#BG4SDGs Talks with Federica Gasbarro

The issue of environmental protection has gained increasing importance in international public debate. The thirteenth of the 17 goals set out in the UN 2030 Agenda is precisely about combating climate change, with a range of actions from integrating environmental strategies into national policies to mobilizing resources to promote the ecological transition and mitigate its effects.

These are the topics at the center of the new round of #BG4SDGs Talks, our series of meetings that shines a spotlight on sustainability and innovation to learn, through dialogue with leading personalities, about the state of progress toward the goals set by the United Nations in the UN 2030 Agenda.

According to Federica Gasbarro, biologist and popularizer, host of the new Private Bank event, an essential role is played by young people around the world in mobilizations in defense of the environment. A commitment that has become evident and the subject of public demonstrations in recent years. Demonstrations that, however, are but the tip of the iceberg of an interest in these issues that is very well established in the younger generations.

According to recent surveys conducted by Eurobarometer at the initiative of the EU Parliament, it has emerged precisely how young Europeans consider the environment to be a top priority for public policy in the coming years. 39% of the sample of young people analyzed put combating climate change and environmental protection among the top 3 priorities, a value that rises to 44% if we look only at young Italians.

"Bringing the commitment to achieving the UN goals into our daily lives is the best way to spread the values of sustainability. What I prefer to do is to talk to young people in schools and initiate them into the concept of goals for sustainable development, telling them what each of us can do and what interventions would be needed at the institutional level to protect our planet. In fact, it is proven by the numbers that the participation of girls and boys in environmental issues has been growing in parallel with an increased awareness on these aspects," Gasbarro comments.

Federica Gasbarro has always been committed to this front and considered by Forbes Italy among the 100 under-30 leaders of the future. The only Italian, she was chosen by the United Nations, together with Greta Thunberg and 99 other young people, at the first gathering of young leaders at the Glass Palace in New York and at the General Assembly during the 2019 Climate Summit.

During these occasions, Federica represented her country's youth striving for a better future by emphasizing in the #BG4SDGs Talks event how crucial it is to establish intergenerational dialogue in order to establish common ground and be able to all move forward together toward long-term development that is inclusive and sustainable.

"Innovative ideas, education, and technology are the key growth engines that today's younger generations possess and, if enhanced in intergenerational dialogue, can offer numerous insights for the development of communities and the economy. Governments and Institutions play a fundamental role in supporting and accelerating innovative processes such as technological ones that go towards achieving all the goals set in Agenda 2030," Federica Gasbarro concludes.