New goals for protecting the biodiversity and natural resources of our planet must address the opportunities and living conditions of young people both today and in the future. Young people today are those who must develop the solutions of the future and handle the challenges that previous generations have inflicted on them.
In 2018 the conference of parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP) adopted a participatory process for the preparation and negotiation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which urges parties and youth groups (among others) ‘..to actively engage and contribute to the process of developing a robust post-2020 global biodiversity framework in order to foster strong ownership of the framework to be agreed and strong support for its immediate implementation’ and ‘.. to facilitate dialogues on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework…'.
The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers have adopted the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. The organisations are working at various levels to meet these goals, including Global Goal 16, which states that responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making must be ensured on all levels.
In 2019 the Nordic Council (Nordic parliaments) and the Nordic Council of Ministers (representing Nordic governments) of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aaland (hereinafter referred to as the Nordic region) decided on a joint initiative aimed at giving young people in Nordic countries the possibility of influencing the development of the Global Biodiversity Framework, thereby creating ownership of, engagement in, and trust in the political processes.