We are an intersectional group of over 549 [i] young people, activists, and advocates from 34 countries and territories [ii] across Asia and the Pacific region. We represent youth-led, youth-serving and feminist organizations, changemakers, social entrepreneurs, activists, and students who have gathered together for the Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) Youth Forum 2025, held in hybrid modality, from 19th - 21st February 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. 121 young people have joined us in-person. Together, we comprise unique and diverse individuals ranging from age 13-30, across all backgrounds and identities including persons with disabilities, persons with various sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions, youth from ethnic and minority groups, and various socio-economic backgrounds, among others. It is our hope that this call to action reflects our collective voice and demands, and that our representation at this forum is indicative of the strength of young people's commitment to the attainment of the sustainable development goals.
This APFSD Youth Call to Action puts forward our recommendations and outlines our demands for sustainable, inclusive, and evidence-based solutions, with focus on the SDGs under review for this year-- SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).
This Call to Action was developed by a dedicated drafting team [iii] who worked on behalf of the larger group to capture the key discussion points and demands discussed by participants in the forum. Like previous years, we emphasize that the future we hope to attain, one in which meaningful progress is made towards the 2030 Agenda, cannot be achieved without a concerted effort to include and uplift young people's voices in all our diversities at all levels of the decision-making process.
BACKGROUND
Young people in Asia-Pacific who comprise of 60% of the world's youths [iv] continue to face challenges as Asia sees an increasing number and intensity of conflicts, geopolitical tensions, violence, and a decline in human rights.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating conflicts, and growing climate crisis have severely thrown the achievement of SDGs off track. Of the 117 out of 169 targets with available data, only 16 are on track to be achieved by 2030 and 18 shows a negative trend in need of urgent reversal. The majority of the 18 targets are related to climate-related challenges and disaster risk, showing the climate crisis is real in the region, and will affect all other SDGs.
Young people are not immune to this grim reality and it is through our participation at the APFSD Youth Forum, 2025 that we hope to be recognised as the agents of change who if given the opportunity, skills, and platform, can bring innovative solutions and drive revolutionary changes. It is our hope that the recommendations put forward through this Call to Action is brought to attention at the APFSD intergovernmental fora, High Level Political Forum (HLPF), and ECOSOC Youth Forum in 2025.
SDG 14 - LIFE BELOW WATER
Situational Analysis
The Asia-Pacific region is home to some of the world's richest and most diverse marine ecosystems, supporting millions of livelihoods, global food security, and economic stability. Increasing threats to these environments, such as marine pollution, overfishing, and climate change, further imperil this critical sector; while also undermining the very way of life it supports for coastally dependent people, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other low-lying nations. Marine pollution remains one of the biggest issues in the region, with Asia accounting for more than 60% of the plastic waste that ends up in the oceans.[v] Every year, around 11 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean, seriously impacting marine biodiversity and fisheries.[vi] Measures like single use plastic bans and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes undertaken by Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand show that it's possible to move forward, albeit with issues on waste management infrastructure and a very limited implementation practice.
The world is experiencing problems with overfishing and overexploitation. Global fish stock assessments indicate that 34.2% of fish stocks are overexploited, a dramatic increase from 10% in the 1970s. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Asia-Pacific region constitutes about 20% of the total catch, depleting marine resources and undermining the livelihoods of small-scale fishers. Although multilateral agreements like the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) are intended to combat IUU fishing, their implementation remains inconsistent across the region, which makes them less effective.
Climate change also possesses impacts that exacerbate ocean degradation. The Asia-Pacific region is warming at a rate faster than the global average, and sea levels are expected to rise by 1 meter by 2100, which could displace over 130 million people. Increasing ocean temperatures are causing widespread coral bleaching, threatening marine biodiversity and coastal protection. The Great Barrier Reef has already lost nearly 50% of its coral cover due to extreme heat stress, signifying a grave need for urgent climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.[vii]
Recommendations
Sustainable Fishing Practices
Indigenous Knowledge and communities
CONCLUSION
Across the Asia-Pacific, young people are pioneering transformative solutions to address the challenges. However, these efforts often lack the institutional and financial support needed for long-term scalability. To accelerate progress toward SDGs 3, 5, 8, 14, and 17, it is imperative to integrate youth perspectives into national and regional policies, by expanding access to funding for youth-led initiatives, and create meaningful avenues for young people to engage in governance. Strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships will not only amplify youth-driven solutions but also ensure the resilience for future generations.
With Asia-Pacific's future direction on the way to sustainable development, including youth as the primary stakeholder is no longer an option, but a necessity. Youth leadership must be recognized and institutionalized to foster innovation, cooperation, and accelerated collective action toward the realization of SDGs. It will only be through such an approach bridging policy, finance, and community engagement that we will have a sustainable future.
Through this Call to Action, we hope that the governments will recognize the needs and demands of young people and address the issues collectively faced by young people in Asia and the Pacific.
* This is an excerpt of the document. The full document is available in this link: https://arrow.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/APFSD-Youth-Forum-2025-Call-to-Action_New.pdf.
The permission for the publication of this excerpt of the Call to Action was sought through Youth LEAD, a network of Young Key Populations (YKPs) in Asia and the Pacific whose vision is to create an inclusive region where the human rights of young key affected people are respected, and the impact of HIV and AIDS is mitigated through the meaningful involvement of young key affected populations to equal and equitable access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
For further information, please contact: Ikka Noviyanti, Regional Coordinator, Youth LEAD, 75/20 Floor 17, Ocean Tower 2. Sukhumvit 19, Khlong Toei Nuea, Khet Wattana, Bangkok, 10110 Thailand; +66 22597488; e-mail: info@youth-lead.org; www.youthleadap.org/.
[i] The organizers of the APFSD Youth Forum were able to provide access to five hundred forty nine young people from across thirty-four Asia Pacific countries. One hundred twenty-one young people attended the Youth Forum in person and over four hundred twenty-eight young people actively engaged virtually through Zoom.
[ii] The countries represented in this Youth Call to Action are as follows: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Macau (SAR), Hong Kong (SAR), East Timor, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Türkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and South Korea.
[iii] The Call to Action consists of recommendations brought together by participants during the Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) Youth Forum, 2025 and was drafted and compiled by a dedicated drafting team. (Y-PEER Bhutan), Shaan Gom (YECAP), and Agatha Syailendra Hamdan (Youth LEAD). Sai Jyothirmai Racherla (ARROW) and Ranjeeta Silwal (ARROW) reviewed and provided valuable inputs to the document
[iv] Today's Adolescents and Youth, UNFPA in Asia and the Pacific, https://asiapacific.unfpa.org/en/adolescents-and-youth .
[v] Statista (2023) - Share of the global plastic waste emitted to the ocean in the Asia-Pacific region in 2019, by country or territory. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299553/apac-contribution-to-global-ocean-plastic-waste-by-country/ .
[vi] World Bank (2024) - Beyond borders: Collaborative solutions to plastic pollution in Southeast Asia. https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/beyond-borders-collaborative-solutions-plastic-pollution-southeast-asia.
[vii] International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (2023) - Overfishing, reef decline threatens greater Caribbean and Pacific island fisheries, https://iucn.org/news/secretariat/201706/overfishing-reef-declinethreaten-greater-caribbean-and-pacific-island-fisheries-%E2%80%93-iucn-reports .