Youth as a conceptual category are often perceived in negative ways – either as the main perpetrators of political violence, social unrest and violent extremism, or as passive victims of conflict who lack agency and need protection. In fact, the dominant narratives have tended to focus on youth as “problematic” or on “at risk” instead of considering how young people are positively contributing to peace in their societies (Mazzacurati, 2017).

These overly simplistic narratives that demonise or patronise youth have spread into policy circles, skewing policy and programmatic priorities in the process (Simpson, 2019) and contributing to counter-productive policy practices based on:

The role of youth in peacebuilding processes has increasingly been recognised as essential to positively transforming conflicts and building the foundations of peaceful and democratic societies. However, much of this discourse focuses on generalisations and often fails to highlight the evidence behind these assertions. As a result, key decision makers tend to have a limited understanding of what youth-led peacebuilding looks like in practice.

The reality is that the evidence base on what works in youth peacebuilding strategies and programmes remains limited. As such, identifying and measuring what initiatives have positive impact on the lives of young people and their communities is vital to scaling up effective support to youth around the world.

Over the course of 30 years of global expansion, participatory budgeting (PB) has been widely lauded as an effective process to strengthen democracy—one that can improve service delivery while increasing trust, engagement, transparency, and accountability between citizens and governments.

Yet behind this reputation is a range of real-world results. Just as PB is implemented in diverse contexts, at different levels of government, with different levels of resourcing, and for different objectives, the outcomes of PB processes also vary widely. Too many well-intentioned leaders and implementers end up with processes that suffer low participation and that fall short of intended goals. Often, these are due to common challenges and barriers; recent research has shown, for example, that nascent PB efforts often suffer from a “local expertise gap,” meaning that knowledge about PB is concentrated within a relatively small network of international PB experts. There is an opportunity to overcome these shared barriers by developing and sharing new mechanisms of support for PB implementers.

What kind of a public policy will advance and even incentivize a sustainable lifestyle? What are the barriers to achieving such a policy? These were the key questions of the session organized by the Science and Technology Major Group and Future Earth.

The session recognized that decoupling economic growth from resource use is not enough for achieving sustainability as long as absolute resource use will not decrease. Furthermore, a systemic change enabling the reduction of consumption can most effectively be achieved through a bottom up participatory approach, driven by action, new narratives, and changes in social norms.

Forest Peoples Programme: Respect for tenure security and human rights is essential for removing deforestation from agricultural commodity supply chains.

Tropical deforestation has been rising steadily since the start of this millennium. The production, global trade and consumption of agricultural commodities are clearly key contributing factors. The efforts at UNEA 4 to develop a resolution addressing deforestation and forest degradation related to agricultural commodity supply chains has come at the right time.

It appears, however, the draft resolution, withdrawn already, falls short of critical elements related to forest conversion. Insecure community tenure and illegal resource use, land trafficking, corruption and criminal activities on the forest frontier are not fully considered.

Humans Use 80% of the World’s Land to Feed Animals that Produce 18% of Calorific Value Food, Forest and Climate was panel discussion considering how to transition current global agricultural standards to maintain a future sustainable food system. Having seen a steady transition towards industrial agriculture, the question now is: how do we change these habits?

WWF International focuses on three aspects: sustainable production; food loss and waste, and sustainable diet. The scale of the impact of food production, it was argued, can also be a major part of the solution. Perception is the key. Most people don't see food production as a threat to nature. There is no awareness of where food comes from, how it is produced, how it is sourced. The need, therefore, is to educate young people and raise awareness.

Innovative Solutions for Wildlife Trade Challenges and Their Potential in Sustainable Consumption and Production.

Ms. Sarah Ferguson, Director of TRAFFIC Viet Nam, and Mr. Taye Teferi, TRAFFIC’s Policy and Partnership Coordinator, spoke about the enormity of the illegal trade in wildlife, which (excluding timber and fisheries) is reported to be worth at least US$19 billion per year, making it the fourth largest illegal global trade after drugs, counterfeiting and human trafficking.

Ambassador Alfonso de Alba, the Envoy for the forthcoming Climate Summit, introduced the upcoming Summit, which will be held on 23 September 2019 in New York.

The theme of this year’s Summit- A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must Win- will seek to challenge Member States, civil society and the private sector, to take action on the following key areas: energy transition, climate finance and carbon pricing, industry transition, nature-based solutions, cities and local action, and resilience.

In addition, there will be an added focus onmmitigation in new major emitters, public mobilisation and social and political drivers. A coalition of governmental actors will be invited from every region to collaborate in developing each of these themes.

The 4th UN Environment Assembly approved the 6th Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6). GEO-6 is the most extensive GEO ever attempted, both in its scope and in the number of participants. This UNEA will also start the process toward GEO-7, setting the parameters for participation. It is crucial that UNEA-4 directs the UN Environment to ensure that the Major Groups and Stakeholders have defined and expanded roles in GEO-7.

Initially, the role of the Major Groups in GEO was limited. This started to change during the 1st UN Environment Assembly, where civil society representatives workedwith the UN Environment Chief Scientist Jaqueline McGlade requesting the Major Groups be permitted to participate in GEO-6. These representatives intervened a number of times in support of the proposed GEO-6 process on behalf of the Major Group Science and Technology as they have also done at the previous three Assemblies.

Lifestyle Changes based on Values and Ethics – The Role of Faith in promoting Sustainable Consumption and Innovative Technology

The event, Faith for Earth was graced by the presence of Ms. Inger Andersen, Executive Director designate of UNEP. It was an interesting event as various individuals representing various faiths in the world (CYNESA, Brahma Kumaris, the Anglican Church and the Islamic Relief Worldwide) composed the panel.

It was a great incite on how individuals should live in harmony with nature. First, our faith leaders are accessible and so the churches, mosques and even temples are and have been here for longer; they are ready to listen to the cries and criticisms of the youth in matters of addressing climatic issues. In addition, it is essential that faith be involved in policy making in environmental issues, and facilitation of behavioral changes as much as it may be difficulty to change old habits.