For the first time, secondary environmental legislation will benefit from the support of climate change experts, and in the coming days a working group will be set up to draft regulations aimed at protecting Romania's forests, Environment, Water and Forests Minister Diana Buzoianu announced on Thursday at the launch conference of the National Youth Action Plan on Climate Change (PNATSC).

'At the Ministry of the Environment, what we are trying to do at the moment is to prepare our ambitions for the coming years. Regarding climate change, for the first time we have brought in climate experts to help us draft secondary legislation, which until now had never been written with such experts at the table. For example, these days we are setting up a working group to draft the regulations that will protect Romania's forests, which are drying out year by year because they can no longer cope with climate change. In fact, the tree species currently growing in certain areas can no longer withstand the climate conditions there. In this context, we will have to devise a strategy, on the one hand, to save the forests that can still be preserved, and on the other, to begin planting species that are more resilient to the new temperatures in those regions. Hardly anyone has raised this issue until now, and that is why I think it is important to see so many actors at the table who are interested in this topic and who recognise that climate change is an absolutely vital issue,' said Buzoianu.

According to her, two topics are absolutely vital for future generations, namely digitalisation and climate change.

'I am glad that you [young people] are here and that you have such a strong voice. You are so engaged with this subject. When I first entered Parliament, I said from the very start that I wanted to be part of the Environment and Digitalisation [committees]. Those were the two committees I aimed for, and I was fully prepared to fight for them. I was willing to give up anything in Parliament, as long as I could be in the Environment Committee, and I told everyone that, including the then group leader, to whom I said I didn't care about any other delegation or role, I just wanted to be on that committee. He looked at me and said, ‘Ah, very nice, but you will need to find two more colleagues.' Hardly anyone sees it as a main committee. In fact, in Parliament it is regarded as secondary, informal somehow. If you talk to people, they tend to think of it as one of the ‘other' committees, compared to the serious ones like budget or transport. My response was that there are two absolutely vital topics for the next generations: digitalisation and climate change. What I have done over the past six years has been in this spirit, looking ahead to what awaits us over the next 20 years with these two major transformations: digitalisation and the environment. We must do everything we can to ensure these changes work in our favour, not against us,' the Environment minister pointed out.

The National Youth Action Plan on Climate Change will be presented on the sidelines of COY20 and COP30 in Belem, Brazil, as part of the Global Youth Statement (GYS), the main global position paper of young people, developed by YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Through this initiative, the contributions of young people and children from Romania will be integrated into the international negotiation process and global climate action priorities.

Platforma Tinerilor pentru Sustenabilitate/The Youth Platform for Sustainability (PTS), with the support of the French Embassy to Romania and the French Institute of Romania, organised the launch event for the National Youth Action Plan on Climate Change on Thursday at the headquarters of the National Meteorological Administration (ANM).

The initiative is supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests, and UNICEF Romania, under the aegis of LCOY (Local Conference of Youth) Romania 2025. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Badea; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)