Shaping our Shared Future: Young People are ready to change the world. Will leaders let them?
By Jaya Scott, Prativa Baral, Hargun Kaur, and Michael Lecchino
Young people are not content to sit by the wayside while world leaders put off taking decisive action till tomorrow.
The expectations on leaders to deliver bold solutions at the G7 in Schloss Elmau this June were big: solutions for looming famine, climate ambition, pandemic preparedness, and runaway inflation were anticipated. Ultimately, the summit recognized the challenge of the moment, but unfortunately, did not rise to the occasion with the necessary solutions. This summit is just the latest in a series of events in which leaders got together and failed to come up with much of anything substantive. At the most recent G20, COP 26, and now the G7, high-income countries from the Global North were expected to present bold plans to tackle the climate, health, and economic crises that face us today. The world expected leaders to walk the talk on “building back better.” Instead, they produced incremental improvements and tepid commitments.
People around the world and young people in particular are calling for transformative change. We are frustrated with ‘not-quite’ and ‘not-yet’ outcomes. We know that now is the time for bold policy, and we demand it: there is no other way forward. 65% of young people feel their governments are failing to act on climate change. Further, 68% of Canadians think today’s youth will be financially worse off as adults than their parents’ generation. With regards to broader global health challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, young people state that these challenges are being handled “poorly, irresponsibly, recklessly, inequitably, and lacking in urgency and global solidarity”. On climate change specifically - but applicable to the multiplicity of crises we face, Antonio Guterres surmised: “We are witnessing a historic and dangerous disconnect: science and citizens are demanding ambitious and transformative [ ] action, Meanwhile many governments are dragging their feet. This inaction has grave consequences."
Moreover, youth voices are not represented at key decision-making tables. There are larger systemic issues at play here, including inequities in pathways to leadership and decision-making and disaffection with governance. Without diversity in the upper echelons of government, political decisions and policy choices are easily taken without meaningful inclusion of those most affected. For young people, this means that the decisions leaders are (or more often, are not) taking right now to shape the future that we will inherit are made without our input.
It’s also important to remember that young people are not a monolithic entity - we are a composite group of incredibly diverse individuals with the expertise and entrepreneurship capacity to tackle current and future challenges with ingenuity. Around the world, youth are bringing their backgrounds and knowledge to solutions ranging from local to global: from leading the response and recovery to COVID-19 in communities to entrepreneurial ventures addressing social, cultural, and environmental issues, to providing educational resources that excite young people about heading to the polls, young people are compassionate, driven, and have answered the challenges we face with visionary leadership. Explicit and intentional inclusion of diverse youth voices—not tokenization—is not only better for the future, but is needed to change the direction of the world today.
Given that leaders cannot reflect the diversity of the populations they govern, it becomes imperative that they listen. In an era when our leaders must rise to the challenges facing our communities, we urge them to make governance an intergenerational project, wherein we build a better world together. Here in Canada, this can look like:
Formalizing the inclusion of youth representatives during domestic policy-making processes from the very beginning;
Launching ongoing and inclusive youth consultative exercises across the country on key topics to make sure that all youth voices are heard, through secondary schools and community centers;
Developing a forum where young people can share their concerns and/or suggestions, including a transparent reporting process, where progress on key issues is provided and opportunities to shape implementation are offered; and,
Supporting youth delegations to international settings financially, including youth in formative discussions, and facilitating meetings between delegates and Canadian negotiators and ministers.
Young people are not content to merely watch as their future is decided. We demand not only a seat at the table, but to be heard, to contribute as equals, and to have a role in shaping our shared future.
Originally published by The Hill Times on August 8, 2022.