The GEO-6 for Youth report is a one-stop-shop for a young person to understand the state of the environment, what they can do every day to drive markets to adopt environmentally sustainable products and services and how to develop their skills and choose environmentally sustainable careers. This report is also UNEP’s first fully interactive-e-publication, featuring interactive infographics, quizzes, videos and other activities to engage the young reader in learning more about environmental issues.
The report was launched in February 2021 and can be found here.
Why GEO-6 for Youth? Through GEO-6 for Youth, UN Environment Programme aims to reach a young audience and raise awareness about youth and environment issues. GEO-6 for Youth is here to help understand environmental issues and how they relate to young people, but most importantly to show how the youth have the power to bring about transformative change.
What does GEO-6 for Youth hope to achieve? The report hopes to raise awareness about environmental issues among younger generations. It aims to show how the youth can have a strong impact on the environment and guide them to act for nature and the planet. Individual daily actions among the youth, choosing more sustainable jobs or careers or making their jobs/ careers greener would lead to positive impact on the environment and the gains would be substantial. Not only does GEO-6 for Youth show what is happening and what would happen if we don’t act, but also provides concrete examples of what youth can do today and in the future. GEO-6 for Youth’s purpose is to show that the youth has the power to change the current situation and motivates the youth to act now!
What are the subjects covered by GEO-6 for Youth?
Chapter 1 translates the messages of the main GEO-6 report by providing an overview of the current state of our environment and its implications to youth. The chapter covers the areas of land, biodiversity, oceans, freshwater, air and climate linking it to food, energy and waste systems.
Chapter 2 shows possible future scenarios in the areas of air, biodiversity, land, freshwater, oceans linking it to food, energy and waste systems. Fictional characters will guide you into possible future scenarios for each of these systems. Interactive infographics helps this journey.
Chapter 3 presents a guide of actions for the youth to have a sustainable impact on the environment, achieve a circular economy and make a change. Daily and once-in-a-lifetime actions (and their impacts linked to food, energy and waste) are listed both on a personal and collective level. Many videos from activists and entrepreneurs are included to inspire the reader.
Chapter 4 presents possible career paths, future opportunities through green jobs and shows how choosing a sustainable job or making a traditional job greener has a positive environmental impact. Engaging infographics are there to help navigate the issues.
The co-chairs? There are two co-chairs in the GEO-6 for Youth process. Nibedita Mukherjee from India is a Lecturer on the Global Challenges programme at Brunel University London and she used to work at University of Cambridge as a post doc. Charles Mwangi from Kenya is the Deputy Country Coordinator of GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Programme in Kenya. Both were authors of the main GEO-6 report.
What is different about GEO-6 for Youth from a typical environmental publication?
GEO-6 for Youth is a project set up by and for youth. GEO-6 for Youth is produced by and adapted for a youth audience. It translates high-level, scientific messages on the state of the environment to the youth through use of youth friendly language, interactive features, videos and engaging infographics. It is meant to be a guide for a young audience to learn about youth and environment issues, to visualize what the future could be like (with and without a change in behaviour and policies), to change their everyday life, personally and as a member of their communities, and to guide them in choosing their career path. The report includes examples from all around the world and has been written by 28 authors from very different backgrounds and expertise. No other publication has been this engaging for youth on environmental issues before. In addition, this is the first time that UNEP produces a fully-interactive publication, which really allows the reader to engage with the issue in a youth-friendly manner.
How will the content in the report affect the readers’ everyday lives?
The report will influence the readers’ everyday lives by:
- Educating on the state on the environment. This will stimulate their interest in environmental issues.
- Showing them how the world would look like if they take action and if they don’t. Visualizing the future can be an effective incentive to take action.
- Providing a list of actions that they can take every day to be more environmentally sustainable. The actions and their effects are listed in an interactive infographic, it will be very easy to choose how to be more sustainable today.
- Exploring a variety of sustainable career paths and opportunities, but also showing how every job can be greener, even the most traditional ones. If you haven’t studied yet, maybe you will choose something suggested here, if you are already working, both in rural and urban areas, you can take inspiration and make your job more sustainable today.
- Do you want to know more about Youth and Environment? Chapter 1 provides an overview of the current state of our environment and its implications to youth. Past human actions have already guaranteed long-term environmental damage, and it will be decisions made by youth that determine the future extent of global environmental change.
- The future has yet to be defined and is therefore difficult to imagine. The purpose of Chapter 2 is to show a glimpse of different possible futures as they are projected by global environmental reports. After experiencing them, you can ask yourself: what is your desired future?
- Chapter 3 presents a guide of actions for the youth to have a sustainable impact on the environment, achieve a circular economy and make a change. Do you want to become more sustainable? Which of these actions do you want to choose and commit to?
- What will the sustainable jobs of the future? How can you make your job green? Chapter 4 presents possible career paths, future opportunities through green jobs and shows how choosing a sustainable job or making a traditional job greener has an environmental impact.
