As record warming puts climate targets at risk, young people’s ‘green skills’ may help save the planet

Young climate advocates are preparing to tell leaders at a UN summit next month that they are out of options: they must deliver now on ambitions climate action that pushes the world faster towards sustainability and empowers younger generations with the ‘green skills’ that will secure our future.

International Youth Day is marked annually on 12 August and the 2023 edition spotlights green skills and the major role young people will play in driving the much-needed shift towards an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly mindset.

These include technical knowledge and skills that enable the effective use of green technologies and processes in occupational settings, as well as transversal skills that draw on a range of knowledge, values, and attitudes to facilitate environmentally sustainable decisions in work and in life.

“From innovative sustainable technologies and renewable energy, to revolutions in transportation systems and industrial activity, young people must be equipped with skills and knowledge to shape a cleaner, greener, more climate resilient future,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message on the Day.