LocationsMy week as a young leader at the United Nations General Assembly
Making our voices heard
October 6, 2025
With five years to go before the due date for the Sustainable Development Goals, a message of urgency echoed in nearly every room during the 80th United Nations General Assembly.
Photo: Brigitta Andrea Maria Gunawan
As I sat on my flight leaving New York, I found myself staring at the digital flight path in front of me—a simple globe that glowed under the dimmed lights of the aircraft. With each passing moment, it seemed as though the tiny plane on that screen was barely moving. Yet, in reality, we were travelling over vast areas of land and sea.
Just like this flight path, the road to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a journey where progress may feel slow despite the many miles travelled. With five years left to 2030 and many more miles to go, I’ve realized that every step we take now must count more than ever before.
This message of urgency was echoed in nearly every room I entered during the High-Level Week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and New York Climate Week where I attended as a Generation17 Young Leader with UNDP and Samsung. It is, of course, with good reason that we were continuously reminded of the need to act now. However, what stood out to me at UNGA was the feeling hope that lingered in the air.
As a teenager, Generation17 young leader Brigitta Gunawan launched 30x30 Indonesia to advocate for the conservation of at least 30% of land, waters and seas by 2030.
UNDP photo
Although I’ve been to the UN several times before, there was something particularly special about sharing the same space with world leaders, clearing high levels of security and rushing across the city from one event to the next. As boldly stated by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, during the SDG Moment event at the UN Headquarters, “Even in this turbulent moment, we see signs of progress, hope and opportunity… None of this progress is by chance. It is the result of deliberate decisions.” This rings true, even for the least funded of the SDGs: Goal 14, Life Below Water.
The week allowed us to celebrate a monumental win for the ocean. Over 60 nations have now ratified the first legally binding agreement to protect international waters, also known as the High Seas Treaty or the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement. After two decades of negotiations, we’ve finally cleared the ratification threshold, triggering the treaty to enter into force in January 2026. That makes me just a year older than the first formal discussions of the BBNJ at the 2004 UNGA, where they first established an ad-hoc BBNJ working group. It almost feels like the treaty and I have grown in tandem, meeting at the crossroads of a world where global recognition of the ocean has matured.
The high seas cover two thirds of the global ocean and nearly half of the planet’s surface, yet it faces major exploitative threats such as overfishing, biodiversity loss and deep-sea mining. This treaty is essential to achieving global biodiversity and climate goals, including the 30x30 target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to conserve at least 30 percent of land, waters and seas by 2030—a goal I have been advocating for since I launched 30x30 Indonesia at 17 years old amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
What started as a high schooler’s small digital campaign with 400 expressions of support for the adoption of 30x30 into the Global Biodiversity Framework has now grown into a non-profit that’s building an intergenerational community of ocean advocates through policy advocacy, environmental education, and coral reef restoration alongside local communities. Four years later, we launched a petition that received over 16,000 verified signatures for the Indonesian government to ratify the High Seas Treaty ahead of Indonesia’s ratification at the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference in June 2025.
UNGA brought a monumental win for the ocean and for biodiversity. Over 60 nations have now ratified the first legally-binding agreement to protect international waters, also known as the High Seas Treaty.
Photo: National Geographic/Sirachai Shin Arunrugstichai
My participation at UNGA and New York Climate Week has shown me the courage it takes to keep going—even when challenges remain. A key highlight of my week was speaking at the Generation17 Fireside Chat on ‘Youth Driving Impact: Climate, Education & Innovation’ where I shared about the impact of 30x30 Indonesia and the progress of our ocean literacy initiative, Diverseas, where we merge virtual reality ocean experiences with scuba diving scholarships to train the next generation of ocean advocates. It was refreshing to be part of a candid discussion that highlights the impact of youth from different corners of the globe.
Albeit the digital divide is still prominent, systemic inequalities persist, and the climate crisis knows no borders. At the UN Youth Office’s consultation on ‘Youth Voices for a Stronger UN Development System’, we heard from young ministers and fellow youth advocates who shared the vision of a UN system that was more inclusive and cognizant to the needs of those not often present in the room. Similarly, the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth placed great emphasis to ensure that no one is left behind in this fragmented world filled with parallel realities. From these sessions, I got to engage with fellow delegates from civil society organizations, government ministries, and country representatives as they prepared to deliver their interventions.
As we move forward beyond UNGA, let’s ensure that we land nowhere short of our goals. No matter how distant achieving the SDGs may seem, this framework is crucial to map our path towards a world where people and planet prosper. Whether it's delivering solutions at scale, incorporating more public-private partnerships or ramping up intergenerational collaboration, we need everyone, everywhere to step up.
Make your actions count, your presence meaningful and your voices heard!
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