Building adolescents’ resilience to climate change

10 November 2021

Watch event recording

Climate change poses significant challenges to the well-being of 1.2 billion adolescents and youth globally. The world they inhabit and inherit has increased chances of disruption to their safe and supportive environment, including disruptions due to extreme climate-related weather events and forced migration, limited access to nutrition, education and employment - all threats to their well-being. The collective agency of young people is a key resource that must be leveraged to combat climate change. It is critical to ensure that adolescents and youth are aware of the impacts of climate change on their health and well-being and as such have a voice in policy discourse about issues that affect their future.

For the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), PMNCH is coordinating an event at the COP26 Health Pavilion hosted by the World Health Organization, entitled ‘Building adolescents’ resilience to climate change‘. This hybrid event will take place on Wednesday 10th November, from 11:15-12:15 GMT in Glasgow and online.

Under the umbrella of the Call to Action for Adolescents, the event will bring together global leaders well-versed with the intersection of climate change and adolescent well-being as well as youth activists and adolescent-serving health professionals active in this space.

PMNCH’s COP26 Health Pavilion side-event aims to draw attention to the importance of prioritizing adolescents’ well-being in climate adaptation and incorporating an adolescent well-being lens to the COP26 Health Programme.

Agenda

Segment    

Focus   

Opening Segment (11:15-11:20 am GMT)   

Introduction by Moderator David Imbago, Chair, Adolescents and Youth Constituency, PMNCH; Strategic Partnerships and Programs Officer, CORE Group   

 

 

Keynote speech by Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair: Prioritizing adolescents’ well-being in climate adaptation  

 

Video Segment (11:20-11:30 am GMT)  

Video segment featuring young activists talking about the impacts of climate change on adolescents’ well-being   

Panel Discussion and Q&A (11:30 am-12:10 pm GMT)   

David Imbago with: 

  • Julieta Martinez, Founder, Tremendas Collaborative Platform; Co-founder, Latinas for Climate  

  • Heeta Lakhani, Global Focal Point,  YOUNGO   

  • Mohamed Eissa, Focal Point on Climate Change, IFMSA  

  • Eric Njuguna, Youth climate and human rights activist, Fridays for Future, Kenya   

  • Marina Romanello, Research Director, Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change  

  • CK Mishra, Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India

 

 


The panel discussion will highlight what is needed to build and ensure adolescents’ resilience to climate change. In particular, the discussion will cover:   

  • Why we need to conduct adaptation assessment at the population level (including on adolescents’ resilience);  

  • What does it mean to have a multisectoral approach to climate change adaptation and adolescent well-being;  

  • How can we ensure that adolescents’ well-being is at the core of building resilient low carbon health systems;  

  • How can adolescent well-being priorities be included in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs);  

  • How to meaningfully engage adolescent and youth in climate change policies and programs.  

Closing   

(12:10-12:15 pm GMT)   

Closing remarks   

Key messages for the Call to Action for Adolescents including the call for a focus on adolescents at the upcoming UN SDG Summit in 2023