The Consultant for Global Center on Adaptation and YECAP Fellow from Bangladesh was the only youth voice at the Nature Finance event hosted by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Government of the United Kingdom.
On 1 June 2022, Lamia Mohsin, Consultant for Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and Youth Empowerment in Climate Action (YECAP) Fellow from Bangladesh was the only youth from Asia and the Pacific to speak on behalf of the youth voice at the Nature Finance event hosted by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Government of the United Kingdom during Stockholm+50 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The high-level event brought together Ministers such as Canadian Minister for Environment Steven Guilbeault, CEOs and leaders from the business, finance and civil society to set out a bold vision of how to unlock the resources that are needed to protect and restore natural capital on which our economies, food security and well-being rely.
The key points mentioned by Lamia include:
Raising the inclusive value of nature to society including the enrichment of lives and livelihoods in addition to its role in our economy and the current problem of its degradation and the need to transition to sustainable production and consumption of nature and its resources;
Illustrating the impact of nature-loss particularly to future generations, and why something must change; and
Reaffirming that not acting now will cost more in the long term.
“It is time to express the implications for the decisions that we make today on the future and what that means in terms of our responsibility to value nature, and recognize the risks of not doing so,” said Lamia.
Throughout her youth in climate action journey, Lamia has:
Been selected as the only Bangladeshi delegate among 10 from all over the world at COP26, by the Government of the United Kingdom;
Worked as an intern and consequently as a consultant at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh's resilience and inclusive growth cluster, with a focus on resilience and adaptation;
Implemented a pilot project by developing an environment education toolkit for schoolchildren;
Developed a strategy paper for youth engagement in climate adaptation at the local, regional and global level; and
Delivered an intervention during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adaptation committee expert meeting for adaptation communications.
To learn more about the Global Center on Adaptation, please visit: https://gca.org