Youth in Action: Youth at Rio Conventions

In this episode, we go back to October 2025, bringing together Youth Policy Board members Riham Helmy, Bochola Sara Arero and Alexandros Tataridas to explore how youth are driving action across climate change, land degradation and biodiversity and shaping the future of global policy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Hello and welcome to the World Food Forum Podcast and the new episode of Youth in Action series. My name is Alexandra. I will be your host, and today we are going back to October 2025, bringing together two inspiring members of Youth Policy Board for a conversation on how youth are shaping action across climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity. This episode explores how these interconnected crises are being addressed through youth engagement, collaboration, and policy influence across the RIA conventions. Across 20 minutes, the discussion highlights youth perspective on driving systematic change, strengthening cross-sector cooperation, and ensuring that young voices are part of the global decision making on climate, land, and biodiversity. Let's dive in. Hello everyone, and thank you so much for joining us today at our World Food Forum podcast. And we are more than happy to have you all here. And before we start, we would like to ask you if you could shortly introduce yourselves.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

So my name is Riham Helmi. I come from Egypt, and as per my role here, I'm the Youth Policy Board member for Nina region and thematic lead for the climate change. A little bit about me, I studied environmental science, systems, and chemistry, and my master is in climate change management. I actually also work uh as a director for an organization in Egypt that also focuses on climate change and agri-food sector transformation. So uh it's a whole cycle, it's just inseparable.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Oh, thank you, thank you. Alexandros, on to you.

SPEAKER_04 1:45

Thank you, Alexandra. My name is Alexandros Tataritas. I am from Greece, but I'm working in Portugal at the University of Coimbra. I am a youth policy board member as well, leading the thematic of biodiversity. Um, my motivation to join um the World Food Forum and uh specifically this role about biodiversity within the youth policy board um was um the call for action that we need to act quickly because we experience uh the climate catastrophe. Uh me, uh I have witnessed firsthand this ecological uh destruction and uh all the disturbances that the anthropogenic uh actions cause to the environment and specifically the farming systems. So biodiversity needs to be highlighted and prioritized in our actions and in our policies.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Thank you very much. My name is Bochola Sararo, and I serve as the thematic lead for desertification, land degradation and growth of the World Food Forum's policy board. And um, I come from a pastoralist and indigenous community in Borana, that's like the southern part of Ethiopia. And our lives are um connected deeply to the land and climate and the livestock that we have. But over the five uh few years, um my community has faced uh the worst droughts and decades and um five years of no rain, uh, and we lost a lot of um our livestock, hundreds and thousands of our livestock, which we depend on for our livelihood, and a lot of land was uh degraded as well. Um so seeing how this uh land degradation and recurring droughts were destroying both the ecosystem and opportunities, uh, it inspired me to take action coming together with other pastoralist uh youth in my community. We formed the African Youth Pastoralist Initiative, which advocates for uh policies to be inclusive of indigenous and pastoralist communities like our own, and we advocate for climate justice as well. And uh, this is also what inspired me to join um the youth policy board because it gives uh voice to marginalized communities and also um covers a wide range of regions and thematic areas. So I uh really felt like I could uh contribute and um it's really just inspired me to become part of uh Changemaker, like uh contributing to policies uh coming from a background like my own.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Definitely. I have to I have to agree with you on that. And maybe you can also tell us what actually motivated you to get involved with the youth assembly, your perspective thematic here.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

All right, so um for for a ground reason, like working with youth uh over the past years has inspired me that I always believe that youth are not just a cattle for change, we are agents for change actually. And uh for climate change specifically, that the planetary boundaries are becoming closer and that we have to act fast. The cost of inaction is increasing. The climate change emissions from agriculture are less counted, and then we have also a great potential in mitigation to lower the carbon dioxide emissions in this uh regard in the agri-food systems.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

So during the thematic consultation on integrated agri-food systems and youth in NDCs, uh which you organized in collaboration with youth assembly partner organizations, what were some of the most key youth recommendations that emerged from the discussions?

SPEAKER_03 5:12

We had a number of consultation events that we had done with youth from around the globe to have shared perspectives, diversified approaches of how they actually understand and uh experience food systems from their uh countries. So uh working on the nationally determined contributions in DCs has been very pivotal at this moment because we are on the way and road to COP30 that is taking place in Brazil, enhancing all the uh climate uh commitments for countries. So we would like youth to shape the future, actually. So it was very important to have their voices heard, their voices documented and shared across the policymakers. And as by now, we have the document on the website so everyone can view it and check what are the uh global youths have decided. And um some of the um of the recommendations or the highlights that we worked on regarding the agri-food sector transformation, um we have like a key message that indices NDC 3.0 represents a pivotal moment to embed agri-food systems that are in the center of negotiations in climate change, adaptation, mitigation, finance, and just transition. Um and we cannot do that without recognizing uh the importance of financial mechanisms in incentivizing net zero and low emission development uh mechanisms and inclusive innovative agri-food uh solutions and also to ensure diverse targeted funding streams and mechanisms to integrate all government private sector philanthropies for projects targeting youth communities, women, and people with disabilities. And it's also very important to secure transformative, responsive capacity building that it has as adaptation and gender equality, land tenure and access to finance as well.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

So being part of the youth policy board, while at the same time many of you have full-time jobs or you're pursuing your PhDs or working on your research, how do you manage to do it all?

SPEAKER_03 7:25

Well, actually the support system. One of the major things that we have here is the secretariat, the Woodfoot Forum Secretariat, who actually supports us in planning, execution, and delivering. So it's not a one-man show, it's always a collective effort. And it's very important to acknowledge all the efforts that have been in place to make this happen. And I can't forget the efforts of youth who attend and have their voices actually shaping these recommendations. I'm very thankful for everyone who actually um took place in this process.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

And talking about youth conversations that are truly interconnected. So the climate, land, biodiversity, they are deeply linked. How do you see youth collaboration across these themes strengthening impact?

SPEAKER_03 8:13

I really thank you for that question because it's very essential. As in the World Food Forum, we always like to work apart from the silos. We would like to have shared vision, not only shared vision, but also integrated approaches in order to integrate the solutions across the three uh main conventions. So climate change, desertification, and biodiversity can be interlinked. And then we can provide uh approaches on ecosystem-based adaptation, for example, and nature-based solutions, uh, as well as financial streams that can respond to all of these under the three conventions. So this kind of solution can respond effectively under the three conventions, uh, working on shaping the uh land restoration efforts, uh, closing the gap to 1.50 and uh restoring ecosystems.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Bujala, during the thematic consultation on integrated land use planning, which you organized in collaboration with youth assembly partner organizations, what were some of the key recommendations or feedback from you that emerged during the discussions?

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Okay, um, thank you. So we had our consultation with our partner organizations in August 2025, and this convened over 150 youth participants from all regions. It included indigenous leaders, scientists, farmers, and youth advocates, and we discussed how young people can meaningfully engage in integrated land use planning processes. And um, one of the main uh recommendations that came out from the consultation was capacity building, the need for uh capacity building for youth. So this includes training uh and programming for youth on GIS mapping and data analysis as it involves um land use and also regional workshop and mentorship with experts uh and um planners. And also uh there was a need for incentives and funding from um user-led projects. So uh the second key recommendation was digital inclusion. Uh, this uh included use designed apps and early warning systems for land monitoring and um evaluation, and also interactive um e-loop integrated land use planning simulators to make uh planning very engaging, and also the use of um digital platforms for transparency and participation. So, talking about young people getting involved, what do you think is the best way for them to do so?

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Do you have any advice for them?

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I think um the World Food Forum, I think it's a great way to start. Uh, that's where I started, and now I'm doing all this work uh with uh the e-loop guidelines uh for FAO, and also they are very responsive. So I think um that's a great way to start. And also um user representation and leadership, um, formal use seats in e-loop committees and policy boards. Uh I've been on different um events with uh people from um FAO team, technical um divisions, uh the land uh and water divisions as well. And they're very open, they're sharing their email. Uh they're uh they want used input in their guidelines that are coming up in December. So um I think that's also uh one great way to start. And just um final key recommendation that came out of the session was financial support and accessibility. So this includes small grants for projects like projects in agroecology, urban gardening, erosion control, um, and others. And also there's uh provision of digital tools and equipment, especially for use in uh rural areas where uh there's a lot of challenge in um accessing digital tools and equipment, and also just simplified uh guides in local languages with illustrations, because uh not everyone has the same level of knowledge um on different uh topics. So just simplified uh and um local uh languages in their guidelines, I think, would really include uh youth in remote areas as well. So those were some of the key recommendations uh that came out of uh the inop session.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

A lot of feedbacks that is great to hear. And talking about traditional and local knowledge, how it can be actually integrated with youth innovation to combat degradation, droughts, and desertification.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Okay, so coming from a pastoralist and genus uh background in Ethiopia, I've seen firsthand how traditional knowledge has always been a foundation for land stewardship. Our elders, they have um long understood how uh to read the landscape, predict uh rainfall patterns, and manage uh their grazing cycles to keep the ecosystem in balance. Uh, however, climate change and increasing land pressure is making it hard for traditional knowledge uh to bridge those gaps. And that's where now youth innovation comes in. So young people um now they're using technology, science, and creativity to strengthen and scale these traditional systems. For example, um in some pastoralist regions, youth are using mobile apps, they're using drone mapping to track um pasture conditions, water points, and they're helping their communities make uh better grazing decisions so that land is uh not overgrazed and degraded. And others are combining indigenous soil conservation techniques with um modern and regenerative agriculture methods to restore uh degraded lands more efficiently. So, um, to truly integrate these two forms of knowledge, we need to build bridges between generations. So that means creating spaces for elders and scientists and youth so that they can co-design restoration um initiatives. So this uh can bring traditional practices um that are validated by evidence and innovations that are guided by cultural context. So this means that policies and research programs must also recognize local and indigenous knowledge as equally valuable as scientific um expertise. So when we merge the wisdom of tradition with the energy and the innovation of youth, I think we can create solutions that are not just effective but sustainable and that are also rooted in uh the cultural identity of uh different communities.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Alexandros, during the thematic consultation on biodiversity for food and nutrition initiative, which you also organized in collaboration with youth assembly partner organizations, what were some of the most promising youth-led initiatives or key recommendations that emerged from the discussions?

SPEAKER_04 14:42

Thank you. Allow me to start from describing what we are doing uh together with the Food and Nutrition Technical Division of FAO. And this is uh a very deep um analysis of these linkages and the drivers that um uh describe the biodiversity for food and nutrition nexus. This is a cross-cutting initiative that was um proposed and adopted uh by FAO. This was requested by the parties in the last uh conference of parties, the COP16. So we are working on this nexus, and we were very happy to engage over 250 youth in our last online consultation session, which could be probably a capacity development session if um I want to be more clear. And uh they provided key recommendations for the implementation of the initiative. Among many different recommendations, I could highlight just four, which are the most important and critical in order to implement this action. The first uh is um the first recommendation had to do with research. So we need to strengthen research on the drivers of biodiversity and nutritional linkages, focusing on consumer behavior and its influence on farming practices. The second, we need to promote coherence across agricultural, nutrition, and biodiversity policies. Uh, during the flagship week, um, I was happy to present these results in the um uh mainstage uh from policy to action session. And this was actually commented by Corina Hox, who talked about systems approach. And we need to change um our mindsets and think about the systems if we want to achieve holistic changes. The third recommendation um has to do with the provision of viable livelihoods linked to biodiversity conservation, particularly for youth and rural communities. And finally, we need to prioritize education as the foundation for awareness.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

And moving on to our next question, that is in your experience, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities in ensuring youth inclusion in NBSAP processes?

SPEAKER_04 16:48

The national biodiversity strategies and action plans is something that we are working on together with the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, which is the official constituency in the Convention on Biological Diversity. So we are working actively uh with our colleagues in order to provide youth recommendations and concrete priorities that youth select in order to build and create policy-making um uh spaces for youth in the global policy arena and involve them into the biodiversity dialogues, both at national and international level. So there are many challenges. Uh, I don't want to repeat um something that we heard hundreds of times this week, but uh some of the challenges um uh could be financing and funding of youth and youth-led initiatives on biodiversity monitoring, uh, conservation and restoration. And uh the most important for me is the silo thinking. So we need to move uh beyond and uh step out of these um boundaries that we have set. Um as an opportunity, um, as a set of opportunities, I would say that there are many, but the most important is to uh um empower youth and create communities that um are working actively in uh integrating biodiversity into agri-food systems, and later on uh in the policy arena, agri-food systems within the national plans.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Uh I have an additional question, and last one actually. And first of all, I know that it's a quite basic question that everyone always asks, right? And we all know the answer, but I would like to hear it from your experience. So, in just one sentence, Alexandro, starting with you, why is it important to have platforms like Youth Assembly, World Food Forum, and why is it important to include youth in decision-making processes?

SPEAKER_04 18:47

Because youth brings vision, bring hope, bring energy on the table. And uh, I personally think that youth is the present and the future of this planet. And we desperately need to connect to nature. I'm bringing some uh elements from the biodiversity thematic here. And um this can only be achieved and be realized uh if youth are active members and their involvement is not just symbolic, but it's real. It's there, and they are decision makers for their future and the generations to come.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Well, I always imagine that we are youth currently having the maximum ambition. We still haven't been hit by all the complexity of systems. So as we have the ambitions, we also bring energy, you bring innovative sorts. As the world is changing, we millennials grew up in like half of the technology while Gen Z grew up in technology. So I imagine Gen Alpha is going to be brought up into the generation of AI, which is going to have them as system shapers. So from this point on, we need to involve more youth. After a few years, no one of us is going to be a young person anymore. Um I don't know. I'm just talking for myself, probably. But yeah, so if we like have it like a fresh vision every time, then we have a fresh system. And then the system moves and like durable effect happens, and then it we evolve all together. So yeah, this is what I believe.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Um, I think my colleagues have really summed it up um very well, but just to add on their point, I think it's important to have youth and decision-making processes because we bring fresh perspective, we bring hope and innovation, a long-term vision for the goal. And um, youth are the generation that live the consequences of today's choices. So um our inclusion ensures that future policies or even current policies are like forward looking, they're more equitable, and that they're grounded in real community needs. So I think um that's why we need youth to be involved in decision making processes because we're the future, but also we're the uh ones who suffer consequences from the past. So we need to create a better future for all of us.