What will a cleaner tomorrow look like? How do you empower young people? How can countries with different ideologies and cultures reach a consensus over our environment and development?
Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson, and Gro Brundtland debated these questions with young activists Esther and Marvin at a public event in Oslo, with questions from a live online audience. Watch the video and join the discussion.
Good jobs? Clean air? Food security? In June 2012, world leaders are coming together in Rio. Their actions – or inactions – will shape this planet for generations to come. What do you want that world to look like? Join the debate with Elders+Youngers.
“For me sustainable development is much more than caring for the environment. It’s also much more than making money from our natural resources and from our economic growth. It’s an intersection between the economics, the social, and the environment.”
Esther, from Nigeria, is one of four Youngers taking part in the Elders and Youngers, in the run up to the Rio+20 summit. In this video she gives an outline of her work and the future she wants to create.
“People in our society should feel they are empowered with equal access to energy, healthcare and quality education.”
Marvin, from China, introduces himself and outlines the key issues as he sees them. He is one of the four ‘Youngers’, young leaders committed to putting sustainable development into practice, participating in the Elders and Youngers debate, in advance of the Rio+20 summit.
“I dedicate my life to help build a world where everyone can be free to self-determine how they want to live their lives”
Pedro, a socio-environmental activist from Brazil, is one of the four ‘Youngers’, taking part in the Elders and Youngers debate, leading up to the Rio+20 summit. He talks about his work with the Vitae Civilis Institute and explains the important role that promoting change has to play.
“I’m driven by the vision of a world where everybody’s grandgrandgrandgrandchildren can live in harmony with nature and with each other”
Sara, from Sweden, is an environmental campaigner participating as a Younger in the Elders and Youngers debate for practical paths of action, ahead of Rio+20. She introduces herself and explains why finding new solutions is important to her and to the rest of us.
Fernando Henrique Cardoso offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Elders’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro in October 2011. The Elders meet twice a year to discuss their initiatives to promote peace and human rights. With fellow Elders Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson, Jimmy Carter and Martti Ahtisaari, President Cardoso talks about the Elders’ recent work on child marriage, the Middle East peace process and the Korean Peninsula.
In December 2009 Lakhdar Brahimi, Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu travelled to Cyprus to film a documentary about the search for missing persons on the island. Watch the film here – available in English, Greek and Turkish.
In February 2011, two Greek Cypriot and two Turkish Cypriot teenagers – Idil, Michael, Tayfun and Thalia – joined Elders Desmond Tutu, Gro Brundtland and Lakhdar Brahimi on a visit to London. In this video the four students answer some challenging questions from the Cypriot community in London and tell us why they won't give up on their dream for a united Cyprus.
In December 2009, Lakhdar Brahimi, Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu joined four teenagers - two Greek Cypriot and two Turkish Cypriot - to learn about a very difficult and painful issue: the search for missing persons in Cyprus. Their journey to discover more about the Cypriots working to uncover their hidden past has been made into a documentary.
