#Eat4Change Youth Summit with MEPs

_{^{Attribution: WWF EPO / Dániel Antalfi}}

At the #Eat4Change Summit in Brussels, 46 young people from across Europe and Latin America met over 40 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to discuss global deforestation and the impact of the EU’s consumption abroad.

The summit participants shared their “Youth Voices” statement and expressed their opinions to the policy makers. Watch the video. They underlined the impact that nature destruction is having on their communities. Marco Osorto Nuñez described the situation in his home country, Honduras: “The temperature feels higher when there are no trees, and every year the communities near the coasts face floods because the mangroves no longer protect them.” The participants have high hopes for the new EU deforestation law to reduce the EU’s footprint, and see it as a fundamental step to fight climate change and to ensure more sustainable diets. “Now is the opportunity for the representatives of the European Parliament to meet our expectations and needs for a Union that does not contribute to forest destruction abroad” said Sotiris Mageirias from Greece.

The youth also organised a creative video stunt action in front of the European Parliament. To conclude the three-day summit, participants met professionals working in the EU bubble at a ‘career speed dating dinner’ to seek light-touch guidance on their career path.