Students to attend COP16 as the UK’s first official youth participants
Two NTU students will represent the viewpoints of UK youth to government representatives from across the globe at COP16.
By Samantha Corden | Published on 11 October 2024
Committee members of the UK chapter of Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN UK), Josh Shaw and Harsh Sagar, will be attending COP16 as the UK’s first official youth participants in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Both have continued their studies with Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé (NTU) after graduating earlier this year. Josh is now studying the MRes in Endangered Species Recovery and Conservation, and Harsh is pursuing the LLM Master of Laws. Both have been actively involved in university activities, with Josh leading the Conservation Society and Harsh working with the Environmental Law Foundation.
The GYBN, the official youth group to the UN CBD, empowers young people to engage in global negotiations and ensures youth priorities are reflected in biodiversity goals. This is done through capacity building, workshops, and sessions to ensure their voices are heard in global negotiations.
Attending COP16 as the UK’s first official youth participants in the CBD allows Josh and Harsh to share the opinions of youth from across the UK directly at an international and national level. It also offers the opportunity to establish working relationships with a variety of groups, further enhancing the ability to create change.
I am extremely excited to attend COP16 in Cali, Colombia, representing NTU and GYBN UK! We will be highlighting the shared commitment we all have to tackle the ongoing climate and biodiversity crisis. I am also grateful for the role that NTU has played in enabling this opportunity, as their dedication to sustainability, education, and action has empowered me to contribute meaningfully to these important discussions. It’s a powerful reminder that while the challenges are immense, the collective will to find solutions is even stronger. I am thrilled to contribute my voice to this global effort.
Harsh Sagar, LLM Master of Laws student
I’m looking forward to attending COP16 on behalf of GYBN UK and NTU to represent young people and highlight that our involvement is key to the future of biodiversity. This conference is an opportunity for governments to act on the biodiversity crisis and establish strategies for reversing damage to our environment. It is not the sole responsibility of youth to protect our future, but a combined effort between governments, organisations and all aspects of society. We’re hoping that our attendance at COP will highlight the importance of youth in biodiversity conversations across the UK and enable more young people to have their say. I want to thank NTU for their support and commitment to a sustainable future.
Josh Shaw, MRes in Endangered Species Recovery and Conservation student
For the School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences (ARES), students will have the opportunity to share their ideas as well as the chance to work with GYBN UK to get involved with biodiversity policy-making after COP16.
Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Law School (NLS) is aiding with drafting the ‘UK youth’s priorities for nature’ document and shaping the priorities that will contribute significantly to global environmental decisions.
We wish the best of luck to Harsh and Josh for when they attend COP16 later this month.
If you'd like to learn more about COP16 and the Convention on Biological Diversity, follow along with GYBN UK's social media on and .
Josh and Harsh have since returned from COP16 and have shared an update on their experience and a look into the different areas of the COP16 main site.
Through the weeks, they attended negotiations, side events and spoke on panels to promote youth involvement, discuss the involvement of students in nature positive universities and and learn more about the COP process. They also met the CEO of The Wildlife Trusts, Craig Bennett, the Chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper, the chair of the JNCC, Gemma Harper and government ministers.
They explored one of the main negotiation rooms, Amazonia, which included tables for a range of different representatives. Along with the 196 countries, there were representatives from organisations, NGOs, subnational/local authorities, indigenous people/local communities, UN organisations, state parties and youth.
Josh and Harsh were part of the youth table, where youth are a major stakeholder in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) so they can voice their opinions.
The main negotiation room is overseen by the chair of the meeting along with the secretariat who both make sure the meeting runs smoothly and reply to state party concerns.
One of the small negotiation rooms, Sierra Nevada, is usually where a select group of countries go to talk about a specific topic.
Side events are held in Plaza 1 and 2 and can be anything from panels on monitoring restoration to engagement groups to help parties work together. Also on the main site at COP16 are stalls, where a range of businesses, NGOs and countries are showcasing their work.
Reflecting on their time at COP16, Josh and Harsh have said it has been a fantastic and interesting experience but occasionally frustrating to see how negotiations work but are hoping to see some great progress afterwards.
Now that they have returned to NTU, they will be providing more information and encouraging more students to get involved in the process so we can have effective youth engagement in the biodiversity sector.