Last Thursday, September 30, the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety along with FIA Foundation and Restless Development led an official side event under the All4Climate – an event that gathers different stakeholders on climate, mobility, and air quality where they can share their contributions to the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP). 

The event featured speakers from different sectors around the world including; Jean Todt from FIA, Estiara Ellizar, Omnia el Omrani, and Soumita Chakraborty from the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, Maíne Celidonio – the Secretary of Mobility of Rio de Janeiro, Andrea San Gil Leon – the Founder of the Center for Urban Sustainability in Costa Rica, Welmoed Neijmeijer – the co-chair of Micro Mobility for Europe, and Prarthana Borah – the Director of Clean Air Asia. The session was hosted by Sheila Watson from FIA Foundation and Benard Isiko from Restless Development. 

The session began with a message from Jean Todt encouraging stakeholders to involve young people in global and local efforts to address the climate and mobility issue. “Young people are at the heart of the climate agenda. Not only are they the victim but they are also the ones taking charge to address climate issues”.

Global Youth Coalition members Estiara Ellizar and Soumita Chakraborty talked about the policy papers they created through the Coalition that ties the Climate and Sustainable Mobility targets with road safety and sustainable mobility. Both highlighted the efforts young people could take to contribute to the efforts in creating streets for life and curbing climate change.

The session also included a panel discussion participated by Omnia El Omrani, Maíne Celidonio, Andrea San Gil Leon, Welmoed Neijmeijer, and Prarthana Borah. The panel talked about issues from youth initiatives to address climate and road safety concerns to the challenges being faced by the global and local communities when it comes to turning cities into safer spaces.

In her discussion, Andrea talked about the importance of prioritizing city design to help further efforts to achieve the targets set in the global goals.

“Sustainability needs to go beyond green – cities are where most people live and most of the environmental issues happening now will happen in cities” – Andrea San Gil Leon

To share his experiences and motivations to continue his climate activism, Loay Radwan from the UN Youth Envoy talks about the importance of youth coming together to fight for their space and take the lead when it comes to climate action. 

“Youth need to stand together and keep up their demands. Don’t let anyone undermine your work and don’t let anyone make fun of what you’re doing because we are the ones who will inherit this planet. Just like the road, this is our responsibility”

The session was capped off by World Health Organization Director of the Department for Social Determinants of Health, Dr. Etienne Krug, who encouraged the participants of the event to take everything from the session to COP. He also expressed how creating streets for life is crucial to fighting the climate crisis, saying “make walking cycling and public transport safe if you want to address climate change”.

If you want to get involved in efforts to curb climate change and address road safety and mobility issues, join the Global Youth Coalition!

JOIN THE GLOBAL YOUTH COALITION FOR ROAD SAFETY

The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, FIA Foundation, and Restless Development are partnering up to lead Move4Change: Mobilising youth for the converging agendas of sustainable mobility, air quality, and climate change – an official side event under All4Climate under Pre-COP or the Conference of Parties. Happening this Thursday, September 30, at 3 PM CET, the event will bring together youth leaders, policymakers, and decision-makers from around the world to talk about the environment, climate action, public health, and road safety. 

Included in the event is a panel discussion on mobilizing youth for converging the agendas of safe, active, sustainable mobility, and air quality for tackling climate change. The speakers include Omnia el Omrani from the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety and the International Federation for Medical Student’s Association (IFMSA), Maíne Celidonio – the Secretary of Mobility of Rio de Janeiro, Andrea San Gil from the Center for Urban Sustainability in Costa Rica, Welmoed Neijmeijer from Micro-Mobility for Europe, and Prarthana Borah from Clean Air Asia. 

Learn more about our panelists: 

ANDREA SAN GIL
Andrea is passionate about people, cities, and nature, trying to reduce social vulnerability and increasing the quality of life in cities through sustainable and regenerative solutions. She is the Founder and Chair of the Center for Urban Sustainability in Costa Rica, Co-Founder of Agile City Partners, and part of the team behind the Global Partnership for Informal Transportation. She has over a decade of experience working with governments, international cooperation, civil society, and the private sector.

MAÍNE CELIDONIO
Maína Celidonio holds a PhD in Economics at PUC-Rio and currently works as Secretary of Transport of the City of Rio de Janeiro. Graduated in Economics from PUC-Rio, has a master’s degree in Economics with an emphasis on Labor Studies and Social Policies. She was the director of the Department of Economic Development at Instituto Pereira Passos and an analyst in Impact Assessment for Project Management at Itaú Unibanco.

OMNIA EL OMRANI
Omnia is a young medical doctor at Ain Shams University in Egypt. She is currently serving as the Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues for the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association, representing the voice of more than 1.3 million medical students from 140 countries worldwide. She is leading IFMSA’s external work in the areas of climate change, planetary health, and non-communicable diseases as the organization’s focal point to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and the WHO Climate Change Unit.

PRARTHANA BORAH
Prarthana has over two decades of experience in strategic planning and management of large budget projects on Air Pollution, Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation, and Education for Sustainable Development. She is an experienced facilitator of partnerships for environmental and development issues between and with governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector to influence policy and action. Prarthana is currently India Director of INGO Clean Air Asia where she is responsible for leading a team of researchers, scientists, and managers.

WELMOED NEIJMEIJER
Welmoed Neijmeijer is Co-Chair of Micro-mobility for Europe and Head of Public Policy at Bolt. Welmoed is passionate about helping people live more sustainably and believes businesses are in a great position to reduce the impact on the environment by helping people to make more conscious choices such as offering sustainable products and services or by supporting a transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.  Micro-Mobility for Europe is a coalition of shared micro-mobility providers such as short-term rental of electric scooters.

Get involved and join the conversation by registering for our event! Sign-up is free!

REGISTER FOR MOVE4CHANGE

YOURS Executive Director Floor Lieshout and YOURS Communications Officer Maolin Macatangay join the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Transport 1^st Meeting with the theme “Towards the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety: Sharing Responsibilities, Engaging Young People” last Friday, September 17, to talk about YOURS, the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, and meaningful youth participation. 

Sharing Responsibilities, Engaging Young People
According to the Thailand House of Representatives, road traffic injuries continue to be a public health and security thread for Thailand throughout the last decade. They note that road crashes are responsible for 20,000 deaths and one million injuries every year.

Despite efforts to improve the situation, the Global Status Report for Road Safety still reports Thailand to be one of the top ten countries with the highest road traffic deaths. According to data from the House of Representatives, one in three road traffic deaths in Thailand involved young people aged between 15 – 29 years old. Data from Thailand’s Department of Disease Control reports that the last decade has seen the loss of 53,000 young people to road crashes.

The Thailand Government has demonstrated efforts to save lives on their roads; the Master Plan for Road Safety (2017 – 2020) includes targets to promote road safety behaviors among young people. They have also enforced measures to curb drink driving by limiting the alcohol consumption of drivers through the Alcohol Control Act.

There are still some gaps that remain when it comes to addressing road crashes. Following significant developments on road safety at a global level and the local situation of road traffic deaths In Thailand, the Standing Committee on Transport of the House of Representatives organized a meeting following the theme “Toward the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety: Sharing Responsibilities, Engaging Youth” 

YOURS Intervention 
The House of Representatives invited YOURS – Youth for Road Safety to talk about interventions to engage and involve young people in road safety efforts in a session titled Young People and International Road Safety. To begin, YOURS Executive Director Floor Lieshout talked about the philosophy that guides YOURS in efforts to meaningfully engage and involve young people.

Under the Conference of Parties or COP, the UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change also organized side events under All4Climate – an opportunity that provides different stakeholders with the opportunity to contribute to COP. YOURS – Youth for Road Safety, the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, Restless Development, and FIA Foundation will be leading an official side event titled Move4Change: Mobilizing youth for the converging agendas of safe, active, and sustainable mobility and air quality for tackling climate change on Thursday, September 30 at 3 pm CET. 

Why is All4Climate Important
All4Climate encompasses a full lineup of climate events taking place in Italy. The goal of the event is to make 2021 the landmark year for climate ambition. It also aims to foster proactive dialogue on the challenges of the climate crisis and deliver on the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

The event sheds light on different issues young people face connected to climate. The Youth Climate Series emphasized that for years, young people have been calling for climate action pointing out the urgent need to take significant steps to address the climate issue. Through activities like #Youth4ClimateLive, All4Climate has driven real ambition toward climate action from young people, governments, and other stakeholders.

Through the event, engagement of young people and stakeholders and continued efforts to fight climate change is ensured through different fields and avenues. It will also establish important connections between different fields such as road safety, sustainable mobility, youth, climate, and more.

Young people will also be able to discuss and highlight the projects and initiatives they’re working on to support climate efforts within their respective fields, Through this, they will be able to connect and network with peers for possible partnerships to work on their efforts together.

How mobility and climate are connected
Under the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety, young people are demanding safe and sustainable transport to combat the climate crisis. “Let us breathe!”

Increased development and improvement of transportation services have resulted in a concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Transportation is one of the main sources of carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. Because of this, it is important for stakeholders to provide more sustainable modes of transport and to design cities that promote streets for life.

Addressing road safety and mobility issues result in streets for life as emphasized during the 6^th UN Road Safety Week this year. By ensuring that communities have access to safe and sustainable mobility, carbon emissions will be reduced and will result in lower levels of air pollution.

Cleaner, more livable, and sustainable cities will also give children and the rest of the community the opportunity to walk, run, jog, cycle, and play in cities without having to fear road crashes.

The demands of youth
The members of the Coalition call for sustainable cities, more sustainable modes of transport, and climate action in the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety. Under the Youth Statement, young people point out that “there is no Planet B” emphasizing the need for safe and sustainable transport systems that combat the climate crisis. “Let us breathe!”

Under the Youth Manifesto, which gathers the demands of young people under the Global Goals, youth express; “we are overcome by despair when we realize that the climate change clock is ticking… how can we be hopeful for the future when we see forests constantly burn and oceans constantly rise?”

To address this, young people are taking action as individuals and as members of organizations taking charge to address issues around road safety and climate change.

Learn more about how road safety and climate are connected and how young people are taking charge by signing up for our event!

REGISTER TO THE EVENT

As part of the events under the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled this November 2021, the UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change also organizes side events under All4Climate – an opportunity that provides different stakeholders with the opportunity to contribute to COP.

All4Climate side events
All4Climate was launched by the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition, the World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate, the Lombardy Region, and the Municipality of Milan. It encompasses the full lineup of climate events taking place during the Conference of Parties (COP) happening in Italy. The goal of the event is to make this year (2021) a landmark year for climate ambition and to foster proactive dialogue on the challenges of the climate crisis.

To support this, YOURS – Youth for Road Safety, the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, Restless Development, and FIA Foundation have partnered to raise awareness and promote meaningful youth participation in decision-making spaces to demand action on the most pressing issues impacting youth globally.

Move4Change
The event led by YOURS along with Restless Development and FIA Foundation is titled Move4Change: Mobilizing Youth for the Converging Agendas of Safe, Active, and Sustainable Mobility and Air Quality for Tackling Climate Change.

The event will bring together youth leaders, policymakers, and decision-makers from around the world to talk about the environment, climate action, public health, and road safety. Through an intergenerational dialogue, participants will share their ideas on how to implement safe, active, and sustainable mobility to end road traffic deaths and serious injuries, reduce transport emissions and mitigate climate change.

The format of the event will be a round table/debate where policymakers and decision-makers will share their initiatives that converge agendas and promote safe, active, and sustainable transportation in their cities. Young leaders will then share their own and their peers’ perceptions and what should be done to improve the situation. Together they will also discuss the importance of meaningful participation. Our aim is to find solutions amidst different backgrounds and perspectives.

Key actions discussed by youth leaders, policymakers, and decision-makers will be extracted and translated into a document that can be adopted by governments to tackle climate change and reduce premature deaths from road crashes and air pollution. This document will be shared with leaders attending the Ministerial Pre-COP.

REGISTER TO MOVE4CHANGE HERE