We, the youth from Asian and African countries, having met in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in person and remotely, on 26 October 2021, on the occasion of ASEAN-China Environmental Cooperation Forum 2021.
Recalling the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity: "Living in harmony with nature", and the goals of the Paris Agreement, while also supporting the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
Reaffirming we are in a state of planetary emergency of interconnected global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Noting the drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change often come down to economic and market forces. Our current economic system favors short-term gain over long-term stewardship of assets.
Emphasizing to protect the essential human right of youth, of this and future generation, and ensuring gender equity in climate change adaptation planning.
We call upon environmental cooperation between Asian and African countries to focus on the following:
1.1 Continue to support information communication technology (ICT) and green finance policy implementation to increase the level of financial flows from the public and private sectors to achieve sustainable development priorities.
1.2 Ensuring the investment on human (youth) capital development and awareness of biodiversity value from an early stage of education level, and continue to raise the awareness by leveraging on ICTs.
1.3 Deepen the international cooperation and communication on policies and the sharing of best practices on climate change actions and biodiversity conservation.
1.4 Strengthen international sustainability reporting standards to guide a better assessment of climate-related risks and effective capital deployments. This is to ensure that global sustainability efforts are built on a layer of trust and accountability and they go hand in hand.
1.5 Encouraging the policymakers to engage more participation from women and youth representatives in policy formulation, implementation, and monitoring process to better shape a brighter future for all.
We call upon the youth from Asian and African countries to contribute to regional sustainable development priorities for the following expected actions:
2.1 Facilitating the collaboration of multiple stakeholders, meeting expectations, communicating effectively, and following environmental due diligence.
2.2 Adopting a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.
2.3 Empowering the youth to strengthen the knowledge sharing to the vulnerable communities about environmental risks. Enhancing environmental education and self-learning.
2.4 Promoting ecological development and investment in health, agriculture, water resources, and food security to achieve sustainable development goals.
2.5 Encouraging active participation of youth in climate change activities on different levels, and educating women and children on protecting the local environment
2.6 Mobilizing resources from educational institutions to communities to disseminate information on environmental protection.