Official Youth Delegates Declaration

No decisions about us, without us10 December 2010Cancun, MexicoWe, the Official Youth Delegates of our national delegations of the UNConvention on Climate Change(COP 16) and Conference of the Parties serving asthe meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) in Cancun, Mexico cometogether to support the Official Youth Delegate Declaration.The evidence is clear. Climate change threatens our lives and futuregenerations. Our future is at risk, and action is well overdue. We declare ourright to a healthy environment and accept our responsibility to protect our planetfor our generation and generations yet unborn. The UN Progamme on Youthdeclares that, “

youth participation in decision making […] leads to better policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.”

Moreover, as highlighted in theSynthesis Report (SR) on Article 6 of the Convention, young people are potentagents for change. This has been demonstrated time and time again at pastUNFCCC meetings, where young people appeared to be constructive partners inthe negotiations. Youth are critical stakeholders in the climate negotiations, asyoung people will have to deal with the impacts of climate change long into thefuture. Young people are also frontrunners when it comes to creating innovativesolutions and bringing climate-issues to the broader community. Asstakeholders, it is important for governments to consider the concerns of youthin negotiations that concerns our future.We, the Official Youth Delegates of the UN Climate Change ConferenceCOP16 in Cancun, Mexico have been given the opportunity to represent ourcountry and the voice of youth. We would like to encourage governments tocreate the same opportunity for other youth around the world by including themin their country delegation.

Our commitment

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We commit

to represent the voice of young people in our countries.

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We commit

to educate and empower ourselves and our communities toadapt and mitigate the changing climate.

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We commit

to engage and actively cooperate with all generations andgovernments in combating climate change.

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