Young people, who spent last year marching to raise awareness about the climate crisis, will now get a chance to sit at the top policy-making table and provide input on leadership decisions and solutions.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Monday that he had named seven young people, aged between 18 and 28, to join him as youth advisors on climate change.

"We have seen young people on the front lines of climate action, showing us what world leadership looks like," Guterres said in a video posted on his Twitter account.

"From school strikes to demonstrations to new innovations, we have seen the power of young people to create change. We need to build on this momentum. That is why I'm launching my Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change today to provide perspectives, ideas and solutions that will help us scale up climate action."

A massive youth movement emerged last year calling for climate action, with millions of school children and young adults taking part in weekly "Fridays for Future" protests around the world, led by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg.

Among the young activists' common complaints is the fact that policy makers are playing with their future, and that young people will be the ones to suffer the consequences of their decisions.

"You are failing us," Thunberg warned world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit in September in New York. "The eyes of all future generations are upon you."

In the wake of COVID-19, protests have gone online with young campaigners posting pictures of themselves on social media every Friday with climate action banners and posters, instead of taking to the streets.

Even as the global pandemic has disrupted lives and economies worldwide, campaigners insist climate action remains as important as ever.

"We are in a climate emergency, we do not have the luxury of time," Guterres warned on Monday. "We need urgent action now to recover better from COVID-19, to confront injustice and inequality and address climate disruption."

The new Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change will include seven young climate campaigners from seven countries: Nisreen Elsaim from Sudan; Ernest Gibson from Fiji; Vladislav Kaim from Moldova; Sophia Kianni from the U.S.; Nathan Metenier from France; Paloma Costa from Brazil; and Archana Soreng from India. 

In a statement on Monday, the UN said they "will advise (Guterres) regularly on accelerating global action and ambition to tackle the worsening climate crisis." They have been tasked with giving him "frank and fearless advice," it added.

The seven "represent the diverse voices of young people from all regions as well as small island states. They will offer perspectives and solutions on climate change, from science to community mobilization, from entrepreneurship to politics, and from industry to conservation," it also said.

Among the group's members are a lawyer, an economist, an indigenous advocate and multiple youth coordinators.

Guterres has repeatedly called for bringing younger voices into the debate on climate change.

Last September, he convened for the first time a UN Youth Climate Summit in the run-up to the UN Climate Action Summit with world leaders, with more than 1,000 young activists from 140 countries in attendance.

"Hold my generation accountable," he told participants.