Climate change is an issue that has been debated upon for a long time before today. With the rise of the COVID 19 pandemic, many have argued that the buzz surrounding this issue has slowed down while the threat has proven to be more concerning than ever. Indonesia and South Korea are, of course, not an exception to this trend. Being the leading democratic examples of their respective regions of East and Southeast Asia, many in their region have turned to South Korea and Indonesia for examples of effective use of their democratic power to mitigate the climate crisis. Global warming awareness has increased since every nation has signed and ratified the infamous Paris Agreement of 2015, including Indonesia and South Korea. 

However, with poor management from the national governments of the two countries and the lack of results, there has been a growing sense of distrust from the general society of the two nations. It should be noted that there has been little to no improvement on the climate crisis in the two countries ever since the agreement was signed. The effectiveness of existing government solutions are often questioned by the youths as many do not see any real impacts or effects on the current climate status quo. This in turn has resulted in backlash and social movements from the general society demanding government accountability and efficiency. Coupled with the COVID 19 pandemic, outbreaks of the deadly disease throughout the world have also been a very prominent testament of democratic power in the two countries. 

Therefore, it is then reasonable to declare a form of democratic crisis in the two countries due to this public distrust. Bearing this in mind, we believe that this is a crucial issue that must be discussed further by youths from both Indonesia and South Korea. With that being said, Indonesia Youth Foundation is collaborating with Peace and Public Diplomacy Corps in the second installment of the Indonesia Korea Youth Friendship Forum which will have the grand theme of “Democracy and Climate Change for The Future”