Building Up Youth Voices: How Judith and Saskia Advocate For A More Sustainable Planet
ACE Youth Hub participants Judith and Saskia have a common goal: to work for a greener and more sustainable future and actively make a difference. We talked to the two students about their visions and what they want to see happen from the upcoming COP 28.
There are currently 1.9 billion young people aged 10 to 24 living throughout the world. Together, they form the largest generation of young people in human history. Given these facts, it is evident that achieving sustainable development and peace depends on engaging youth and creating an environment that allows them to fully realize and utilize their capabilities. Through the Action for Climate Empowerment Hub (ACE Hub), two student youth activists, Judith K. Musa and Saskia Castañeda Falcón, are setting an example of how urgently we need youth involvement to help drive humanity closer to the 2030 Agenda.
“The problems we have around us are great opportunities if we are passionate for the change we want to see.” — Judith Musa.
Judith Musa is a 25-year-old Master’s student from Kenya with a passion for people and the planet. Her ambition is evident in her pursuit of a joint Masters of Science in Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security offered by UNU-EHS Bonn and the University of Bonn. As a DAAD scholar (Leadership for Africa) and Graduate Fellow of “Africa for SDGs”, Judith is very committed to driving positive change. Her life goal is to see an African continent whose people are happy and confidently real to themselves, sustainably progressing and able to fully meet their basic needs. She wants to spread love, peace, and hope throughout Africa and is currently contributing to her goals as a student assistant at IDOS.
“We can change the narrative for coping with climate change and for preventing its most harmful outcomes.” — Saskia Castañeda Falcón
Similarly, Saskia Castañeda Falcón, a Masters student of Social Anthropology and Philosophy, is passionate about climate action, nature conservation, and cooperation between different cultures. She is particularly fascinated by the intricate connection between people and nature and has a strong desire to change the Western world’s perception of the environment. Currently, Saskia works as a lecturer in a publishing house for literature on African cultures and languages Her commitment to nature extends to her Master’s thesis, which focuses on human-plant relationships in Europe. After completing her studies, Saskia would like to become actively involved in working groups that focus on climate action and resilience.
What the young women undoubtedly have in common is their unwavering commitment to the planet and the SDGs. We spoke to Judith and Saskia to learn more about how they Unite to Act for the SDG’s while focusing on their respective areas of interest.
Zooming in on one priority, what challenge speaks to you the most and how are you uniting to act for the SDGs?
Judith: In less than 8 years to vision 2030, it is a challenge to implement the 17 SDGs in their multi-level and complex nature. Different regions and groups have different priorities. As a Master student at UN Campus Bonn and University of Bonn, we have dived into depths of specific SDGs and their targets. This has helped us know more and see some realities that outside this space, we could not. As a student assistant at IDOS, working on the NDCs of different countries and seeing how their pledged activities contribute to the achievement of the seventeen global goals has been interesting. I would say every team is pulling up to do their best and this is a good move.
Saskia: For me one of the most important aspects about how to generate change is, to reconsider and reshape our relationship we have with nature. In my view, a driving source of climate change is the way how most industrialized nations from the global north act economically. Nature and human capacities are in this logic seen as a resource for economic action that can be retrieved anytime and with any given intensity if economic profit seems possible. The challenge of telling new narratives about human-nature relationships seems to me, to lie at the heart for changing the narrative on economy as a destructive force. By reframing our engagement with nature in terms of respect, reciprocal vulnerability of humanity and nature, we can make new ways for turning towards sound economic engagement. In this way, we can establish healthy cross-cultural relationship among countries and our shared earth.
In light of the upcoming COP 28, what do you want to see happen right now that can contribute to inverting this negative trend and putting us back on the right path?
J: I think it would be wise to allow regions and groups to still focus on their priority SDGs, while at the same time understanding why each one of them is important. Young people are the majority on the planet, especially in the “global south” and hence a priority in putting us back on the right path. However, in most spaces, they are left out in many decision-making places. Their ideas, energy and capabilities in the globalized technological era should be an opportunity to ensure a sustainable future instead of being a threat. COP 28 should give youths an opportunity to air out their views and showcase their solutions in light of the SDGs, and most importantly consider that in sustainable decision making. The planet is sending signals of danger and the future is at risk.
S: I want COP 28 to be a place where the economic interests of the oil and gas industry have no chance for winning arguments for real solutions. Especially, I think it necessary to kick polluters out of COP 28 and to undermine arguments for profit of a few against the well-being of the rest. I wish that COP 28 concentrates on talking about what is really at stake and to focus on the things that are not easy to talk about but urgently necessary. I want peaceful and strong minds to settle arguments and the ability to cooperate for real solutions. It is a certain stance that needs to be acquired, solutions are all at hand.
Which individual or initiative inspires you to take action and continue to work towards a better future for all?
J: The Great Green Wall across North Africa is my inspiration. It is not yet fully done but it gives me so much encouragement to push on despite the difficulties in achieving the planetary goals. The gradually enlarging Sahara Desert is a major challenge for me as a pan-African youth, but seeing something being done about it, my heart lights up. We can too act on the SDGs in our local small spaces. Those little acts we do are big and they count. Just as the people who built the millennial-old Giza Pyramids in Egypt have a lifelong legacy, we can still have something that lives beyond us through SDG Action.
S: What inspires me most is when initiatives and people with the same enthusiasm and passion for real change come together. I see it as a valuable and strengthening process when these initiatives exchange views and provide support to each other. I cannot choose one initiative because there are so many. But if I had to, I want to point out for “EndeGelände” being active in Germany for its political engagement in mitigating carbon emissions. They organize events and climate camps, like the “System Change Camp”, where working groups of all areas addressing climate change, come together, learn, and encourage each other.
What are the novel trends and opportunities that you think will be game-changing for SDG action?
J: Social media is a spark for SDG action in the 21st century. The billions of people, especially youths on social media is already a great opportunity. Many of us spend most of our time on social media, either driven by curiosity, desire to know and connect, or just for business. If we could all share and inspire others to share their little but big things, SDG action would be easier and can bring the planet back to track. The global village can be lit by localized SDG actions.
S: Novel trends are reframing our work morality (primarily in industrial countries). E.g., thinking less in terms of an achievement-oriented society and making space for shared work models, 4-day week, working less hours, appreciating free time etc. We need to rethinking Western concepts about “profit”, “professionality”, “efficiency”, “progress”. How can we make them fit into planet- and human-friendly concepts?
What has been a key turning point in your life? What have you learned from this that gives you hope for the current turning point we find ourselves in?
J: Finding that Africa is at the verge of more exploitation than progress in the hands of the rest of the world has been my turning point. As a young African, I would want to see a better homeland. I know it will take a lot of energy, time and input but I stubbornly believe that this will come to pass. Africa is endowed with so much that we can use and make a better thriving space for ourselves and the future generations. I have learnt that the problems we have around us are great opportunities if we are passionate for the change we want to see.
S: A turning point for me was reading Donna Haraway´s book Staying with the Trouble (2016). The book provided a new perspective on the relationship of humans, fungi, plants, and other animals. Humans are obviously not the only species on earth and climate change is turning many places unlivable, for all species. Besides, we are deeply connected and entangled with other species: microorganism manage our digestion, plants produce the oxygen we need to breath, food needs to grow on fertile soil made from hundreds of microorganisms etc. To say it with Haraway´s words: “We need to make kin”. Not only through natal ties but within non-natal ties, with other humans, trees, the soil under our feet, plants, the rabbit on the grass next to my house. We need to take responsibility for the entanglements we live in. In this way, we can change the narrative for coping with climate change and for preventing its most harmful outcomes. If we really would take our entanglement with nature seriously, how could we longer put profit over species?
