Council Presidency Youth Dialogues
What is the Council Presidency Youth Dialogue?
The Council is a crucial institution in the EU decision-making process, and yet one that is less visible. By putting a spotlight on the Council in the Council Presidency Youth Dialogues, we provide young European with a better understanding of its role and working, and an opportunity to have their say on relevant political issues.
Each dialogue discusses a different topic in consideration of the most recent challenges relevant to young people and climate change. The first ever dialogue took place in July 2020 with Ms. Svenja Schulze, the then German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. It explored the following topic: ‘For a Green Recovery’, pertaining to the need for Europe to build a more resilient and sustainable economy following the Covid Pandemic. It gathered over 240 participants and reached over 2,500 people from all over the world online.
Since then, GCE has successfully held more dialogues, which you can find through the links at the bottom of this page.
– Past dialogues –
Polish Presidency
We focused on the clean industrial deal in the dialogue “Shaping Tomorrow: Young Voices in the EU’s Clean Industrial Revolution”. In the panel we had Krzysztof Bolesta, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, Gabriel Gurbowicz, Spokesperson of the Polish Youth Climate Council, and Johnny Dabrowski, Coordinator of Climate Education Coalition
(Earth Day), as well as representatives for GCE.
Swedish Presidency
‘Climate education’ in light of the European Year of Skills 2023. For the first time, we combined representatives from 2 presidencies: Stina Söderqvist (Swedish Delegation for the UNFCCC and National Focal Point for ACE) and Dr Jan Dusík (Director General for Climate Protection at the Czech Ministry of Environment). They were joined by three youth panellists, representing the Swedish National Youth Council (LSU), the Climate Students Sweden (Klimatstudenterna Sverige), and Generation Climate Europe.
Spanish Presidency
‘Youth Voices for Nature Restoration’ with the Spanish Council Presidency represented by Fernando Magdaleno Mas (Deputy Director General of Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity, Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge of Spain) and joined by Karin Nutti Pilflykt (Advisor of the EU Unit, Saami Council), Xabier Triana Gomez (Youth Representative, Consejo de la Juventud de España (Spanish Youth Council); and Noah Stommel (Nature Restoration Project Lead, GCE).
Czech Presidency
‘Achieving a Just Transition in a time of energy insecurity?’ with the Czech Republic. Dr Jan Dusík, the Czech Deputy Environment Minister, and three panelists representing the European Youth Energy Network (EYEN), the Czech National Youth Council, and Youth and Environment Europe (YEE) discussed.
Slovenian Presidency
We organised two dialogues with the Slovenian presidency, both focusing on a just green transition. In the first panel we had Ms Metka Gorisek, Slovenian State Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning in partnership with the National Youth Council of Slovenia (MSS). In the second panel we had Jože Podgoršek, Slovenian Agriculture Minister, in order to confront both the environmental and agricultural priorities of the Presidency.
German Presidency
We organised two dialogues with the German presidency, both of them with Ms Svenja Schulze, German Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The first one was titled ‘For a Green Recovery’, while the second one was titled ‘Are we on the right track?’.
Why is Such a Dialogue Necessary?
Young people are at the forefront of the climate crisis, but their voices are under-represented in EU climate and environmental decision-making processes. Although individuals under 35 constitute about 30% of the European Union’s population, their representation in policy-making remains disproportionately low. For example, in the European Parliament, only about 9% of MEPs are under the age of 35, which highlights a substantial gap in representation.
Through the Youth Climate Dialogues, Generation Climate Europe aims to create an opportunity for young people to engage with the EU institutions on climate and environmental topics in an inclusive and youth-led way especially since surveys suggest that over 75% of European youth consider climate change to be the most pressing issue facing their generation. Genuine dialogue is a two-way process: young people are invited not just to listen, but to voice their opinions and share their fresh ideas with European policy makers. This may inspire future policy-making and create a culture of youth participation among the EU institutions where currently less than 10% of decision-makers are under the age of 30.
