THE GRASSROOTS VIEW
Episode 7: European Year of Youth 2022:  climate action is where youth empowerment should begin

NARRATOR: As the European Year of Youth begins, we ask three leaders what it means for them and what they hope to achieve through it.
Adélaïde Charlier :[08:25-09:00 + 02:50-03:25 , NO 03:01-03:11 + 03:40-03:47] “Every decision for me that is linked to climate change should be made, first of all, already today, by our world leaders with two things in front of their eyes: an IPCC report and a picture of their kids. Because clearly the decision that they are making should be based on the reality of the climate urgency - so the IPCC report - but also with them knowing that it will [...] directly, as soon as they decide, impact their kids."
NARRATOR: This is the steady voice of Adélaïde Charlier, one of the most prominent leaders of the School Strike for Climate movement, an ongoing series of youth demonstrations initiated by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg in 2018.
[Voices of protesters chanting: "What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!"]
Born in 2000, Adélaïde now works closely with the EU's Mr Green Deal:
"It's been now, I think, a few months, well, maybe a year or two, that I've been the special adviser of Mr. Timmermans and I have accepted this role because [...] I want to make sure that Mr. Timmermans, as the vice president of the European Commission, hears the voice of the unheard and namely the youth and the people who are already affected by climate change.”
NARRATOR: Adélaïde really has a hand in efforts to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent, despite her young age. Or should we say: "because of her young age"?

Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, who at 31 is the EU executive's youngest member, has no doubt: it’s thanks to the determination of young activists like her that the fight against climate change has climbed up the EU’s priority list. 

Virginijus Sinkevičius: “If it weren't for the young people asking politicians to act for climate, we wouldn't have the European Green Deal today and we wouldn't be talking as loud and clear about the need for climate action. I represent, of course, all Europeans, the young ones and the older ones. And it's my honour to do that. It's true, though, that of course, in these two years, I have talked with many young people in different setups from different backgrounds across Europe, and I've been listening to their concerns, hopes, dreams, demands, and these discussions always stay with me.”
NARRATOR: For EESC vice-president Cillian Lohan, the lesson young people have taught the whole of Europe goes beyond climate action; it has been a true lesson in democracy:
Cillian Lohan: “I think that the youth have really led the way in showing how an active section of society can set the agenda on a particular topic. 
In the area that I work in, or [...] the area that I come from, the environmental NGO sector, we've really seen that the youth, by being engaged and being active, can help set the agenda on a global stage politically. So I think their activism, their engagement and their knowledge of their subject matter is really a great example for participatory democracy in general. 
I think the youth movement really shines a light on how an engaged section of society can add real value to how our democratic structures work and function.”
	 	 	 	
NARRATOR: The idea of proclaiming 2022 European Year of Youth was first mooted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her 2021 State of the Union address:   
"As Delors asked, how can we ever build Europe if young people do not see it as a collective project and a vision of their own future? This is why we will propose to make 2022 the Year of European Youth."

But this initiative did not come out of the blue. It is the culmination of the European Commission's efforts to reach out to youth and harness the transformative potential of their action. 

Commissioner Sinkevičius outlines the main projects underway to engage youth. 
“We have put forward the Green Track campaign where young people can join a debate about the future of the planet in a series of events dedicated to nature and other environmental areas ahead of COP 15 in spring. We will also be launching huge events related to our commitment to plant 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030. 
And there is a big communication push to young people called Next Generation EU, showing young citizens what the EU is doing to help the recovery from the pandemic. 
The Conference on the Future of Europe is interacting with EU citizens and youth in particular, and it’s still ongoing. We have reached millions of Europeans, but we would love to reach more young Europeans, so I encourage everyone to take part. It's the biggest outreach effort ever made by the institutions, and it is working quite well despite the pandemic. 
And Erasmus is a really powerful instrument. It comes with a new element next year called Youth Participation Action, and it will fund 500 projects around the EU, giving thousands of young people from all backgrounds a chance to engage and participate in civic society.” 
NARRATOR: The EESC has been very supportive of the European Year of Youth proposal. 
This year, it will be devoting its annual Civil Society Prize to young people, awarding 50 000 EUR to those among them who have shown the greatest engagement and made the most significant and original contribution to their communities. 
According to Cillian Lohan, it is patently clear that empowering young people means first and foremost giving them a seat at the table of EU climate policy- and decision-making.
However, meeting and discussing with EU representatives is not enough. Young activists must be able to monitor what becomes of their proposals. In order for the EU institutions to deliver on their commitments, follow-up is vital.  
Cillian Lohan: “I made a proposal that we should establish Youth Round Tables on climate and sustainability. And that proposal was taken up by the Commission because I think the institutions recognised that that gap is there. And so as the EESC, we were able to work with the Commission to establish these round tables where we take between ten and 15 young climate activists and advocates and put them face to face with the face of the institution. 
That's a very practical way of bridging that gap. And we importantly worked with the youth organisations to ensure that was designed in a way that they were comfortable with and that it didn't become just a photo opportunity or a box-ticking exercise, but that there's real tangible proposals being put forward to the commissioners, the commissioners get a chance to explain the work that they're doing, and then there's a feedback mechanism so that the youth from those round tables are replied to, about why their proposals are either taken on board or rejected or kicked down the line or something that can't be done right now but will be done later.”
NARRATOR: As a young leader of climate-related protests, Adélaïde Charlier was also invited to join the EESC-led Youth Climate and Sustainability Round Tables. 
Adélaïde Charlier: “Thanks to this actual [...] Youth, Climate and Sustainability Round Table, I think I was able to meet many other youths that were engaged. And that's also hard to see because sometimes as youth, we feel maybe alone. 
It was a really good initiative to include the youth and to take their opinion. And it was really a long moment for us to really get to know each other and then to bring forward strong opinions that we had all discussed together. 
Youth are impacted since youth are on this planet, right? So we should be able to be engaged and at least have the opportunity to engage ourselves. 
The voice of youth is clearly not taken enough into account in the decisions that we are making today on the European level, but also anywhere else in the world. So we need to be able to open that, and I know that's one of the projects of the EU.”
NARRATOR: Getting down to the nitty-gritty, why has involving young people in devising environmental policies become more urgent than ever? 
The challenge of fighting climate change is not transitory; it's here to stay for decades to come. Whether they are ready or not, future generations will have to cope with it.
According to Adélaïde Charlier, young people have no choice: they must be ready to take on this challenge. 
Adélaïde Charlier “Today the EU has this goal of reducing the CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030. I'll be 30 years old and by 2050, the goal is for the EU to be climate neutral! OK, I'll be 50! So that's like the moment where my generation, you know, will have to kind of handle this society and take the lead afterwards, after the people that are today taking the lead. 
So we need to make sure today when we bring those targets on the table, when we bring the way we're going to reach those targets, that we agree with and that we understand what the process is because we will have to follow it up. You know, it's a very long term change and it's a change in society, which means it's going to bring everyone around this with us on board. So this is why the youth need to be included. [...] This is why we cannot have a European year of youth that fails. 
Clearly, the European Year of Youth needs to have an impact on the European Climate Pact. It has to - there’s no other choice.
I strongly believe that the fact that we will include youth, if it's really well done and if the strategy has been really well followed by the European institutions, then it can only have an impact, because the youth have nothing else to lose.”
NARRATOR: But to include young people, EU institutions must reach them and that's not always easy: how can it be done? 
Adélaïde Charlier: “The youths will not come to you. For several reasons. Because either the youths don't trust anymore the institutions or politics, or because the youth don't know how to get there or because the youth don't think it's their place.
If we want to reach the youth from all across Europe, it's about getting the debate and the discussion towards them. It's about bringing the debates in schools or bringing it in sport clubs, or bringing it in different places like these because then the youth will get interested. And most of all, youth will understand that actually they can be included and they don't have to wait until after school or after university, when they have to find a job to actually get involved. No! They can get involved today.
And that's, I think, where the difference should really be in the next year. It's not only opening the doors of the European institution, it's the European institutions going towards the doors of the youth.”
NARRATOR: To round up this conversation, we asked Vice-President Cillian Lohan and Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius what message they wanted to send to young people at the outset of this European Year of Youth. These are their words: 
Cillian Lohan: “My message would be one of thanks, because I think they've led the way in showing that if you're active and if you get engaged, you can change things. You can make a difference and it’s a great advertisement for their generation and showing that by being engaged, you can affect change and they give great hope, I think, to so many different groups within society.”
NARRATOR: And now a final word from Commissioner Sinkevičius.   
“First of all, use your frustration: when you channel it properly, it's very powerful. So [...] keep pushing at the doors. Keep telling the people in charge that you want to see change. You have to turn that dissatisfaction into a determination to change the world. And when the time comes, if you're interested, do get involved.
And secondly, keep believing that change can happen. Europe has seen enormous changes for the better in many areas, from social inclusion to energy mix, even in my lifetime. But we need much more, especially for nature and the climate. So those changes are starting to happen, but they need a really big push from below. We need to keep living in the possibility of change and use that force to deliver it.”  	 	
NARRATOR: If you want to find out more about the EESC's work on youth participation, you can read the EESC opinion Towards structured youth engagement on climate and sustainability in the EU decision-making process at www.eesc.europa.eu.
You can also read the EESC's opinion on the European Commission's proposals for the European Year of Youth, which has just been adopted. 
More information on the 2022 Civil Society Prize will be made available as soon as possible. Active young people wishing to apply can watch out for news and updates on the EESC social media channels or at www.eesc.europa.eu.
This podcast is produced by Bulle Media.
It brings together institutional representatives from the EESC, thematic experts from European media and representatives of organised civil society.