Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss address Council
Delegates from the Children and Young Persons Assembly on Biodiversity Loss spoke to the Climate and Biodiversity Policy Committee last week. At the invitation of SPC Chairperson Cllr Lourda Scott, the final report of the Assembly was presented, including the 58 calls to action. Representatives from the Children and Young People’s Assemby included Lucas and Olwyn, delagates from Greystones and young advisor Siofra, also from Greystones. They were joined by Dr. Diarmuid Torney from Dublin City University, who led the team that ran the Assembly. Lucas, Olwyn and Siofra spoke of their experience of being part of Ireland’s first citizens assembly for young people.
Olwyn, a 14-year-old Assembly member from Co. Wicklow, said:
“I enjoyed meeting new friends and connecting with like minded people my own age in the Assembly. I learned a lot! I enjoyed discussing important topics.
“Number 39 was my favourite Call to Action: ‘Reforest Ireland! Every time someone is born, a tree should be planted so over time we will have forests full and protected for nature.’ I want to plant native trees each year, and tie it in with the number of births. That way we will have a forest for 2023, 2024 etc. This will give everyone a forest to explore near them. The impact will be immediate but it will build our futures.
“My hope now is that people listen to children and teens. That our voices are heard and respected. That people see we have more to offer. Perhaps we could have children elections, our own Dail, our own Senand where politicians answer our questions. That we unite to solve our biodiversity loss and other climate issues. That hope is not lost. There are solutions and we can work together to rewild the planet.”
Síofra, a 13-year-old member of the Assembly’s Young Advisory Team from Co. Wicklow, said:
“Being a Young Advisor in the Assembly was very interesting and great fun. I liked making new friends and meeting up. I really liked the outdoor activities together. The weekends away were great. Introducing the Assembly members to all the aspects of biodiversity that we had been working on was great. And helping them input their new ideas.”
“Call to Action number 6 (Make sure the media covers the detailed status of the biodiversity emergency all the time until we have reversed biodiversity loss) would be the most important win for me because it makes perfect common sense. The Irish public proved it does work with the Covid Emergency but we are not doing it (yet) for the Biodiversity Emergency. More people would be aware and act if they saw the numbers on TV and in newspaper every day and were told what they can do to help until it is fixed.”
“For me, the key message is to stop destroying biodiversity and care for it. It is that simple, it is an emergency. I want the Taoiseach and Minister Noonan to listen to this report of the Citizens under 18. They must take it seriously and put an answer against each call to action. They must put a Biodiversity rescue plan in place very soon. I would like us to meet one more time to listen to their answer. I also hope that ongoing work to improve biodiversity education makes school learning more exciting and fun and helpful in rescuing our biodiversity for all young people (like our Assembly did for us).”
Dr. Diarmuid Torney, project lead and an associate professor in Dublin City University, said:
“I had the pleasure and privilege of being involved in running the Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss last autumn. It was a really inspiring process, and I learned so much from the wonderful children and young people who took part. It was great to meet members of the Co Wicklow Climate and Biodiversity Policy Group to tell them about the work of the Assembly. We are excited to see how they use the children and young people’s calls to action in Co. Wicklow.”
Cllr Lourda Scott said:
“As Chair of the Co Wicklow Climate and Biodiversity Policy Group, when I read the report that was published by the Young Person’s assembly, I knew that we needed to hear from them directly. We are currently preparing to develop the County’s first Biodiversity Policy so this is of particular importance to me right now.. It was inspiring to hear about the work that was put into the Assembly and the incredibly insightful calls to action. I have to congratulate all of the people who were involved in this ground breaking piece of work, especially our local champions Olwyn, Lucas and Siofra . Of all the calls to actions I want to highlight this one: “make sure that this Assembly’s calls to Action are carried out and not just forgotten”. I made a commitment at our meeting that we will pay close attention to the report of the Children’s Assembly on Biodiversity loss when preparing Co Wicklow’s Biodiversity policy and make sure that we implement what we can at a local level. “
