Vibrant viewers, welcome to Planet Earth: Our Loving Home. In honor of Universal Children’s Day this week, we will present a two-part series featuring the perspectives of child and youth environmental leaders from around the world on climate change and their proposed solutions to this greatest challenge of our times.

S３ (f):  We need the governments to sign a global climate treaty that is ambitious, fair and binding. It’s not enough just to sign any deal at all. It also has to be a good deal that safeguards the survival of all countries and peoples for the future.

HOST: In ２００３ the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiated the Tunza Youth Strategy as a means of collaborating with the younger generation to help accomplish its important environmental work.
『Tunza』 in Swahili means 『to treat with care or affection.』 This past August, the city of Daejeon, South Korea hosted the week-long United Nations Environment Programme Tunza International Children and Youth Conference, which featured ８００ participants, ages １０ to ２４, from over １００ countries with thousands more participating online.

The goal of the Conference was for the attendees to create a plan for promoting action on climate change and to develop a statement to send to the world leaders attending the Copenhagen climate summit this December. The event has been called the largest ever youth gathering on the issue of climate change in history.

Jamali (m): Vegetarianism reduces energy consumption.

HOST: Those under ２５ years of age form almost half of the world’s current population, numbering almost ３ billion. This is the generation that will be inheriting the planet in the years to come. With climate-related disasters and other consequences of global warming ever increasing by the day, it is children who are the most at risk. Satinder Bindra, Director of the Division of Communications and Public Information for the United Nations Environment Programme shares his thoughts.