A consultative meeting “Climate crisis and young people” was held in the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg on 22-23 February 2023, in preparation for the work of the Joint Council on Youth to draft a new recommendation for the 46 member states of the Council of Europe focusing on climate crisis, young people and democracy. The meeting brought together some twenty young climate justice activists, researchers and scientific experts who discussed youth participation and the human rights dimension of environmental degradation.

The event was held under the aegis of the Icelandic presidency of the Committee of Ministers. “The effects of environmental degradation and the climate crisis on people's quality of life across the globe is of great concern. The discussion about the interplay between human rights and environmental concerns has been a part of a green theme within Iceland's presidency,” said Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, Iceland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the Committee of Ministers. "Another priority has been the rights of children and young people but it is clear that they are the ones most threatened by the current trajectory of today’s global environmental crisis,” she added.

Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić welcomed the thorough work undertaken for the drafting of the new policy document. “The environment is becoming all the more important in the work of the Council of Europe. It is notably one of the areas which showcases the role of the Council of Europe for young generations,” she said. “The right to a safe and healthy environment has an inter-generational dimension; the protection of the environment is about the future of today’s children and young people”.  She also stressed the key role of youth engagement for the future of democracy in general. “This is the cornerstone of our work on and with youth, as stipulated in our Youth Sector Strategy 2030”.

In its Recommendation on human rights and environment adopted in September 2022, the Committee of Ministers invited the 46 member states of the Council of Europe to reflect on the nature, content, and implications of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and to actively consider recognising this right as a human right at the national level. In addition, the work on the new binding instrument, a convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, is advancing; the drafting of the text will start in April 2023. The theme of countering climate crisis and protecting the environment is expected to feature at the 4th Summit in Reykjavik on 16-17 May 2023.