YEE Liaison Officer on Environmental Governance named Regional Facilitator for Europe in the UNEP MGCY

Cathal Swan, YEE’s Liaison Officer on Environmental Governance, has been selected as a Regional Facilitator for Europe in the United Nations Environment Programme’s Major Group for Children and Youth (UNEP MGCY). He will sit on the Steering Committee as one of the two Regional Facilitators for Europe until August 2021, and both Facilitators will oversee a European Regional Consultation as part of the Youth Environmental Assembly next month, to be held before the fifth United Nations Environmental Assembly. So watch this space for further updates on that. 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading international environmental authority and sets the global environmental agenda, promoting the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serving as the authoritative global advocate for the environment. Since 1972, UNEP has played a central role in international environmental policy, leading action through multilateral environmental agreements on ozone, pollution, biodiversity (CBD), and climate change (UNFCCC). YEE has been an accredited organisation to UNEP for many years, giving it a voice in high-level meetings and at the biennial United Nations Environmental Assembly.

UNEP’s Major Group for Children and Youth was developed in 2012 as one of nine different major groups and provides a formalised structure for the engagement of children and youth in UNEP’s process. Although UNEP MGCY became less active over the years since its founding, Nathan Méténier, YEE’s Advocacy Manager, helped to re-activate it in 2019 and also to organise the online Youth Environment Assembly that took place at the beginning of June 2020. You can join UNEP MGCY through this link – registration is open to all young people or groups – or follow them on social media to keep up-to-date!

“I am super excited to take on the role of European Regional Facilitator in UNEP MGCY on behalf of YEE, and for the opportunity to work with such an amazing team from around the world. I’m really looking forward to engaging young people from all across Europe in UNEP’s processes, and especially in reaching out to those who are not currently involved. The diverse voices of youth need to be heard on the important, but often overlooked, decisions of UNEP and UNEA!”