Young people's involvement in decision-making and in setting public policies to combat the effects of climate change is extraordinary, Mihaela Frasineanu, state adviser with the Romanian Prime Minister's Chancellery said on Thursday at the release conference of the National Youth Action Plan on Climate Change (PNATSC).
"As a coordinator for the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change, I was surprised to see last year the involvement of young people in decision-making and the establishment of public policies related to combatting the effects of climate change. We have recognised that they happen and young people have no say. That means that we had to do something, right at the level of the Prime Minister's Chancellery. Last year we hosted that event in which the voice of young people was heard, because there was cohesion between young people and because young people realised their need to participate in decision making. The voice was heard through the National Youth Declaration on Climate Change at Victoria Palace, and then it was heard internationally at the Conference of the Parties, which I am extremely happy about. But beyond the fact that you have a voice, you should also have some very concrete measures and actions. Probably that was the reason why, after you made your voice heard and identified your needs, you quantified all these needs, consulting each other, which is wonderful, and you put on paper your needs, the needs of the present, the needs of the future and you drew up this National Youth Action Plan on Climate Change," Frasineanu said.
She added that all the findings included in the PNTASC would be integrated into the national priority plan for 2026.
"I realise that we have to build a plan for next year, a plan of ours, of the big ones, which must juggle with all policies in such a way that those percentages are reflected in legislation, in obligations, in measures, and in actions, to build a plan that will help you be integrated as well. (...) I will do everything possible so that part of these measures and actions, which are relevant and which you have identified and that you will sometimes identify, even more carefully and better than us, are also found in the priority plan for 2026, which, unfortunately, is no longer a milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR)."
The National Youth Action Plan on Climate Change will be presented on the sidelines of COY20 and COP30, in Belem, Brazil, as part of the Global Youth Statement (GYS), the main global youth position paper developed by Youngo, the official youth group of the UN Convention on Climate Change.
Through this approach, the contributions of Romania's young people and children will be integrated into the international negotiation process and into global priorities for climate action.
The Youth Platform for Sustainability (PTS), with support from the French Embassy in Romania and the French Institute in Romania, organised on Thursday, at the headquarters of the National Weather Administration (ANM), a release event for the National Youth Action Plan on Climate Change.
The initiative is backed by the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forestry and UNICEF Romania, under the aegis of LCOY (Local Conference of Youth) Romania 2025.
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