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Riding the change: Youth at the intersection of climate, peace and security

The connections between climate, youth, peace and security are gaining traction in global policymaking and research, highlighting the deep interdependencies between sustainability, conflict and the power of youth engagement. This article explores the challenges for young people engaging in climate action and/or peacebuilding, outlines innovative youth-led responses and maps out a shared path that depicts young people as not just being on the journey, but at the centre of it. 

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1.   Introduction

Imagine trying to ride a bike with a broken chain. The wheels spin, but you are not moving. Or worse, the brakes are locked and every time you try to push forward, something stops you. This is what it feels like for many young people today, especially those leading the way in climate and peace action. They are pedalling hard, full of energy and direction, but the systems meant to support them – the policies, resources and platforms – are not always functioning. Still, young people do not give up.

The bicycle itself is a powerful metaphor for the youth climate movement: sustainable, dynamic and capable of navigating rough terrain. In the realm of climate politics, this means conflict, inequality, adultism, shrinking civic space and climate disasters. And just as a bike needs a working chain to move forward, youth need functioning political, economic and social systems to turn their energy into real progress. Without inclusive policies, adequate funding for youth-led initiatives and genuine recognition of their voices, the ride ends. No amount of motivation can replace a broken chain, and without proper infrastructure, even the strongest cyclists struggle to reach their destination. 

This struggle reflects a broader global reality. Climate change is intensifying resource conflicts, driving displacement and deepening inequalities. It is fuelling food insecurity, water scarcity and contributing to conflict (Traif et al., 2023).  At the same time, we currently have the largest generation of youth in history (United Nations, 2022) – a generation both severely affected by climate disasters and insecurity but also capable of driving change (Gaston, 2025).

That is why the Climate, Youth, Peace and Security (CYPS) nexus is emerging as a vital agenda in global policy and research. It recognises the interlinkages between environmental sustainability, conflict dynamics and youth engagement – and seeks to put young people at the centre of solutions. This article explores those interconnections, highlights innovative youth-led responses and calls for the meaningful engagement of young voices into decision-making. The urgency is clear: as climate-related crises grow more frequent (Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC), 2023), continuing to exclude youth is no longer just a missed opportunity – it is a critical risk we cannot afford.

2.   Understanding the CYPS nexus and key frameworks

a)    Youth and climate
The lack of meaningful engagement opportunities for young people in climate policy stands in contrast to young people’s leadership in the global climate movement, as, for example, Fridays for Future and many youth environmental organisations show. From mass climate strikes in capital cities to local youth climate groups, young people are not waiting on the sidelines; they are driving urgent, transformative action. One example is the Hamburger Zukunftsentscheid, a groundbreaking initiative in which young people directly influenced the city’s climate policy and secured ambitious emissions reduction targets. This initiative is a testament to the power of young people, even in times when climate protection is seldom in the news and political inertia is growing, making it challenging to mobilise people for climate-related issues. 

Young people are already disproportionally affected by the effects of climate change, and their lives and livelihoods will be severely affected in the future as they suffer from the consequences of decisions often taken before they were born and without their consultation. Therefore, conceptualising youth and climate together is a question of intra- and intergenerational equity and, more generally, of climate justice (Sloan et al., 2024).

Key international frameworks have underscored the importance of youth inclusion in climate policymaking. The UN’s Youth 2030 strategy, launched by the UN Secretary-General in September 2018, emphasises the integration of young people across all areas of UN work, including climate action. It has gained significant traction within the UN System and is currently being implemented by 55 UN entities and 132 UN Country Teams worldwide (United Nations, 2025a). These agreements need to be transformed into action. At the national level, this could be implemented through youth engagement platforms in ministries and parliaments and, at the international level, through the inclusion of more youth delegates at global climate conferences such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties. This important step needs to be accompanied by further youth engagement platforms. Young people’s leadership is not a future promise – it is a present force that must be supported, scaled up and taken seriously.

b)    Youth, peace and security 
Climate change, conflicts and insecurities disproportionally affect young people and they often make up the majority of those recruited into armed groups, displaced from their homes or denied essential services (United Nations, 2025b). But young people are not merely victims of conflict but vital contributors to peacebuilding and sustainable security. 

This recognition is deeply embedded in the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda, established by UN Security Council Resolution 2250 in 2015. It is built around five key pillars: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships and disengagement and reintegration. Each pillar is aimed at ensuring youth are meaningfully included in peace processes and protected from violence (UN Security Council, 2015). 

The YPS agenda marks its 10th anniversary in December 2025 and its importance has been reaffirmed in the 2024 Pact for the Future. The pact aims to strengthen global cooperation in addressing current and future global challenges such as climate change, inequality or armed conflict (United Nations, 2025c). 

However, turning global commitments into real impact requires concrete national implementation. This means, for instance, adopting and funding National Action Plans (NAPs) to embed YPS principles into domestic policy. Only a few countries, including Finland and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have launched an NAP on YPS so far (Kern, 2025). Ideally, all UN member states would adopt an NAP, as they are essential for advancing youth engagement in peace and security. Even though the plans might differ depending on the respective context and they are never without compromises, NAPs intend to ensure that youth are empowered not just as beneficiaries, but as partners and leaders in building peaceful and just societies. 

c)    Climate, peace and security 
Peace and justice in societies are becoming more and more endangered by climate change. Climate change can act as a threat multiplier, as the exposure to the effects of climate change intensifies existing vulnerabilities and fuels instability, particularly in fragile social systems with weak governance mechanisms. Therefore, the links between climate, peace and security are increasingly recognised as being central to global stability (Traif et al., 2023; Gaston, 2025). It must be noted that climate-related security risks are context specific and depend on the respective natural, social, economic and political environment (Van Baalen & Mobjörk, 2018; Kero, 2024).

The humanitarian consequences of extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, as well as increased tensions around resources threaten lives and livelihoods. Climate change destroys infrastructure and entire economies and is expected to increasingly do so in the future. For instance, water scarcity caused by climate change can lead to and exacerbate resource conflicts and food insecurity, especially in regions where agriculture and the cultivation of water-intensive cash crops account for a significant portion of employment (Traif et al., 2023). This intensifies poverty, inequality, marginalisation as well as insecurities, and it thereby indirectly contributes to rising unrest, protests and violent conflict. 

Further, climate change leads to higher rates of migration and displacement, especially within low-income countries (McLeman, 2019). Climate change effects are weakening institutions, eroding trust and having an overall destabilising effect on political, economic and social systems. Consequently, peacebuilding efforts are facing numerous hurdles. In turn, elevated insecurity undermines the capacity for climate change mitigation and adaptation (Traif, K. et al., 2023).  

Particularly children and youth, women, the elderly, low-income households and marginalised communities such as People of Colour, Indigenous Communities or LGBTQIA* people are most threatened by climate change and conflicts. The most affected people and areas by climate change are mostly located in countries of the so-called Global South, which have historically contributed the least to global warming while suffering the most from its consequences (Fridays for Future, 2021). 

Countries from the Global South – although not a homogenous group – are often located in fragile and conflict-affected regions (Klingebiel, 2023) and often do not have the financial means to adequately fund important climate policies, such as for mitigation, adaptation and to cover loss and damage (Dafemos, 2025). Who pays for these costs is a question of justice and responsibility related to (post)colonial extractivism and the historical levels of pollution, often caused by countries and companies from the Global North (BUNDjugend, 2024). 
In sum, climate change can hamper keeping, making and building peace and thus creates a vicious cycle of vulnerability, instability and injustice. A climate-informed peace and security agenda is therefore essential to interrupting this downward spiral and building resilience at all levels.

d)    Climate, youth, peace and security – Opportunities and challenges
Recognising climate, youth, peace and security as critical and interconnected global issues acknowledges that a holistic perspective is crucial to addressing a complex reality. Having examined the intersections of (a) youth and climate, (b) youth, peace and security and (c) climate, peace and security, combining these into a Climate, Youth, Peace and Security (CYPS), the graphic below clarifies how these issues are connected and highlights three entry points to the model (Kero, 2024).
 
The intersection of YPS and Climate, Peace and Security has been developing naturally, often as a result of youth agency and leadership on climate. Youth bring different perspectives and vantage points to the discussion, enriching public debates and policymaking. Engaging young people also strengthens social cohesion in communities and prevents conflicts as environmental and climate-related root causes are addressed (Gaston, 2025). This is often related to local initiatives on a community or regional level. But climate-related security risks are also transnational – climate catastrophes, greenhouse gas emissions, migration flows and violence do not stop at borders – and therefore require global solutions to address them (Bunse et al., 2022). 

Gaps and barriers at the intersection of climate, youth, peace and security are deeply rooted in fragmented policy approaches that treat these issues in silos, rather than recognising their interconnected nature as the CYPS model does. While peace and security frameworks often speak about youth, those negotiating these frameworks rarely speak with youth, and young people are frequently sidelined in formal processes. In particular, young women and young LGBTQIA* persons often face further marginalisation due to their even more limited access to decision-making spaces and resources. In addition, climate policies and security reports tend to cast young people as future victims instead of present-day actors and leaders (Kero, 2024). 

A workshop in 2024 held by the think tank adelphi and the UN System Staff College outlined six key barriers to meaningful youth engagement in climate, peace and security: the lack of adequate and sustainable financial streams, violence against young climate and peace activists, lack of trust, intergenerational injustice, representation and language barriers as well as literacy gaps in climate, peace and security issues (Khèdr, Mosello & Cucinotta, 2025).

Recognising the CYPS nexus is part of an emerging approach. There are several projects, such as one focused on young entrepreneurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which implement youth empowerment programmes focused on leadership, entrepreneurship and climate education through hackathons or climate curriculums (Gaston, 2025). This highlights the tremendous potential that lies in peacebuilding programming at the intersection of youth, climate and natural resources.

4.   Conclusion: Youth as agents of resilience and peace

The convergence of the climate crisis and rising conflict risks presents one of the most urgent challenges of our time, and young people are often caught at the centre of its impacts. Yet youth are not merely victims of these intersecting crises; they are powerful agents of change, actively shaping solutions across climate, peace and security. 

The next time someone questions whether youth are “ready” to lead, remind them: they already are. We, young people from across the world, have been riding this bike for years – uphill, through storms and with hardly any support. Youth are not lacking ideas, knowledge or commitment, but rather functioning brakes, a solid chain and a clear path forward. In other words: we need resources to fund and scale youth-led initiatives that address climate-related security risks, co-create policies and build out local capacity through peace education with a climate lens, all of which will serve to strengthen community resilience and empower the next generation to lead. As we look ahead, the call to action is clear: invest in youth leadership, integrate climate into peacebuilding and act with the urgency this moment demands.

To ensure a liveable and secure future, we need to stop making young people fix their bikes alone. We need to ride together. 


The author is responsible for the content of the article. The contribution does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung.

References:

Find a short explanation video here.

Alina Reize
Alina Reize, German UN Youth Delegate 2024-2025
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