Morocco intends to boost its engagement with youth as “engines of constructive collaboration.”
During the 2019 Climate Action Summit, world leaders vowed to promote the empowerment of young people, particularly in the climate field. Morocco manifested this commitment with the launch of the “African Youth Climate Hub” in September 2019.
Morocco’s Princess Lalla Hasnaa, the president of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, spearheaded the initiative that aims to promote the ideas and solutions of young African leaders in the fight against climate change.
The African Youth Climate Hub is a virtual space for exchange and support among young Africans regarding issues of climate change. The hub aims to contribute meaningfully to climate action through inclusive, youth-based projects with a focus on measurable impacts across the continent and on a global scale.
At the Climate Action Summit in September 2019, Princess Lalla Hasnaa also emphasized Morocco’s support for the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change. The project aims to empower African rural communities through a youth-led, collaborative initiative that encourages effective implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The initiatives offer “young Africans the opportunity to establish and foster a generational movement to fight climate change,” Hilale underlined.
Looking forward to Wednesday’s UN Biodiversity Summit, the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN reiterated the country’s faith in young leaders who are “engaged in real actions sharing experiences and supporting local initiatives,” deeming them “instrumental” in making political pledges to SDG 13 “a reality.”
