The SustainUS Agents of Change (AoC) program is now accepting applications to join the SustainUS youth delegation to the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India from October 8-19,  2012.

COP11 will help determine future international policy on biodiversity, and youth must make our voices heard. Young people from across the globe are organizing to voice our perspectives and hold the negotiations accountable to future generations. Countries at the negotiations must reach consensus and work together to protect the planet’s diversity and the health of interdependent human and ecological systems.

The SustainUS Agents of Change (AoC) program is now accepting applications to join the SustainUS youth delegation to the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention and the 8th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP18 and CMP8), which will be held in Doha, Qatar from November 26 to December 7, 2012!

COP18 will help determine future international policy on climate change, and youth must make our voices heard. Young people from across the globe are organizing to bring a sense of urgency and rationality to the meeting. Countries at the negotiations must reach consensus and work together to make the kinds of pollution cuts that science tells us are necessary to avoid dangerous climate change.

Download the Application!

Next month, the United Nations will hold a mega-conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — the Earth Summit, aka Rio+20. In addition to being an international Who’s Who of over 130 heads of state and leaders in sustainable development, it will also be a chance for young people to assert the urgency of the challenges we face and seize the opportunities presented to our generation to address them.

Yeah, I know you’re probably still sour about the last global enviro conference that made headlines — the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations. I understand that bitterness. I was there, a senior in college then, all wide-eyed and hopped up on hope. But in preparing to attend the Earth Summit with other youth leaders, I come with renewed enthusiasm that this conference will be different. Read more...