The Youth Climate Movement (YouNGO) or International Youth Climate Movement (IYCM) refers to an international network of youth organisations that collectively aims to inspire, empower and mobilise a generational movement of young people to take positive action on climate change.

Organisation

Formation

Since the

Rio Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992. Earth Su ...

in 1992, individual youth have been participating in international negotiations related to different environmental and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

issues. With the formation of the

European Youth Forum The European Youth Forum (from french: Youth Forum Jeunesse, YFJ) is an international non-profit association and serves as a platform and advocacy group of the national youth councils and international non-governmental youth organisations in Euro ...

in 1996, and the U.S. youth organization

SustainUS SustainUS is a non-profit, nonpartisan, youth-led advocacy group in the United States. Its goal is to improve youth participation and youth empowerment as it relates to advancing sustainable development. SustainUS works particularly with youth a ...

in 2001, youth-run organizations began to send delegations of youth to actively participation in these various worldwide negotiations, principally through the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. Individual youth had been participating in the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

, and with the new level of youth organization participation in international negotiations, youth organizations began to identify the UN climate negotiations as a new forum to increase youth participation in. From November 28 to December 9, 2005, the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Convention (COP 11 or COP/MOP 1) took place at the

Palais des congrès de Montréal The Palais des congrès de Montréal is a convention centre in Montreal's Quartier international at the north end of Old Montreal. Its borough is Ville-Marie. Construction began in 1977 and completed in 1983; the Palais opened on 21 May 1983 ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Youth delegations from member nations, including the United States (via

), Canada, and Australia, attended to advocate on behalf of young people. As a result, the concept of the International Youth Climate Movement was first developed, though it was originally referred to as the International Youth Delegation, referring to the youth delegates at the international climate negotiations. Following on from this in September 2006, the

Canadian Youth Climate Coalition The Canadian Youth Climate Coalition (CYCC) is a nonprofit youth organisation in Canada. The coalition consists of various youth organisations, which includes the Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Labour Congress, Sierra Youth Coaliti ...

was launched, consisting of 48 youth organisations from across the nation. This was soon followed by the

Australian Youth Climate Coalition The Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) is a youth organisation in Australia. When the organisation first began, the coalition consisted of 25 other youth organisations, which included the National Union of Students amongst many, however ...

in November, which itself was a coalition of 27 youth organisations from across Australia. In March 2008, the

Indian Youth Climate Network The Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) is a youth organization in India that aims to raise the voice of Indian youth on the global platform, as South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions affected by climate change and environmental issues. ...

joined the Global Youth Climate Movement whilst in June 2008, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

ambassadors to the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

's Voyage for the Future programme, Emma Biermann and Casper ter Kuile, created the

UK Youth Climate Coalition The UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC) is a non-profit youth organisation in the United Kingdom. It is part of The Climate Coalition in the UK Formed in 2008, the mission of the organisation is to mobilise and empower young people to take po ...

(UKYCC), after returning from the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

to witness the impact of climate change. More recently, coalitions in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

have been established with the same mission statement as the International Youth Climate Movement.

Structure

Across the world, there are youth organisations who have formed coalitions to take positive action on climate change, such as the UK Youth Climate Coalition, which are led entirely by a team of young people. Each Climate Coalition or Climate Network is affiliated to a regional or continental movement. These movements include the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change; Caribbean Youth Environmental Network; European Youth Climate Movement; Project Survival Pacific; Nordic Youth Climate Action Movement; North East Asia Youth Environmental Network; the South American Youth Climate Coalition and the South Asia Youth Environment Network. Consequently, these local, national and continental organisations come together to form the International Youth Climate Movement.

Governance

The International Youth Climate Movement, although an umbrella term for the movements of young people taking place across the world, is run by teams of volunteers. These teams of volunteers organise themselves into different working groups and form the central organs of the movement, coordinated by a "Bottomlining Team" that helps to organize their efforts, especially at international climate negotiations. In 2021, YouNGO organized an electronic election to designate its representatives to the

COP27 Cop or Cops commonly refers to: * Police officer Cop and other variants may also refer to: Art and entertainment Film * ''Cop'' (film), a 1988 American thriller * ''Cops'' (film), an American silent comedy short starring Buster Keaton * ''The ...

, using the blockchain-based solution Electis.

Funding

The movement is funded by contributions from its member organisations, as well as occasional contributions from organizations like

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

and the government of the Netherlands.

Members

National members of the Youth Climate Movement include: the AYLCF Climate Action Network (France);

;

; Arab Youth Climate Movement, China Youth Climate Action Network; ECO Singapore;

Energy Action Coalition Power Shift Network is a North American non-profit organization made up of a network of youth-led social and environmental justice organizations working together to build the youth clean energy and climate movement. It runs campaigns in the Unite ...

(U.S.A.), headed by coalition organization

; Project Survival Pacific, Ghana National Youth Coalition on Climate Change; Hong Kong Climate Change Coalition;

; Japan Youth Ecology League; Malaysian Youth Climate Justice Network; Nature and Youth Denmark; New Zealand Youth Delegation; Nigerian Youth Green Coalition on Climate Change; Russian Youth Climate Movement; Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition; Bangladesh Youth Movement for Climate (BYMC);

Young Friends of the Earth Young Friends of the Earth Europe (YFoEE) is a grassroots network of young people and youth organisations working together on social and environmental justice issues. It works collectively on the local, national and European level, to inspire you ...

; World Alliance of YMCAs;

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, ...

; World Organisation of the Scout Movement
Malaysia Youth Delegation (MYD)
and the UK Youth Climate Coalition.

Campaigns

Alongside the national campaigns undertaken by the domestic coalitions and domestic networks, such as the

Power Shift Power Shift is an annual youth summit which has been held in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Other Power Shift Conferences are also being organised by members of the International Youth Climate Movement ...

conferences, the International Youth also undertake their own global campaigns, which are coordinated by a team of young volunteers.

Conference of Youth

The first Conference of Youth (COY) was held in 2005, in

, shortly before the Eleventh Conference of Parties. The event brings together youth delegates for sharing resources, training, networking and collective discussions. It is also an opportunity for the youth climate movement to plan their activities over the course of the negotiations and the subsequent year. The fifth Conference of Youth took place at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

from the 4–6 December 2009 where over 700 young people from 100 countries are reported to have attended. The sixth was held at the Universidad del Caribe in preparation for the Cancun climate negotiations. The two- or three-day event takes place annually, and it is scheduled each year to be held shortly before the United Nations Conference of Parties, where nations convene to assess the progress of the climate negotiations.

Participation at the UNFCCC negotiation process

Since 2005, each domestic coalition or network within the Youth Climate Movement has sent a delegation to the

United Nations Climate Change Conference The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties (Conference of the Parties, ...

(UNFCCC) to represent young people in their respective country. In June 2009, the youth organisations participating in the United Nations climate change negotiations submitted an application to become a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

. In August 2009, the constituency application was provisionally approved by the climate change Secretariat, making youth the 7th constituency to join the climate negotiations. The official title for the youth participation to the climate negotiations is 'YOUNGO'. The maiden focal points for the YOUNGO elected were Wilson Ang (Singapore), sponsored by

, and Lina Li (China), sponsored by 350.org, representing the International Youth Climate Movement in an official capacity (despite the provisional status until 2011). Currently, the elected focal points who represent the International Youth Climate Movement are Lauren Nutter (U.S.A.), sponsored by

, and Jean Paul Brice Affana (Cameroon), sponsored by Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement. They follow 2010-2011 Focal Points, Sébastien Duyck (France), sponsored by

Service Civil International Service Civil International (SCI) is an international peace organisation. Since 1920, it organises international volunteering projects in the form of workcamps and it was the first organisation worldwide to do so. The organisation was founded by ...

and Rishikesh Ram Bhandary (Nepal), sponsored by

. Throughout the year, there are other opportunities for the members of the International Youth Climate Movement to convene. For example, at the International Youth Summit on Energy and Climate Change in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

In 2021 the health working group in the organization demanded the participation of youth climate activists in post

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

recovery, as the pandemic is probably linked to climate change.

Think 2050 Campaign

In 2009, the

worked with the Youth Movement, in particular the European Youth Climate Movement and

to launch the "How old will you be in 2050?" campaign at the

Climate negotiations taking place in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The slogan has been used by the Youth Movement since then and was also the focus for the International Youth "Young and Future Generations Day" in December 2009. The campaign seeks to emphasise the need to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 on 1990 levels, as young people will be the ones to inherit this world and decisions made today will have a direct impact on their lives in 40 years time.

Participation in writing an international report

In 2022, a team of scientists published a report called "Stockholm+50: Unlocking a Better Future", which analyzed the impact of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 and offered recommendations for the future. The key message is to "redefine the relationship between humans and nature, achieve lasting prosperity for all, and invest in a better future." In addition, youth researchers issued a youth version of the report: "Charting a Youth Vision for a Just and Sustainable Future". The key messages are: "Health well being and communal solidarity, living in harmony with nature, international solidarity-living as one global family, a world when all humans are equal." The Youth Climate Movement (YOUNGO) and some of its members helped craft the report.

References

External links

{{Sustainability International climate change organizations International nongovernmental youth organizations Youth-led organizations Climate change and society