How Can Young People Shape the Future of Our Oceans?
Lessons from Catarina Lorenzo
Written by Nat Mansi
The theme for 2025's World Ocean Day, “Catalyzing Action for Our Ocean & Climate”, prompts us to think about climate action and how it relates to thriving oceans. From biodiversity conservation to worldwide effective waste management, there are still many steps to be taken towards a more sustainable future. With that in mind, today we're diving deeper into how youth can help shape the future of our oceans through advocacy and environmentalism. To help us with this challenging quest, we've gathered some insights from YOUTHTOPIA Circle of Youth member, Catarina Lorenzo.
Catarina is an 18 years old surfer, environmentalist, speaker and youth advocate for UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund). Born in the northeastern region of Brazil, her journey with environmental protection began at a young age, when she developed her passion for surfing. Surfing has allowed Catarina to look closely at the damage human activities have done to our oceans, sparking her desire to take action. She states “At my first surf competition when I was 8, we had to join a beach cleanup before we could surf. I ended up winning, but what stuck with me most were the lessons about caring for the ocean—something I’ve carried with me ever since”. This hobby has been so important to Catarina that she thinks she wouldn't have become an activist if she weren’t a surfer.
As time passed, Catarina was offered opportunities to speak up for the ocean she learned to care for. The first one came in 2019, when Catarina traveled all the way to Glasgow with a group of other 15 teens — including the icon Greta Thunberg — to tell big leaders that children wanted an environmentally safe future. Catarina tells us that “the opportunity to travel to New York came through a good friend of mine. She lives in California, her grandmother is Brazilian, and her mother had interned in Heirs to Our Ocean (H2OO)”. Catarina went through a detailed interview process before being chosen as one of the 15 teens, where she explained her views on climate change and how it affected her.
When it comes to the trip itself, the goal was to make the United Nations (UN) recognize children’s rights were negatively impacted by the climate crisis. Catarina highlights that “it was the first time children were using a UN mechanism to make an international denunciation”. Thankfully, the trip was successful and the teens achieved their goal. Because of this, Catarina became an official volunteer of Heirs To Our Ocean. Today, she is a member of the Global Youth Leaders community of H2OO, a non-governmental organization which aims to engage the world’s youth in ocean advocacy conversations, through the distribution of scholarships for inclusive programming, the promotion of expert-youth pairing, and the hosting of international youth summits.
Furthermore, in 2024, Catarina was invited by Instituto Alana to moderate a panel regarding climate resilience in the Vatican, as well as to give Pope Francis lovely children’s letters and drawings on environmental topics. Regarding her experience of public speaking to older audiences, Catarina advises us not to be intimidated by adults. She reminds us that we shouldn’t forget our message, which got us in those spaces in the first place. Over time, she learned that the issue is not them not taking us seriously, but fearing us, and by uniting through collective actions, we show that young people must be involved in decision-making.
“One lesson I learned is to not let myself get intimidated by the adults. Usually in these spaces children and youth tend to be overlooked and seen as inferior, or be seen as a manipulated person who is cute. Yet, don't forget that if you are in these spaces of speaking engagement, you have a message to tell. So hold on to your truth and shout and show it all out to the world. At the end of the day, your truth will be taken seriously because they won't be able to deny it.” says Catarina.
And while for Catarina it all started with surfing, the desire to become a changemaker can spark in varying contexts. For her, the important thing is to find a global issue you’re truly passionate about. When referring to other changemakers, Catarina points out that after figuring that out, “they need to choose if they will want to create their own organizations or projects to take action towards that issue, or if they will want to join organizations that already work in such spaces. For those who are starting from zero, I would recommend joining an organization first, commonly as a volunteer. After gaining experience and taking action within the NGO, if you want, you can create your own project”.
Catarina also explains how projects look different from one another, and how that diversity should be celebrated. She affirms that “projects can be physical, such as organizing trails in your local forest to create environmental consciousness, but also digital, such as an instagram page to share information about an issue and raise awareness.” She acknowledges how both initiatives can positively impact your community, if only you know how to apply them with certain skills. For Catarina, one of the most fundamental skills a changemaker should cultivate is empathetic leadership. She says that we are often “dealing with different people, sometimes different cultures, and being open to learning, listening, and engaging in dialogue is extremely necessary.” On a more practical note, Catarina also mentions how useful it can be to know how to deal with technology, especially in the globalized world we live in today.
After this incredible journey, Catarina joined the YOUTHTOPIA’s Circle Of Youth in 2025. From writing petitions to being a leader in an international NGO, Catarina’s changemaking achievements are inspiring. When asked what she would tell world leaders regarding the climate crisis, Catarina writes,
“We want meaningful children and youth engagement in the ocean decade and beyond NOW. When my generation gets into the positions of power you are today it may be too late to have the same effectiveness in solutions that will protect our ocean. Thus, we not only want but need to be involved in this decision-making process now. Because such decisions are going to affect us, my generation, which for you can be called the future generations, but for me it's the generation of today. And we demand today to be part of decisions.”
We hope this piece inspired you to take action in ocean advocacy and environmentalism however it’s possible for you. Just like Catarina said, we are the generation of the present and we should be involved in the decision-making process right now. Whether you’ll choose to start surfing or write your own petition to the UN, make sure to take notes from Catarina’s lessons and take part in this year’s World Ocean Day, focused on climate action and ocean protection.