Building Biodiversity: Youth Dialogue with UNEP’s IRP Co-Chairs

Are you committed to taking action to protect the future of our planet? Do you want to learn how to turn biodiversity loss into biodiversity value? On the occasion of the launch of the new UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP)´s thinkpiece “Building Biodiversity – The Natural Resource Management Approach“,  we are bringing you the first-ever YEE x IRP Youth Dialogue.  Stop by and join us together with the UNEP IRP´s Co-Chairs Izabella Teixeira and Janez Potočnik on Thursday 24 June at 17:30 – 18:30 CEST. 

We rely on biodiversity for everything from food and medicine to climate resilience. Yet, our economic systems are failing to recognize nature’s benefits. Our efforts to protect and restore nature have so far overlooked the single biggest factor in biodiversity loss, the world’s inefficient & irresponsible use of natural resources. 

How much do you know about the link between biodiversity loss and the management of our natural resources? Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. 1 million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction and 90% of land-use-related biodiversity loss is caused by the extraction and processing of natural resources. To address biodiversity loss, we need to address its root drivers.  

The good news is, governments and businesses can turn biodiversity loss into biodiversity value, by applying natural resources management strategies. That’s why YEE teamed up with the International Resource Panel (IRP) to bring you one step closer to biodiversity value. 

Register now for the YEE x IRP Youth Dialogue with the IRP’s Head of the Secretariat Merlyn Van Voore, and IRP’s Co-Chairs Izabella Teixeira (former Environment Minister of Brazil) and Janez Potočnik (former European Commissioner for Environment and Science), on Thursday 24 June at 17:30 – 18:30 CEST.

Keynote speakers: 

Merlyn Van Voore is the Head of the Secretariat for the International Resource Panel. Merlyn joined the United Nations in 2009, at UNEP’s Headquarters in Nairobi, and has held several leadership positions.  More info here.

Izabella Teixeira is Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel. She is an expert in environmental management, impact assessment, and licensing. She is the former Environment Minister of Brazil and was named a Champion of the Earth in 2013. More info here.  

Janez Potočnik is Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel. Among other roles, he is Partner at SYSTEMIQ and advisor to thought-leading institutions such as the European Forest Institute. Before, he was European Commissioner for the Environment and Slovenia’s Minister for European Affairs. More info here. 

Jessica Micklem is a youth activist passionate about biodiversity and reshaping our society to one that can live in harmony with-in nature. Jessica is active from a local level to an international level and also co-founded and co-coordinated GYBN Europe, the European chapter of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, the youth constituency of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Kristela Toskaj is an Environmental Scientist with a background in Natural Resource Management, currently working as YEE Advocacy Officer on Biodiversity. Kristela (she/her) has experience in working in multicultural and interdisciplinary environments and is passionate about youth activism for fostering a sustainable future.

Vania Olmos Lau is a biologist with a master’s degree in Agroecology and Organic Agriculture. She currently works for GIZ in Mexico and is the current Regional Facilitator of UNEP-MGCY for the Latinamerican and Caribbean region.

You will learn everything you need to know about the work of the IRP, the sustainable management of natural resources, and how young people can help turn biodiversity loss into biodiversity value, as well as having the opportunity to pose your own questions to the Co-Chairs.

Celebrating the launch of the new IRP´s thinkpiece “Building Biodiversity – The Natural Resource Management Approach”, you will have a unique opportunity to meet and talk with Co-Chairs of the UNEP IRP, Izabella Teixeira, and Janez Potočnik, authors of the new report on biodiversity. A decade ago, Izabella and Janez became friends as negotiators at the 10th Conference of Parties of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP10) in Nagoya, Japan. They have distilled that decade of experience into clear, science-based principles informed by the research of the International Resource Panel. To the world’s biodiversity efforts to restore and regenerate nature, they add the single-biggest missing piece – Natural Resource Management.

Ahead of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October, the Co-Chairs’ push for a bold global agreement on biodiversity targets is timely and necessary. Register now and raise your concerns and ideas regarding the biodiversity crisis and youth engagement directly to the Co-Chairs! 

Register here.

⏰ Registration deadline:  24 June 2021 / 15:00 CEST 

We look forward to receiving your registrations! In case of any questions, feel free to contact us at yee@yeenet.eu
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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE PANEL 

The International Resource Panel (IRP) is a global science-policy platform established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2007 to build and share the knowledge needed to improve our use of natural resources.

The Panel’s mission is to provide independent, coherent, and authoritative scientific assessments of policy relevance on the sustainable use of natural resources and, in particular, their environmental impacts over the full life cycle; and to contribute to a better understanding of how to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation while enhancing human well-being.

Over the past 10 years, the Panel has published more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific assessments on critical resource issues worldwide.

YEE is proud to be a Strategic Partner of the IRP.