Heirs to Our Ocean (H2OO), a Decade Implementing Partner founded and led by youth, has launched the 4th Cohort of the U.S. Youth Advisory Council for the UN Ocean Decade (U.S. YAC UNOD) to continue to engage young people from diverse backgrounds in decision- making and skill-building for a healthier blue planet.
Recognizing the pivotal role that young people have to play in shaping the future this Decade, Heirs to Our Ocean (H2OO) invests in empowering and equipping young leaders with skills so they are prepared to lead humanity into a more just, equitable, empathetic future and are connected to the natural world and each other.
In September 2023, H2OO’s U.S. Youth Advisory Council for the UN Ocean Decade onboarded 61 new members, spanning from Queens, New York City, to across the Pacific in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, making it the largest Cohort to date. Over the next eight months, the young activists will work together to develop action projects in the areas of policy, education, movement building, and digital technology and media. They will be supported by an experienced team of youth alumni of the program.
This group of young people will participate in and coordinate activities at the national level to facilitate the implementation of Decade Actions, and further various local initiatives that contribute to the goals of the Ocean Decade. This will include coordinating U.S. Hill Days in 2024 to meet with federal U.S. lawmakers to call for policies that bolster innovative solutions that manage the devastation of climate change, further ocean and water protection, including through land-based management such as regenerative agriculture, and seek justice and support for those on the frontlines of climate impacts.
The group aims to build upon the successes of the last 3 Cohorts of the U.S. YAC UNOD, whose direct actions to achieve ocean literacy and raise awareness across diverse communities, have led to many successes that include: held 47 meeting with lawmakers in 2023 to advocate for environmental and climate policies, conducted plastic brand audits to collect data to hold plastic polluters accountable, developed an educational toolkit on the Ocean Decade Challenges to share key insights from the youth perspective, and expanded eco-justice and climate literacy through presentations amongst communities across the U.S.
H2OO formed the world’s first Youth Advisory Council for the UN Ocean Decade in the U.S. in 2020. Each year, this indicative unites a broad audience of youth from across the United States and Territories, amplifying their voices within the Ocean Decade. Through capacity developing events in crucial areas to movement building, Heirs to Our Ocean helps youth around the world to develop their knowledge and skills needed to tackle the Ocean Decade Challenges.
Interested in applying to the 5th Cohort for the period of September 2024-May 2025? Subscribe here to stay informed.
Learn more about Heirs to Our Ocean (H2OO)
For more information, please contact:
Ocean Decade Communications Team (oceandecade.comms@unesco.org)
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About the Ocean Decade:
Proclaimed in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) (‘the Ocean Decade’) seeks to simulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system and catalyse new opportunities for sustainable development of this massive marine ecosystem. The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’. The Ocean Decade provides a convening framework for scientists and stakeholders from diverse sectors to develop the science knowledge and the partnerships needed to accelerate and harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system, and deliver science-based solutions to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN General Assembly mandated UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to coordinate the preparation and implementation of the Decade.
About the IOC/UNESCO:
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) promotes international cooperation in marine sciences to improve management of the ocean, coasts and marine resources. The IOC enables its 150 Member States to work together by coordinating programmes in capacity development, ocean observations and services, ocean science and tsunami warning. The work of the IOC contributes to the mission of UNESCO to promote the advancement of science and its applications to develop knowledge and capacity, key to economic and social progress, the basis of peace and sustainable development.
About Heirs to Our Ocean (H2OO):
Heirs to Our Ocean (H2OO) is a U.S.-based nonprofit with a mission to empower the next generation of leaders by connecting them in purpose, educating them on the intersection of the environmental and humanitarian crises they are inheriting, and cultivating essential skills to create innovative solutions and real-world change.