“It was inspiring to witness the collective power of youth diplomacy. Beyond the technical knowledge I gained—including hydrogen energy and climate finance to sustainable agriculture and space policy—the most enduring impact came from the relationships I built with young professionals from all around the world who are all deeply committed to shaping a better future.”
The Y20 is the official youth engagement group of the G20. Each year, youth delegates from G20 countries come together to collaborate, negotiate, and propose concrete policy solutions across five thematic tracks chosen by the host country. In August of 2025, recent MPPGA alum Marcos Avina (Class of 2025) traveled to South Africa to represent Canada at the Y20. He shares reflections of his experience here:
I first heard about the Y20 while on exchange in Berlin. A classmate was applying to be the German delegate, and given our shared interest in international policy, human rights, and sustainable development, I decided to explore whether Canada had a similar process. I applied in November and was selected during my final semester in the MPPGA program. Balancing coursework with delegation responsibilities was demanding, but it quickly became one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic and professional journey.
I served a dual role with the Canadian youth delegation, as both Engagement Coordinator and as delegate on one of the five thematic tracks. Both positions drew directly on my academic training and my passion for environmental conservation. Within MPPGA, I specialized in the Resources, Energy, and Sustainability stream, and within the delegation, I represented Canada in negotiations on Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability. In fact, protecting nature for its own sake was the reason I decided to pursue a career in public policy in the first place and many of the policies I advocated for—ranging from marine biodiversity to Indigenous rights and climate resilience—were informed by my coursework in human rights, global governance, and environmental policy, as well as by my lived experience.
To my surprise, the responsibilities of Engagement Coordinator closely mirrored the tasks I undertook during the Global Policy Project, where I researched marine water governance in Howe Sound in collaboration with the Squamish Nation. These included jurisdictional scans, leading interviews, and coordinating with fellow delegates, academic experts, and senior government officials. Personal highlights for me included interviewing David Boyd who served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, and sharing a meal with the High Commissioner of Canada amidst track negotiations in Pretoria, South Africa.
“Our generation is the largest in history, and at the negotiating table, we bring urgency, clarity, and creativity. When young people are meaningfully included, decisions become more inclusive, more forward-looking, and more rooted in intergenerational equity... I am forever grateful to MPPGA for providing me with the skills and resources to contribute to this endeavour”
The summit itself was intense, with negotiations stretching into the early hours. After months of online preparation, we had only a few days in person to consolidate and finalize proposals across all policy tracks. It was humbling to navigate such a range of perspectives, and at times overwhelming to reconcile differing priorities, yet it was inspiring to witness the collective power of youth diplomacy. Beyond the technical knowledge I gained—including hydrogen energy and climate finance to sustainable agriculture and space policy—the most enduring impact came from the relationships I built with young professionals from all around the world who are all deeply committed to shaping a better future.
This experience reinforced for me that we are not passive voices of tomorrow but active leaders of today. Despite the challenges facing multilateral cooperation and the troubling headlines that dominate global news, I saw firsthand that youth care deeply about building a cleaner, more equitable, and more just world. While we may not always agree on the path forward, we share a commitment to shaping a better future. Our generation is the largest in history, and at the negotiating table, we bring urgency, clarity, and creativity. When young people are meaningfully included, decisions become more inclusive, more forward-looking, and more rooted in intergenerational equity.
In the end, my time at the Y20 brought into focus something I had long felt: umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, or “a person is a person through other people”. This African proverb reminds me that no generation can confront global challenges alone, that every voice matters, and that the choices we make today ripple far into the future. If there is one lesson I carry forward, it is this: only by recognizing our shared humanity can we hope to build a fairer, more just, and more sustainable world.
I am forever grateful to MPPGA for providing me with the skills and resources to contribute to this endeavour, the Young Diplomats of Canada for their trust and faith in me and my fellow Canadian delegates who negotiated alongside me in their respective tracks to represent Canadian youth in this multilateral forum.
