Sustainable Democracy: Discussing the nexus between democracy, youth and climate change
Channel: International IDEA
Date: 19/11/2020

The many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed the strengths and weaknesses of our democratic systems. While the pandemic continues to capture the world’s attention, the consequences of a growing existential crisis continue to unfold. Wildfires, droughts, floods, melting glaciers and massive hurricanes, amplified by climate change, increasingly endanger life on earth as we know it. Inhabitable territories, mass migration, accentuated inequalities, increased conflict and unknown diseases follow in their tracks, putting more pressure on governments than ever before.

It is evident that status quo is not an option when it comes to intergenerational global challenges, such as climate change. Democracy needs to be open to reform and reinvent itself to be sustainable, reinstate trust, and capture new political momentum, especially from the burgeoning global youth movement. To establish a forward-looking agenda, the webinar will incorporate a youth perspective to the discussion, providing insights into how young people see the opportunities to create better and more resilient democracies.

This webinar, organized by International IDEA’s Headquarters in Stockholm, will be the center point of the conference and will focus on the future of democracy in relation to climate change and youth.

The panel discussions during the Stockholm webinar will address some of the following questions:

- Young people are participating in new ways in a more and more digitized and globalized political arena. How can democracies channel these new forms of political engagement to more address complex issues such as climate change?  
- How can the democracies where youth are underrepresented in formal decision making overcome the disparities between those who have the power to act and those who will suffer the consequences of inaction?
- Which climate change related consequences will democracies need to tackle in the coming years?
- What specific advantages and disadvantages do democracies have in addressing climate change? What reforms are needed? (including on corporate lobbyism, political finance, etc.)
- How can democracies best respond to the elements of climate change which transcend electoral cycles and national borders? 
- What elements of democracy will be crucial in collectively addressing climate change (public participation, reinforced trust between citizens and policymakers, enhanced accountability mechanisms, etc…)?  
- What accountability and legitimacy mechanisms should govern emerging forms of global environmental governance addressing climate change?

SPEAKERS:
- Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General, International IDEA
- Peter Eriksson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, Sweden
- Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- Katarzyna Gardapkhadze, First Deputy Director/Director’s Alternate, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
- Joyeeta Gupta, Co-Chair, Earth Commission
- Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sweden
- Daniel Lindvall, Upphettning – Demokratin i klimatkrisens tid (Heating - Democracy in the times of the climate crises), Author
- Pia Mancini, Democracy activist, open source sustainer, co-founder & CEO at Open Collective and Chair of DemocracyEarth Foundation
- Andreas Norlén, Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, Sweden
- Dan Smith, Director, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
- Richard Youngs, Senior Fellow Democracy, Conflict and governance Programme, Carnegie Europe

MODERATORS:
- Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General, International IDEA
- Laura Thornton, Director for Global Programmes, International IDEA

PARTNERS: International Youth Think Tank