GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Environmental youth leaders from different parts of Mindanao will gather in Sarangani Province next week for the third leg of the Conference of Youth.
John Oliver Tablazon, manager of Sarangani’s Sulong Kabataan program, said Thursday they are all set for the hosting of the Mindanao-wide conference, which is slated Oct. 3 to 5 in the coastal municipality of Kiamba.
Dubbed Local Conference of Youth-Youth for Climate Action, he said the event was organized by the National Youth Commission (NYC), in collaboration with the Climate Change Commission (CCC).
Tablazon said the conference is a venue for youth leaders from Mindanao to discuss and make a stand on various climate change issues. It is supported by the provincial government, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Yes Pinoy Foundation and the Climate Reality Project Philippines.
An event briefer said the conference seeks to strengthen networking among the youth and youth organizations, develop champions and provide participants with climate negotiation and policy-making skills.
“It’s time for the youths to take part in these campaigns and make their voices heard,” he said, adding the conference also wants to promote the importance of adopting sustainable lifestyles.
Tablazon said the event’s hosting is important for the province, which has been at the forefront of campaigns for environmental protection and conservation.
He cited the continuing initiatives to protect the area’s biodiversity through the provincial government’s Sulong Kalikasan program, which is among the top priorities of Sarangani Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon.
The official said the conference will be joined by NYC commissioner-at-large, Assistant Secretary Paul Pangilinan, and CCC deputy executive director, Assistant Secretary Romell Antonio Cuenca.
The conference is the final leg of the three regional conferences organized by NYC and CCC. The first was held in Quezon in July and the second in Palo, Leyte, in August.
The event will conclude in a national gathering in November of around 100 youth delegates from parts of the country.
Delegates are expected to issue a national youth statement on climate action, which will be submitted to the Philippine delegation to 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change slated in Katowice, Poland in December. (PNA)
