Earth Today | Search on for youth to help solve planetary challenges

THE UNITED Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is on a mission to recruit young talent to help solve the world’s challenges with climate change and nature loss, pollution and waste – with an initiative that has received the nod from some local stakeholders.

UNEP recently announced the launch of its Young Talent Pipeline, which is geared at “increasing the diversity of experiences and solutions to solve the triple planetary crisis”.

Done in collaboration with the United Nations Volunteers programme, the entity has said it “is actively seeking young, passionate, and skilled talent from all over the world to join the organisation and become the environmental leaders of tomorrow”.

Private sector bigwig and head of Environmental Solutions Limited, Eleanor Jones, said UNEP’s online recruitment drive, which will run until May 15, is both sensible and commendable.

“The world belongs to tomorrow’s children and young people are going to be experiencing the triple planetary crisis. They also have clear, new ideas and you want to get their ideas,” she said.

“You also want to train them even as you get them on board to making a difference – to reducing poverty, eliminating hunger, building resilience to climate change, reducing pollution and waste. My experience has been that young people understand the issues and want to see a difference,” she added.

They should, Jones insisted, be empowered to do so.

“When you look at some of the global protests taking place, they are led by young people, so you want to build the cadre of resources that will lead to what is needed for us to handle this triple planetary crisis. I think this is a great initiative. We need to really focus on getting our young people more engaged, getting more opportunities to contribute and from an informed position,” she noted.

UNEP’s executive director Inger Andersen, in urging young people to seize the opportunity, said there is no time like the present.

“This is your chance to help us all work together to protect our Earth. Your chance to help us shape your own future,” she said in a video message on the subject.

The Young Talent Pipeline is keen to attract professionals 33 years and younger and who are “in the early stages of their careers with a relevant postgraduate degree, a minimum of three years’ relevant work experience, and a passion to work for people and planet”.

It is also intended to get more people from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean to form a part of UNEP’s workforce.

The first cohort of workers under the initiative, UNEP revealed in a March 31 release, will comprise “12 young professional positions recruited through the UN Volunteers International Specialist modality on specific programmatic work”.

The expectation is that the young recruits, who will be employed for a year in the first instance, will begin work at the entity’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, in September. During their employment, they are to be provided with dedicated mentorship and training.

Jones believes Jamaican entities can take a page out of UNEP’s book.

“We have young people who are doing things, especially in the non-governmental sector. You also want them in the private sector and in the government. We want them to have the opportunity for their voices to be heard, and to be able to make a meaningful contribution from informed positions,” she said.

Ayesha Constable, founder of Girls Climate Action for Resilience and Empowerment, has given the Pipeline the thumbs up.

“It’s a great initiative with excellent opportunities for capacity building for the participants,” she said.

Constable cautioned, however, that: “Remuneration of participants should be competitive and the ‘opportunity’ itself should not negate the need for fair compensation”.

“Access and selection process should be equitable and non-discriminatory; and recruits should be resourced to develop ideas and initiatives following the internship that engage local actors and communities in their countries,” she added.

“There should be an opportunity to shape policy nationally and globally by setting up dialogues with policymakers and interns at the end of the process,” Constable said further.

A CHAMPION

Indi Mclymont Lafayette, herself a champion of youth participation in solving climate change and environmental problems and a long-time climate justice advocate, had high praise for the UNEP move.

“This is a great initiative and I welcome it,” she said.

“It should help to build the capacity of young leaders in the Caribbean. Too many times when we have to adapt to climate impacts here, we have to procure overseas talent,” added McLymont Lafayette, who heads Change Communications.

“Some of the cutting-edge technology on green energy, for example, we have to source from developed countries. So if this gives our young leaders access to training in areas like that, then we are paving a way for a brighter future,” she said further.

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