Youth take the lead at Grenada’s first National Climate forum

ST GEORGE’S - 28 JUNE 2025 – St George’s, Grenada – Young people across Grenada stepped into national climate leadership as the country hosted its first-ever National Climate Change Youth Forum. Held under the theme “Strengthening Young Voices for a Just and Resilient Future in Grenada,” the two-day event marked a turning point for youth participation in climate policy, with young delegates contributing directly to Grenada’s national climate priorities.

The forum, hosted by the Ministry of Climate Resilience, the Environment and Renewable Energy in partnership with UNICEF, provided youth with a platform to engage critically with Grenada’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) and National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Grenada’s NDC outlines, among other things, a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent while the NAP is geared toward building resilience to the impact of climate change.

Delegates explored key issues including climate justice, loss and damage, renewable energy, ocean health, and climate finance. They also developed a set of youth adaptation priorities, which will be submitted to the Ministry for policy consideration.

Youth Parliamentarian Jonathan Mitchell framed the forum as both a space of urgency and opportunity.

“You didn’t just walk into a conference room this morning. You walked into a platform of possibility. A space where your presence matters, where your experiences are valid, and where your ideas can inform the policies and actions that will define Grenada’s climate future,” he said.

Mitchell called on his peers to rise with clarity and conviction in the face of the crisis.

“This generation, the youth of Grenada and the wider Caribbean are not only witnesses to this crisis. We are warriors in the fight for justice. We are architects of the solutions. And we are guardians of the world we wish to inherit,” he maintained.  “This is not a symbolic exercise. It is a substantive process. What happens here will echo in boardrooms, in ministries, and in community halls across the country.”

Declaring the forum officially open, Titus Antoine, Director at the Ministry, underscored the Government’s commitment to youth engagement.

“As young people, you are the leaders of tomorrow, and it is essential that your voices are heard, your concerns are addressed, and your ideas are harnessed to drive meaningful action,” he said.

Representing UNICEF, Clive Murray, Programme Specialist for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change, emphasized the broader global context.

“Climate change is more than an environmental issue -it is a crisis that strikes at the heart of our humanity,” said Murray. “And it is children and young people who bear the heaviest burden, despite contributing the least to the problem.”

Murray highlighted the gaps in global climate policy and financing, where fewer than half of national climate plans include children’s needs, and only 3 per cent engage children in their design.

“Simply put: the climate crisis is a child rights crisis,” he said. “We must design climate policies that are child and youth sensitive policies that recognize their unique strengths, vulnerabilities, and roles as agents of change.”