Participating in the G20 Youth Summit

Participating in the G20 Youth Summit

This June, I had the opportunity to participate for about one week as Japan’s representative in the G20 Youth Summit, an international conference modeled after the G20 Leaders’ Summit, held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In fact, the opportunity to join this summit came about through a chance encounter. In February, while volunteering as an interpreter guide at Meiji Shrine, I guided a Turkish graduate student, Emre Cenker. He had previously participated in this summit, and during the tour, he invited me by saying, “If you’re interested, why not apply to participate as Japan’s representative?”

I was able to reunite with Emre at the conference in Russia.

At this conference, which I joined through such a fortunate coincidence, we engaged in passionate discussions—under the full support of the Russian government—with representatives from 20 countries on topics such as International Financial Architecture Reform and Sustainable Development. The outcomes of these discussions were compiled into a final communiqué and presented to President Vladimir Putin.

In the latter half of the program, I also attended SPIEF (Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum) 2013. As part of this experience, I had the valuable opportunity to attend a plenary session featuring President Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

During the summit, I was able to incorporate many points into the final statement as Japan’s representative, including issues such as the safe use of nuclear power and strengthening the framework beyond the Kyoto Protocol. However, I also felt that, compared to young people from other countries, I still lacked well-developed personal opinions and concrete solutions regarding important global issues.

I realized that it is not enough to advocate only for national interests; it is equally important to express views from the perspective of a global citizen.

Through this summit, I witnessed firsthand the growing momentum of youth empowerment around the world. I strongly feel that Japan must not fall behind in this movement.

The next G20 Youth Summit will be held in Australia. If you are interested, I encourage you to apply.

http://g8ysjapan.org/03selectionG20.html

Written by: Takeshi Taniguchi, 3rd-year student, Keio University
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at: taniappli567@yahoo.co.jp