2024 CEC Youth Engagement Week
The 2024 CEC Youth Engagement Week provided a unique opportunity for youth in North America to contribute actively to CEC work, through the Joint Public Advisory Committee’s (JPAC) public consultation mechanism, particularly related to the Reaching Horizon 2030: An Environmental Outlook for North American Cooperation (H-2030) initiative. This initiative spotlights three crucial areas of work in North America: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and will underpin the development of the CEC’s 2026–2030 Strategic Plan.
2024 Youth Engagement Week facilitators
Sophie McCafferty
Educational Program Coordinator for the Hudson Food Collective
Sophie McCafferty
Educational Program Coordinator for the Hudson Food Collective
Passionate about food, community and land stewardship, Sophie (she/her) can usually be found with her hands in the ground. She brings her experience in agroecological, community-driven initiatives, locally and globally, with a strong foundation in decolonial feminist training and gender-based violence policy. Committed to amplifying youth voices in environmental spaces, Sophie is excited to join the 2024 YEW team. Her priority topics for the H-2030 initiative are centering Indigenous Knowledge and promoting ecosystem services within agriculture to support biodiversity. She is excited to learn and contribute and looks forward to engaging with youth perspectives on pressing environmental issues.
Frida Treviño
Climate activist
Frida Treviño
Climate activist
Frida Treviño is a 28-year-old chemical engineer who has worked as a sustainability strategist in the private sector; she has also been a youth representative in international contexts and in the Mexican Congress. Her greatest interest is in helping to close the gap between international treaties and the domestic implementation of climate policies, giving voice in this process to those who are facing the worst consequences of the climate crisis. Taking advantage of the CEC’s Youth Participation Week as a tool for addressing this social injustice, Frida, as a young Mexican woman, has the privilege of not only representing North American youth, but also being a part of the trilateral discussions that will enable the region to confront the triple planetary crisis.
Agustín Ángel Bernabé
Environmental Activist & Co-Founder of Leaders4EARTH
Agustín Ángel Bernabé
Environmental Activist & Co-Founder of Leaders4EARTH
Agustín Ángel Bernabé is an environmental health activist dedicated to empowering youth and communities through environmental justice initiatives across California. As a Facilitator for the 2024 Youth Engagement Week, Agustín is excited to amplify youth voices on critical environmental issues and engage in meaningful dialogue at the CEC JPAC Public Forum. Driven by firsthand experiences with climate challenges in Guerrero, Mexico, and extensive work across diverse regions, Agustín brings a unique perspective on health, inclusive solutions aligned with the H-2030 priority topics.
Activities of the 2024 Youth Engagement Week
- 2024 Youth Engagement Week workshop: Youth Perspectives on Reaching Horizon 2030
- Participation in the CEC Joint Public Advisory Committee public consultation on Reaching Horizon 2030 initiative
- Participation in the JPAC Public Forum
2024 Youth Engagement Week workshop
The 2024 YEW workshop allowed participants to learn about the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), its public consultation efforts, and in particular, explore local and national youth perspectives when addressing the three workstreams of the H-2030 initiative and its priority topics: Earth Observation Technologies and Other GIS Tools, Sustainable Transportation and Ecosystem Services / Sustainable Use and Management of Biodiversity.
The workshop participants were invited to share their perspectives on the JPAC public consultation mechanism, as well as their insights and comments on the H-2030 initiative and its workstreams.
The JPAC public consultation mechanism
The Joint Public Advisory Committee is composed of nine citizens, three from each country (Canada, Mexico and the United States). Together, they advise the Council on a wide array of environmental issues within the scope of the Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. To inform its recommendations, JPAC engages the public in open forums that bring together experts on North America’s most pressing environmental issues. Subsequently, JPAC submits its recommendations to the CEC Council in the form of an Advice.
Reaching Horizon 2030: An Environmental Outlook for North American Cooperation
The CEC initiative Reaching Horizon 2030: An Environmental Outlook for North American Cooperation (H-2030) will assess significant environmental challenges to 2030 that can be addressed regionally through the CEC, providing critical information and input to support international goals and for the development of the CEC’s 2026–2030 Strategic Plan. The forthcoming H-2030 report developed through this initiative will also serve as a strategic guidance document and resource for policymakers, organizations, academia and other key actors to inform research, policy and action in North America and other regions.
The JPAC Public Forum on Reaching Horizon 2030
In addition to participating in the workshop and the JPAC public consultation, the JPAC Public Forum, held in Mexico City on 4-5 December 2024, brought together our workshop facilitators and North American experts.
Contact
Julie Amina Jacquemin
Lead, Outreach, Partnerships and Youth Engagement