In recent years, young people’s essential role in climate action, peace and security has been increasingly recognized and documented as they often simultaneously serve as both peacebuilders and climate activists, calling for ambitious action. Despite being at the forefront of peace and security, and climate change solutions, young people remain excluded from decision-making processes in both sectors and might not be treated as equal partners or leaders. Nevertheless, their contribution to addressing climate-related peace and security risks is critical. To maximize their impact, young people should be meaningfully included, engaged and empowered through policy and programmatic interventions and recognized as key actors.
In 2015, following several years of advocacy by over 11,000 young people from over 110 countries, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a historic resolution,UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. Recognizing young people's positive role in international peace and security, this landmark resolution identifies five key pillars for action: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships, and disengagement and reintegration. It urges Member States to give young people a greater voice in decision-making at the local, national, regional and international levels and to consider setting up mechanisms that would enable young people to participate meaningfully in peace processes. Find out more on the Youth, Peace and Security agenda.
In 2023, the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) published a Thematic Review on Climate Security and Peacebuilding (2023) that was commissioned in partnership with the Climate Security Mechanism (CSM), FAO, UNICEF and the United Kingdom. It highlighted that more than half of the projects examined aimed to increase women’s and youth participation and inclusion in local natural resource management and other climate, peace and security (CPS) initiatives. Although eight out of 43 specific CPS projects with a primary focus on youth were identified, project data was insufficient to allow for deeper exploration. The Review highlighted that better understanding of youth motivations and limitations on their participation or source of grievances and vulnerability may be necessary to improve their contributions to CPS dynamics.
Diving further into this, the PBF is currently conducting a Thematic Review on Youth, Peace and Security, commissioned by DPPA’s Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) with support from UNFPA, UNICEF and the CSM, looking into how the PBF has contributed to realizing the agenda over the last five years, including a dedicated section on youth engagement in environmental peacebuilding and CPS. This Thematic Review will build on findings and recommendations from past and ongoing PBSO-wide exercises, such as the Thematic Review on Human Rights and Peacebuilding, the Thematic Review on Local Peacebuilding, the Thematic Review on Gender-Responsive Peacebuilding and the CSM-supported Thematic Review on Climate Security and Peacebuilding, all of which contain important reflections on youth programming.
Over 698 million young people, ages 15-35, live in fragile and conflict-affected settings. These settings are highly affected by climate change. Young people find themselves in unique positions – they are the most vulnerable to climate, conflict and insecurity, yet they also hold the key as critical actors who can drive change. UNDP’s policy paper “Bridging Generations: Pathways to a Youth-Inclusive Climate, Peace and Security Agenda” explores early findings from how UNDP’s, including CSM, CPS policy and programming engages youth, fosters meaningful inclusion, and promotes youth empowerment. The paper examines potential gaps, challenges, and opportunities, offering early recommendations for improving the integration of youth-sensitive, responsive, and inclusive approaches to CPS. It seeks to explore the strategies, approaches, and promising practices employed by UNDP in addressing the intersection of CPS and youth. With UNDP initiatives as the starting point, this policy paper looks at:
- The impact of climate-related peace and security risks on young people;
- The strategic importance of engaging young people in the CPS agenda;
- Early findings and recommendations as distilled from UNDP’s CPS initiatives to ensure engagement and empowerment of young people into the CPS agenda.
UNDP, the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) developed a guidance note on Youth, Climate, Peace and Security launched in October 2024. This guidance note is the first of its kind that bridges the CPS and YPS agendas. It sheds new light on how young people are at the leading edge of these efforts - already acting and working in an integrated manner to address climate-related peace and security risks - and provides practitioners with exploratory guidance and considerations for creating an integrated agenda on youth, climate, peace and security.