Youth Intervention at the CBD COP11 Opening Ceremony

Youth Intervention at the CBD COP11 Opening Ceremony

October 8th, Hyderabad

Delivered by Swetha Sthothrabhashyam
GYBN - India

Thank you Madam Chair,

Good morning to all participants. We would like to congratulate M. Dias for his
appointment, and we would like to thank you for this opportunity to share our
perspective with you.

We stand here representing Global Youth - 40% of the world's population; young
foresters fighting illegal logging in Indonesia, young environmentalists protecting
marshlands in Benin, young volunteers at National Parks in Germany as well as in
Canada, students participating in meetings and pressuring their governments in India
and Brazil, fighting for their lands, their culture and biodiversity. This vital work is
being done by millions of young people in their local communities, which is why it is
so important to share our experiences and to work together. Clearly, the will to
conserve biodiversity exists everywhere.

We felt the need to unite our voices and to strengthen our position so that we can be
heard and understood by you. Today, we are proud to present the Global Youth
Biodiversity Network - GYBN for short - for the first time at a CBD COP. We aim to
raise awareness on the immeasurable value of Biodiversity and to provide youth with
a unique platform for collaboration.

We have the energy, the motivation, the innovation. You have the experience, the
knowledge, the power. We want to work with you, learn with you and be part of the
change we want to see in the world.
We are not here just to whine about problems and ask you to fix them for us. We are
here because we want to take responsibility for our own future. As we mentioned
before, we are already committed with our activities back home in reshaping our
future. We want to be understood, to be heard.
This will happen if all parties to the CBD agree - here - to include young people in the
decision making process at the local, national and international levels. We need your
support in becoming permanent stakeholders by including youth participation in
NBSAPs and in the implementation of the Strategic Plan. Establishing National
Youth Delegations and providing Capacity Building, Training, Knowledge Transfer
will ultimately empower us to transform our society. We want to build a society that
cares for the environment as we care for our own existence and understands the
interdependence among all beings.

We are ready to be transformative. Will you join us?

It’s not a coincidence that we are here in India, so let's remember what Gandhi said:
"The Earth, the air, the land and the water are not inheritance from our forefathers but
on loan from our children. So we have to hand it over to them at least as it was
handed over to us."

If you are interested in our work and would like to support us, please join us at our
Side Events on Oct/16th and 18th. You will also find us every day from 8 to 10 pm at
our daily strategy meetings.

Thank you very much