LETTER | On Sept 5 in Langkawi, I, with 100 others, represented 213 million Asean youths at the Asean Children and Youth Climate Summit co-organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Malaysia and the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry, with support from the Youth and Sports Ministry and Langkawi Development Authority.
This space allowed us the time and capacity to co-draft an Asean Children and Youth Statement on Climate Action - also called the Langkawi Declaration - that was presented at the 18th Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME).
Present were the respective Asean environment ministers, the European Union (EU) commissioners on environment and climate change, and the COP30 president, ambassador André Corrêa do Lago.
A monumental feat for young people in Asean, it represents significant youth demands on climate change to Asean governments. The document is a crucial reference and enabler for youth climate leadership in local, national and regional policy and solutions, solidifying their place in decision-making processes and systems.
Delegates from across Asean had shown solidarity and unity in representing their respective communities and regions, speaking out for climate concerns that plague them back home. It was clear that the collective lived experience brought everyone in the room to address climate change and environmental damage in their own distinctive ways, with shown camaraderie in all the rooms we were in.
In the Langkawi Declaration, Asean children and youth called for:
1) Meaningful youth participation in policy spaces;
2) Children and youth-centric climate policies;
3) Integration of climate education;
4) Accelerating the Just Energy Transition;
5) Climate-resilient social services for children and youth;
6) Climate finance; and
7) Sustainable agriculture and climate-resilient food system.
These priorities are essential for safeguarding the futures of children and youth as right-holders and key decision-makers. Every single instance of pollution and climate disaster happening now will affect children and youth for the rest of their lives.
According to the Unicef regional report ‘Over the Tipping Point’, 41 percent of children in East Asia and the Pacific face five or more types of climate shocks. It is hence imperative that we design a climate-resilient and equitable future that works for young people, for the survival and sustainability of Southeast Asia.
We often read about these vulnerabilities against climate impacts, and of the youth having to carry the compounding consequences of climate change and environmental destruction. But youths like us are not just helpless victims. We are also leaders, standing up for marginalised communities in the periphery of power, from which we have come and now represent in centres of decision-making.
All of us, with each learning experience and practical exposure, are pioneering solutions and campaigning for climate justice against large, environmentally damaging projects that negatively affect people and the environment.
There were several youths in the summit whom I personally knew, who had already made impressive progress on grassroots-level solutions and impactful policy formulation. All had an in-depth understanding of climate change and its impacts, and knew what needed to be done to foster resilience in their communities with the limited tools they had.
What is needed is for the older generations to recognise that we have the capacity and ability to provide insight into climate change solutions and policy. Most of us do not start our advocacy journey with social capital or financial wealth, nor with an established professional reputation among circles of influence.
Yet we persevere long enough for us to be able to make an impact to defend our inherited land, forests, and heritage. The guidance and mentorship by those willing to support us as true partners and potential leaders was invaluable to all of our growth.
Out of all the several climate summits I have attended across Malaysia in the past two years, the Asean Children and Youth Climate Summit 2025 has been the most inclusive, impactful, and empowering.
To uphold meaningful youth participation, organisations should echo these footsteps to bridge the gap of inaccessibility within/toward high-level climate conversations/climate diplomacy by reaching young people where they are.
The Langkawi Declaration is the policy basis for current and aspiring youth leaders in Southeast Asia to take initiatives to demand representation in climate decision-making, using it as a safeguard to set agendas and priorities catering to the needs of children and youth. All of these policies and recommendations in the declaration can be localised according to national and community needs.
For all young people struggling to find a place and their voice, use our Langkawi Declaration as a voice that you can champion. Connect with other generations and make your own independent voice in solidarity with others. The document belongs to all of us youths in Southeast Asia.
Start reading and take action.
The author is a climate and environmental advocate based in Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. He was a delegate to the Asean Children and Youth Climate Summit and is a guest contributor to RimbaWatch.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
