Lino Paoletti

Three questions to Lino Paoletti, UN Youth Delegate Biodiversity

1. What does being a UN youth delegate on biodiversity entails ?

Being a UNYD on biodiversity forced me to dive into the world of other living beings. I am convinced that if you want to protect something, you have to understand it the best you can. So, it has been almost two years that I am deepening my knowledge about what is "biodiversity".
Once you understand biodiversity is simply everything that surrounds us and what makes us all human, it becomes a never-ending journey. A really rich one.
As I need to vulgarize biodiversity subjects to my youth fellow, it is also important to know well what I'm talking about. Indeed, I most prefer when we collect youth people's voices on biodiversity matters is the awareness-raising part. 

2. How would you describe the role of the UN Youth Delegate during international negotiations? 

I think it is still a thing I have to discover... From what I know so far, the role of a UNYD is to make justice happen, in its broadest sense. Indeed, justice is also about the next generations. What is done now (or not) has a direct impact on our lives. It is crucial to remind people who are making decisions that they are not only acting for the present time but also for the future.
I believe representatives of the youth people are important to make the "voice of the future" heard by decision-makers, which are often short-term sighted, unfortunately. 

3. What are your expectations for COP15 and wishes for biodiversity in the future?

My expectation for COP15 is that youth and MAPA' voices are sincerely taken into account. Furthermore that we respect a rights-based approach and that we understand the importance of education to mitigate the biodiversity loss. It is crucial that we start preparing our societies for an unstable future. We will depend more than never on living-beings and their vital services. We should start paying respect to them and knowing them in order to be able to preserve them. 

My wish for the future ? Putting the value of life before GDP growth and money.