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 Climate action (or climate change action) refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments, and so forth that aim at reducing the severity of human-induced climate change and its impacts. "More climate action" is a central demand o ...

Organisation

Formation

Since the

Rio Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 t ...

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

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

issues. With the formation of the

European Youth Forum The European Youth Forum (, YFJ) is an international non-profit association that serves as an umbrella organisation and advocacy group of the national youth councils and international non-governmental youth organisations in Europe. It works on y ...

in 1996, and the U.S. youth organization

SustainUS SustainUS is a non-profit, nonpartisan (American organizations), 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. Sus ...

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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Individual youth had been participating in the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous human interference with 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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. 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 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 focused on climate change activism. The organisation aims "to build a movement of young people leading solutions to the climate crisis", by empowerment and educa ...

in November, which itself was a coalition of 27 youth organisations from across Australia. In March 2008, the Indian Youth Climate Network 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

ambassadors to the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based 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 th ...

's Voyage for the Future programme, Emma Biermann and Casper ter Kuile, created the UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC), after returning from the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They 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 several ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

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.

Funding

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

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

and the government of the Netherlands.

Members

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

; Canadian Youth Climate Coalition; 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 Unit ...

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

; Project Survival Pacific, Ghana National Youth Coalition on Climate Change; Hong Kong Climate Change Coalition; Indian Youth Climate Network; 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 that supports Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in the year 1928 in Parád, H ...

; 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 (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

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 – the conference of the par ...

(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 (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. 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 350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. Its stated goal is to end the use of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy by building a global, grassroots movement. The 350 in the name stands fo ...

, 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, founded by Swiss pacifist Pierre Cérésole in the aftermath of World War I to foster understanding and a culture of peace between people from different countries. Since ...

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, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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

Think 2050 Campaign

In 2009, the UK Youth Climate Coalition 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 Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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 youth organizations Youth-led organizations Climate change and society