Supporting young people as genuine political actors in climate decision-making

• DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daad148
• Publication Date: 2023-11-12T14:51:26Z
• Authors: Grace Arnot; Hannah Pitt; Simone McCarthy; Philippa Collin; Samantha Thomas
• Keywords: Adolescent; Climate Change; 420603 - Health promotion; Decision Making; Humans; 200201 - Determinants of health

Engaging young people is an essential precondition for the success of climate action (Ingaruca et al., 2022, p. 9). Since Severn Suzuki addressed the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 (Vidal, 2022), young people around the world have been calling for greater action on climate change. For more than three decades, they have been speaking out in their communities and to national decision-makers and at international forums, calling for action to halt global warming (Hilder and Collin, 2022). However, while they have created large-scale organizations and campaigns to build a movement for climate justice, they are still marginalized in all areas of policy-making. Although public health and health promotion advocates have called for young people to be supported as genuine political actors in climate decision-making (Arora et al., 2022; Arnot et al., 2023a), much more is needed from the health community to move from rhetoric to action. This includes being part of the transformational change that is required to support young people in their advocacy for climate justice, as well as examining how we challenge and change our own existing structures and practices to ensure young people are positioned as key constituents and partners.