Pacific youth are calling for a permanent and funded role in biodiversity decision-making, warning that the choices made over the next five years will determine whether the region’s young people inherit healthy ecosystems or a legacy of environmental loss.
Pacific Biodiversity Coordinator for the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation, Claire Oiire, delivered the Pacific Youth Declaration at the 11th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in Noumea.
Speaking on behalf of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network – Pacific Chapter, Oiire said young people make up a large share of the Pacific population and will be responsible for carrying forward commitments made by leaders today.
“The Pacific is one if not the youngest region in the world. Nearly half of our population is under the age of 25.
“By 2030, today’s young people will be the generation responsible for carrying forward every commitment made in this room,” She said.
Oiire said Pacific youth were already seeing the impacts of biodiversity loss, including coral bleaching, forest decline, invasive species and pollution.
“These are not distant environmental issues. They are threats to our food, our cultures, our livelihoods, and our future.
“The choices made over the next five years will determine whether Pacific youth inherit abundance or loss,” she said.
The declaration supports the Môo Mâ Awé Declaration, which sets out a regional approach to biodiversity conservation grounded in Pacific cultures, Indigenous knowledge, customary rights, environmental governance, science and regional cooperation.
Oiire said young people were not seeking to replace the declaration but to help deliver it.
“As youth, we are not asking to replace this vision. We are asking to help deliver it,” she said.
She said young Pacific Islanders were already restoring mangroves, monitoring reefs, protecting endangered species, reviving traditional ecological knowledge and supporting community conservation.
The youth declaration called on Pacific governments to make four commitments.
The first is to recognise youth as decision-makers, not just stakeholders, with meaningful and funded representation in national biodiversity strategies, protected area governance and regional and international processes.
The second is to invest directly in youth leadership through accessible financing and capacity-building for youth-led conservation, Indigenous youth initiatives, research, innovation and community action.
The third is to protect intergenerational and Indigenous knowledge systems, including young Indigenous peoples’ right to learn and practise conservation through their languages, cultures and customary governance systems.
The fourth is to ensure biodiversity, climate and ocean action are addressed together.
“Pacific youth refuse to see these crises treated in isolation,” Oiire said.
“The health of our reefs, forests, fisheries, and communities depends on integrated action and finance that reflects the realities of our islands.”
Oiire said the declaration must translate into measurable action as Pacific countries take their biodiversity priorities into upcoming global processes, including CBD COP17, COP31, the BBNJ Conference of the Parties and the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.
“Declarations matter only when they change lives,” she said.
By 2030, Pacific youth want to see measurable progress in youth participation in biodiversity governance, financing for youth-led initiatives, protection of Indigenous knowledge and implementation of the Môo Mâ Awé Declaration in communities.
“We are not the leaders of tomorrow.
“We are the partners you need today,” Oiire said.
