2nd MAB Youth Forum to boost engagement of youth in preparation of CBD COP15

Under the theme ‘Committed to Biodiversity,’ the forum will mainly work towards the 15th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15) which will be held in China in 2020.

UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and the UNESCO Beijing Office are pleased to announce the 2nd MAB Youth Forum, to take place from 15 to 18 September 2019 in the Changbaishan Biosphere Reserve, China. Under the theme ‘Committed to Biodiversity,’ the forum will mainly work towards the 15th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15) which will be held in China in 2020.

On the occasion of its 30th session held in Palembang, Indonesia, on July 2018, the International Coordination Council of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) expressed its will to strengthen its engagement with Youth and to call for the organization of a new MAB Youth Forum in 2019 as an event closely linked to the preparation of the CBD COP15. Building on the successful experience of the 2017 MAB Youth Forum held in Italy, in the presence of 285 young representatives of Biosphere Reserves from 84 countries, the 2019 MAB Youth Forum will have the main purpose of offering youth an opportunity to engage more concretely in the preparation and running of CBD COP 15, elaborate their contribution to its debates and foster their commitment to the realization of the future they want, being actors of change in their territories.

The 2019 MAB Youth Forum will take place in the Changbaishan Biosphere reserve in China. This Biosphere Reserve is located in the northeast of China on the border with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

The Forum is organized by the UNESCO MAB Programme and the UNESCO Beijing Office in close cooperation with the Changbaishan Biosphere Reserve, which will provide most of the support to the young participants. The 2019 MAB Youth Forum, implemented in partnership with the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, was made possible thanks to the support of the Chinese MAB National Committee and of Shimao Property Holdings Limited.