Draft 1

Dear leaders of the world,

It is time to admit that global governance has been failing on issues of sustainability. Such failure puts society at risk, at all scales. We are already experiencing planetary destabilization in environmental, economic, and social terms. What are we going to do about it? We’ve waited 20 years. It’s time to act.

We the youth agree on the science and the problems. We are not skeptics.  In the 20 years since the first Earth Summit, the scientific evidence has accumulated.

The climate is warming. Population is growing. Access to food and water is ever less secure. And most importantly, consumption patterns continue to increase uninhibited. We support the concerns raised in State of the Planet Declaration, but we here make a stronger call to action now.  We need new ways of thinking about the complexities of politics, inequalities, and the power dynamics that constrain our ability to act. This is what it will take to transform our ways of life towards more sustainable pathways.

In order to make the knowledge produced through science useful, we call for stakeholder participation in all systems at all levels; concrete solutions using the existing roadmaps and action plans coming from sources as diverse as NGOs and consulting firms; a more inclusive indicator of well-being as an alternative to GDP, and a new spirit global environmental patriotism to motivate our decisions.

We can no longer ignore that environment, economics, and equity are linked, and any action that addresses one addresses them all.  Where solutions exist that improve all three, we want them implemented now. Where there are currently conflicts between the three, we as the next generation commit to working on better solutions.

Despite the politics that surround such decisions, the decision makers can be confident that we, as their constituents, want them to take strong action. 'BE BRAVE'!.  You have our support and we need your action.  Only through focusing on sustainability, equity and opportunity can we move forward.  This is our vision. We must be hopeful and not just surrounded by fear.  We challenge you to make it a reality.