The Youth Organisations Forum (GoFor)’s shadow report titled “Fossil Fuel-Based Economy and Youth Rights in Türkiye” has been cited under two separate headings in the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. This report will be presented during the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, to be held in Geneva from 16 June to 11 July 2025.
Thanks to these citations, this marks the first time that both the systematic repression of young environmental activists in Türkiye and the recognition of youth as a social group disproportionately affected by the climate crisis have been acknowledged at such a high level within an official UN document.
GoFor’s submission was prepared in response to the global call for contributions issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change, Professor Elisa Morgera. Selected from over 110 submissions worldwide, GoFor’s report was cited in two different sections of the Rapporteur’s report titled “The Imperative of Defossilising Our Economies” (A/HRC/59/42).
Youth recognised as both victims and stakeholders in the fossil fuel crisis
The first citation defines youth as one of the core rights-holder groups disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. Through this contribution, GoFor helped ensure that youth are not merely recognised as victims of the crisis but also as equal stakeholders in climate-related policy transformation processes:
“All States should immediately start inclusive processes to co-develop defossilization plans and measures, with the informed and meaningful participation of workers and unions, representatives of human rights holders most affected by climate change, Indigenous Peoples, people of African descent, peasants, women, children and youth and representatives of States that depend on fossil fuel exported by the country concerned.”
This line formally recognises at the UN level that youth must have a say in national economic decision-making processes concerning the climate transition.
Violence against young activists by fossil fuel companies in Türkiye brought to the UN agenda
The second citation draws on the specific analysis provided by GoFor concerning Türkiye. It brings visibility to the link between fossil fuel-based mega projects and both physical and structural violence against young activists. Cases such as the distortion of scientific knowledge, the instrumentalisation of universities, the silencing of independent scientists, and judicial harassment against environmental defenders are reflected in the report with the following passage:
“Knowledge of the catastrophic effects of fossil fuel-induced climate change can be traced back to at least the 1960s. Instead of acting on this knowledge to prevent harm, fossil fuel companies have counterfeited climate science, buying credibility for fossil fuel-influenced research through university affiliations, while intimidating independent climate scientists and manufacturing doubts regarding their science. These companies have also been responsible for attacks against environmental human rights defenders, including judicial harassment tactics, to silence, intimidate or punish their critics.”
Thanks to GoFor’s country-specific submission, issues such as workplace deaths in unregulated mega-mining projects and the repression of youth-led protests against these violations have now been officially recorded in the United Nations’ human rights documentation.
Click here to access GoFor’s full shadow report (in Turkish)
Click here to access the full report authored by Elisa Morgera (in English)
