The six young New Zealanders and Save the Children New Zealand's youth engagement co-ordinator Vira Paky (right). Photo: Supplied
Six young New Zealanders are travelling to France this weekend to attend a global Ocean Citizen Summit.
The summit - hosted at Nausicaá - Centre National de la Mer in Boulogne sur Mer in France - will bring together more than 60 young people from around the world.
Quack Pirihi, Lottie Stevenson, Kat Cooper, Maia Horn, Wei Heng Pok, and Veronica Rotman were selected to represent New Zealand following a series of workshops held by WWF and Save the Children last year.
They will be identifying both individual and collective responses to five key challenges of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development: changing humanity's relationship with the ocean, unlocking ocean-based solutions to climate change, protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and biodiversity, developing a sustainable and equitable ocean economy, and understanding and beating marine pollution from source to sea.
Quack Pirihi (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Patuharakeke) - who uses they/them pronouns - told RNZ they were looking forward to "having wānanga (discussions) about our shared challenges, our shared aspirations, and building solutions that work for young people to be engaged in."
"We need to find solutions that work for young people that we can carry into our future against the fight of the climate crisis.
"I think for young people engaging in climate activism, engaging in kaitiakitanga can be so hard and there are so many obstacles and barriers in place. And I think that's intentional.
"I think corporations and businesses that profit off the destruction and extraction from our planet don't want young people to be in these spaces because we're curious, we're solutions focused, we're angry, we're wanting to keep our future, keep our world healthy, and restore the balance that we have with Papatūānuku (mother earth) and Ranginui (sky father)."
Pirihi said the role of young people was becoming increasingly more important.
"It seems like businesses and corporations assume that the world has given up, and by creating all these barriers - whether it's creating really complicated language, or making it hard for young people to engage in advocacy, or confusing and muddying the lines on what advocacy is - young people are just getting pushed more and more to the side."
"This kaupapa invites us and encourages us to replace young people at the centre - to prioritise our futures, our dreams, relying on community connections, our aspirations, and our dreams for the future."
The summit will be held between 25 and 28 March.
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