The Fifth IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians took place on 14-15 December 2018, in Baku Azerbaijan. The event brought together members of parliament from around the world to discuss strategies to promote sustainability and protect the interests of future generations.
Young legislators covered a number of important topics during their debates, including environmental protection, sustainable development and consumption, investments in education to address the needs of future job markets, and the role of youth participation in parliamentary processes.
PAM was represented by Hon. Olivera Ognjanović (Serbia). In her interventions, she expressed the importance that PAM places on Youth, namely education, labour market, vocational training, inter-cultural dialogue and sustainable development. She noted that the role of youth, as a key stakeholder, is indispensable on issues of peace, security, prevention of violent extremism, championing human rights, and mitigating climate change.
She further recalled a PAM resolution recommending the adoption of a Carbon Added Tax (CAT), which was unanimously adopted by PAM on the eve of the Paris Climate Summit in 2015. The CAT is a concrete legislative strategy designed to discourage the use of fossil fuels and promote better research and development efforts aimed at making new eco-friendly technologies emerge quickly.