The following presents a summary of a Nordic initiative to engage Nordic youth in development and negotiations of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted in Montreal December 2022, together with an outline of the guiding principles for Nordic youth engagement to avoid tokenism, and lessons learnt.
The initiative has among other things resulted in Nordic Youth Position Paper, which contained 19 demands towards the Global Biodiversity Framework.
The initiative has a unique anchoring in the political negotiations on national, regional and global level. Engaging MPs and ministers in youth deliberations has been essential.
Several of the demands from the Nordic Youth Position Paper are reflected in the Nordic environmental ministers’ declaration ‘Finalising the Global Biodiversity Deal – the Nordic approach’, which was adopted six months prior to COP15.