Stockholm+50 was conveyed just last week in Sweden. This year's meeting marked the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. 

Stockholm +50 focused on climate change, emphasizing pollution and waste, nature, and biodiversity loss. One hundred twenty-two countries attended, and participants adopted a series of principles on the environment, including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment. The two-day international meeting concluded with a statement that contains several recommendations for an actionable plan. 

These include: 

a. Placing human well-being at the center of a healthy planet and prosperity for all. 

b. Recognizing and implementing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. 

c. Adopting system-wide changes in our current economic system and accelerating high-impact sectors' transformations.

It is time for action! If we don't act now, we might reach a point of no return for humanity. But where can we start? 

Actions speak louder than words, which is why delegates at Stockholm 50+ have developed Leadership Dialogues to enable us to measure progress toward a healthy planet. 
 

The Leadership Dialogues address the following themes:

Leadership Dialogue 1: Reflecting on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity for all.

What can you do: 

Leaders around the world are working on actionable plans to make this happen. However, change starts at home. So what can you do to achieve a healthier planet? you can start by:

- Avoiding overuse of resources. For example, turn off the water tap while brushing your teeth, washing the dishes, or even taking showers to avoid water waste. Turn the lights off and unplug the TV and computer when not in use. 

- Ask your family to buy only local and seasonal fruit and veg and cut down on food miles - this will reduce your carbon footprint. 

- Get involved, and use your voice to educate your friends, family, school, and your local community. Participate in beach and park cleaning days and avoid littering. 

- Buy second-hand clothes, swap clothes with friends, or repair and recycle clothes that no longer fit you. Avoid adding more clothes to landfills and participate in circular economies. 

- Take the bike or walk when possible, to avoid unnecessary car travel, and reducing your carbon footprint. 

-Read food labels and avoid foods with ingredients that are harmful to yourself and the environment. For example, palm tree oil is causing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. 

-Plant a tree, or get involved with organizations that work on carbon offsetting by planting trees, such as Ecologi. 

Sustainable development goals activated by taking action: 11, 12, 13 and 17
 

Leadership dialogue 2: Achieving a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

What can you do?

The global pandemic and the lockdowns that happen as a result have taken their toll on many communities. Many people lost their lives, but many more have lost their jobs, leaving them and their families struggling for food and shelter. So what can you do? 

-Ask your parents to buy local. Small businesses have been affected the most. By buying locally, you are helping your community and boosting the local economy. 

- Lockdowns also deprived many children of school time and educational resources. Look for local charities, after-school clubs, libraries, or schools in deprived areas and find ways to help them by donating old books or volunteering.

-Support businesses that pay fair wages to their employees. 

- Take the train or bus, and support local transport links in your community. Maintaining these helps mobility and allows people to get to work and school when they don't own a car. 

- Advocate for gender equality and inclusion. 

Sustainable development goals activated by taking action: 1, 8, 11, and 12 
 

Leadership Dialogue 3: Accelerating the implementation of the environmental dimension of Sustainable Development in the context of the Decade of Action.

What can you do?

The Decade of Action is directly tied to the 17 UN Sustainability Goals. By making sure you learn, share and take action on any of the 17 goals, you are already working toward accelerating the implementation of substantial efforts to save the world. 

Additionally, to all the goals, you can also: 

-Get involved in a local cause, charity, or project to help create awareness and take action. 

-Learn more about the Youth Assembly and how young people like you are helping create actions. 

-Learn about the UNEP-YEA Green Jobs initiative, which focuses on improving education for green careers and job placement processes for educators and employers.

-Join the conversation online #OnlyOneEarth 

-Participate in our 2022 drawing contest 

Sustainable development goals are activated by taking action: all 17 goals. 

Pathways to Action: The 5R's

Whenever you think of the future, use the 5R's as your pathway to action - We have a vision for the future we want; now, let's make it happen. 

1. Reimagining the future - through sustainable living and alternatives to fossil fuels and energy. Reimagining a future with equality and diversity and fair living conditions for all. 
2. Regenerating nature's ecosystems and communities. 
3. Recovering green spaces and communities. Especially after Covid19. 
4. Rebalancing relations with other living species, accessing and using resources, and rebalancing production and consumption. 
5. Renewing global and local participation. Interconnecting peoples, governments, civil society, children and youth, and the private sector and building opportunities to strengthen communities and institutions.