On 24 March 2024, some 66,000 youths gathered for the Future Action Festival held at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, in advance of the Summit of the Future that will be held at UN Headquarters in New York in September 2024. The event, watched by an additional 500,000 people online, called for immediate action on the abolition of nuclear weapons and the climate crisis.

The Organizing Committee, consisting of representatives from GeNuine, Greenpeace Japan, the Japan Youth Council, Kakuwaka Hiroshima, Youth for TPNW and SGI Youth, issued a joint statement on both issues to be submitted to the Summit of the Future. Sharing a commitment to the creation of a peaceful and sustainable future, 28 partner and supporting organizations, including United Nations agencies, collaborated in the preparation process, and several private sector entities sponsored the event.

The joint statement, titled “Let Us All Unite for a Sustainable Future: Centering on the Voices of Youth in Society,” was based on the results of a youth awareness survey administered by the Organizing Committee. Conducted from 20 November 2023 to 29 February 2024 in the form of a web-based and face-to-face questionnaire, the survey targeted individuals in their 40s or younger living in Japan and was completed by some 120,000 people. It was designed to gather the candid opinions of young people on global issues and other topics.

Questions included sections on climate change, nuclear weapons, youth, social structures and the United Nations. Over 90 percent of respondents indicated that they would like to contribute to the betterment of society. Asked if nuclear weapons are necessary, more than 80 percent said that they are not. More than 80 percent indicated that they feel the United Nations is necessary. The Organizing Committee shared the survey results at the Future Action Festival and compiled them into a detailed summary report. Additionally, they submitted the survey results and the corresponding joint statement to the United Nations. The statement was also presented at the UN Civil Society Conferences held in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2024.

Tshilidzi Marwala, the Rector of the United Nations University and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, received the Organizing Committee’s joint statement as well and delivered a speech at the Future Action Festival, in which he stressed the importance of youth participation in tackling global issues.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Felipe Paullier and Executive Director of the International Campaign for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Melissa Parke sent video messages to the festival, which also featured live music, dance performances and a panel discussion on nuclear abolition and sustainability. SGI Youth in Japan exhibited panels and videos sharing the testimonies of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki in one of the booths set up outside the National Stadium by cooperating and supporting organizations.

Hiroko Ogushi, a Committee Member of the Future Action Festival Organizing Committee and Co-representative of SGI Youth in Japan stated in an article contributed to INPS, “In addressing daunting global issues, we may feel a sense of hopelessness sometimes. However, through this festival, we learned that when diverse stakeholders of different backgrounds unite to create change, their solidarity serves as a beacon of hope for the youth.”

In preparation for the festival, Soka Gakkai in Japan conducted a campaign of local discussion meetings centered on youth from January to March 2024. Some meetings addressed nuclear abolition, climate change and the SDGs. In some localities, the campaign spurred greater participation in Soka Gakkai’s cleanup activities. In general, participants in discussion meetings strengthened their commitment to peace and social contribution in their local communities.