Young people constitute a large part of the world’s population. Many, especially young children, are particularly vulnerable to environmental risks. Young people will have to live longer with the consequences of current environmental decisions than their elders.

The participation of youth in environmental protection can be sought at levels and locations ranging from grass-roots activism and participation in conservation projects to policy-making bodies and NGOs. The role of youth can be institutionalized in policy-making through advisory bodies such as youth councils. Many national Governments have ministries or departments with “youth affairs” as part of their portfolio, though such offices tend to view youth as a population to be addressed by public policy (often “youth affairs” is part of the education ministry), rather than a resource to be tapped for participation in policy-making in a variety of areas, including the environment.

Strengthening the participation of youth in environmental protection is partly a matter of increasing opportunities in governmental organizations, established NGOs and restoration projects; partly a matter of youth themselves devising new forms of action, as the preceding examples of innovative activism make clear; and partly a question of more effective environmental education and media presentation of environmental issues

Future generations will also be affected by these decisions and the extent to which they have addressed concerns such as the depletion of resources, the loss of biodiversity, and long-lived radioactive wastes.

 However, the objective is not to expand time horizons many years into the future; moving beyond the current very-short-term focus of much decision-making would be sufficient. In markets, the focus is often on short-term profits.

Environmental education is one way of equipping young people with the necessary cognitive skills to recognize and withstand the pressures of advertising. However, the kind of education required involves not only providing information about how the world’s ecosystems are under stress, but also guidance on how to draw links between a Sustainable lifestyle practice and its ecological consequences.

Aside from having a greater stake in the more distant future, young people are especially well-placed to promote environmental awareness simply because they often have better access to information about the environment than do their elders. In part this is a matter of having being exposed to more environmental education in schools / colleges / universities. Aside from exposure in formal education, youth might have to live all their lives in an era in which environmental issues will be loomed large.

Established anti-ecological ways of thinking and behaving are not ingrained in young people, and they can introduce fresh ideas and outlooks to issues. Because youth have a stronger awareness of the issues and a greater stake in long-term sustainability, the environment is one area in which they ought to take the lead. To combat “the greying of the greens”, a new generation needs to come to the fore. In addition, technologies that increasingly distance people from the environmental effects of their consumption decisions are growing with globalization, acting as an impediment to environmental awareness.

About the author- Sakshi Bharadwaj is a Vivekananda State Youth Awardee as well as the Founder of Jungle Vase. She is also a holder of OMG Book of National Record – Creating Sustainable Urban Mini forest 2019