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15 Oct 2025

Kilkenny senator speaks at UN conference on Human Rights and Democracy

Kilkenny senator speaks at UN conference on Human Rights and Democracy

Senator Malcolm Noonan at the UN conference in Geneva

Reporter:

Mary Cody

15 Oct 2025 2:00 PM

Kilkenny Senator Malcolm Noonan has travelled to Geneva this week to speak at a United Nations forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.
Senator Noonan was invited to address the conference on the rights of nature and to speak about his experience developing a world first Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, which ran in parallel with the Citizen’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss ahead of the publication of Ireland’s fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP).
Speaking from Geneva today, the second day of the two-day forum, Senator Noonan said he had always strongly believed that children and young people should have a say in the decisions that affect their futures.
“When I was Minister for Nature I wanted to make sure that Ireland’s children and young people could contribute in a meaningful way to the national biodiversity plan that was going to be so critical to our success or failure in restoring nature,” he explained.
“So as part of the public consultation process we designed the first ever Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. It’s great to be in Geneva this week with two of the young people who took part in that process, Esther and Oisin, to talk to international legislators and leaders about that process and the role of young people in participative democracy.
“Oisin and Esther have done Ireland proud presenting on their experience, and it’s a proud occasion for me to reflect on the impact that the assembly has had. Since we embarked on the process in 2023, the model we used is now becoming a default across the world.
“It’s very inspiring to see and it’s great to be able to reflect in an international setting on Ireland leading the way when it comes to involving children and young people in our discussions on climate and nature and the world we want to pass on to them.”

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