V ICE President Sara Duterte and Quezon City Mayor Maria Josefina “Joy” Belmonte on Sunday led the celebration of World Children’s Day at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

Duterte and Belmonte were one in emphasizing the key role of the youth in fighting climate change.

The event highlighted the theme “Ngayon, Para Bukas! A Call for Collective Climate Action,” which brought children’s perspectives ahead of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP28) in Dubai, Belmonte said.

She said results from children’s dialogues and surveys from the Local Conference of Youth 2023 (LCOY) and the city’s Children’s Climate Change Agenda were presented to the COP28 Philippine delegation.

“Youth are our most active force in nation-building, and we must maximize their skills and talents to secure the success of our climate change initiatives,” Belmonte said.

Quezon City has been leading the battle against climate change, implementing and promoting sustainable energy, active mobility, food security, water conservation, air quality management and circular economy, Belmonte said.

United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Philippines Representative Ouunsaikhan Dendevnorov, who was also at the event, said Filipino children are bearing the brunt of climate change.

“They need to be given more opportunity to meaningfully participate in the decisions and actions that affect them. The voices, perspectives, and ideas of children and young people must be heard at the highest levels and taken seriously,” Dendevnorov said.

Among the youth-led programs highlighted in the event are an organization protecting Irrawaddy dolphins in Western Visayas, an initiative teaching environmental and agricultural programs to public schools, a network of young environmentalist journalists, and an advocacy group that empowers communities living around the Pasig River.

Unicef said the demands of the children and young people include community-centered platforms for young people’s education and participation, mental health support networks, and safe and enabling environments for Indigenous peoples and environmental defenders.

In the Philippines, the agency is working to make essential social services more resilient to the effects of climate change, support mitigation and adaptation strategies, and give children the education and skills needed to play a leading role in the just transition to a more sustainable world, Dendevnorov said.