The involvement and achievements of young people in issues of land sustainability were highlighted at the opening ceremony of the Youth Forum on Sept 8 in Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Zhang Yongli, vice administrator of China’s State Forestry Administration, praised young people's contribution to the fight against desertification and said their engagement and ability to innovate solutions is needed.

He added that young people should respect and protect nature while combating desertification and encouraged them to offer suggestions to local government based on their professional knowledge.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut mentioned the vital role land plays in people’s lives, including food production and employment.

She said 99 percent of food comes from land and food demands will increase by 70 percent by 2050. About 71 million jobs might be provided in the food and agriculture sector alone by 2030 if young people are devoted to land issues.

Barbut also mentioned that one role youth can play is to make land issues attractive to each other.

Xu Xiao, Person-in-charge of the All-China Youth Federation, introduced the challenge land degradation brings to the world and highlighted the Chinese government’s efforts in desertification.

He introduced some of the young people’s actions taken to protect the environment and encouraged youth to participate in the living in green movement.

UN Environment Chief Jiří Hlaváček stressed the importance of young people in environmental protection. 

Almost half of the world population consists of young people and it is essential to engage youth to shape the world. 

Finally, he said the United Nations will cooperate with governments everywhere to encourage more young change-makers to contribute to controlling land degradation.

The forum was one of the side events of the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP13).

The Youth Forum, a side event of COP13, is held on Sept 8. [Photo by Song Tingting/chinadaily.com.cn]