Global Youth Statement

Politics and Policymaking 
We demand national governments to design effective NDCs, NAPs, and climate policies aligned with scientific guidance, as well as mechanisms of implementation that are coordinated with local governance, inclusive of all social groups and enforceable long-term. Politicians must be held accountable to guarantee the continuity of action plans beyond party lines and in a fully transparent manner. We also urge support from the international community to help the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change pursue their NAPs.

 

Underrepresented Groups 
We urge real representation according to the justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) principle at COP and other UNFCCC processes, and call for financial support for Most Affected Peoples and Areas (MAPA), Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPoC), and other vulnerable groups, including youth, in the form of scholarships, grants, and opportunities to be heard in the national and international decision-making process. 

 

Energy
We urge that decision-makers incorporate the most recent findings of the IPCC and take into account the natural and social impacts of fossil fuel exploitation in order to create public policies that promote the energy transition to clean and renewable energy sources and reduce energy consumption. We also call for more international cooperation to meet these objectives worldwide, especially calling for support from developed to developing countries.

 

Climate Finance & Markets
We demand that Parties finalize Article 6 of the Paris Agreement during COP26, abide by their pledges for $100 billion climate finance flow, with a fair share of this going  towards adaptation and mitigation actions to accommodate the local needs of developing and least-developed countries. We call for the adoption of carbon pricing mechanisms in the form of progressive carbon taxes and market-based approaches, and for climate finance to be more accessible and inclusive to vulnerable communities.

 

Loss and Damage
We call for action to address climate-induced Loss & Damage by operationalising the Santiago Network, generating evidence-based, all-hazard inclusive climate-induced loss & damage data and collaboration across humanitarian & development networks. Furthermore, parties must agree to establish a new finance facility for loss and damage, beyond pledges for mitigation and adaptation. Parties should also make loss and damage a permanent agenda item in the negotiations. They must ensure that the action is taken, and the finance provided, to meet the scale of the needs of the most affected countries and communities. 

 

Food & Agriculture
We call upon Parties to come up with constructive ways forward during Koronivia negotiations aligning more with national pathways of implementation and enforcement mechanisms. Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA) needs to take action on the contribution of agri-food industries to the climate crisis, while understanding that small subsistence producers face challenges to adapt and require incentives and support. 

 

Sustainable Cities and Communities
We demand all national governments, bilateral and multilateral institutions, private sector, and NGOs fully recognize the role of cities in achieving a just transition through ambitious local level decarbonization, adaptation, and resilience-building efforts, ensuring no one nor place is left behind.

 

Mobility & Transportation
We demand a Clean Transportation Technology Transfer Fund that will facilitate the exchange of know-how and financial resources to enable targeted infrastructural investments. We call for a redesign of our communities and transportation towards clean and renewable public transport and electric vehicles, to be more walkable, bikeable, and accessible. 

 

Health 
Climate change and health are undeniably interconnected. As we are in the dual crisis of a global health and climate emergency, we urge the WHO, UNFCCC, UNEP, and national healthcare systems for strengthened frameworks, policies, and programs for climate-resilient, sustainable, research-based, and people-centered healthcare systems that all nations can adopt and implement into their communities. 

 

Climate Justice & Human Rights
We urge all parties to respect, protect, fulfill, and promote all human rights in climate action. We urge all parties to take action to address the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis borne by under-privileged or marginalised communities. 

 

Sustainable Consumption & Production
We urge UNFCCC and national governments to facilitate a carbon labelling standard for consumer products, especially those from energy-intensive and global trade-exposed sectors. Care must be taken to circumvent outsourcing of emissions overseas. We also call for the promotion of cradle-to-cradle (circular) value chains and, when disposal exists, it must be consistently assessed, ensuring that the damage to the environment is minimised and affected communities compensated.

 

Water, Sanitation & Oceans
We call for safe water access for all through integrated water resource management (IWRM),  recognizing local knowledge and practices, strong policies and regulations that would mainstream relevant issues into climate policies, and enhanced support for research and development. To solve problems in water access and in ocean ecosystems, we must understand and view them through an interconnected and cyclical lens. Thus, we urge UN agencies, UNFCCC constituencies, and national governments to increase collaboration in the creation of sustainable, resilient, and community-based solutions, that would protect our waters and oceans along with all its biodiversity and ecosystems and maintain essential balance in the context of climate-change induced alterations.

 

Wildlife and Environmental Conservation
National governments must prioritize nature over profit through halting subsidies for environmentally destructive activities, redirecting funds to restorative activities that promote biodiversity and the continuity of ecosystem services, developing plans to establish more protected areas and natural parks, and penalizing those who engage in destructive activity.

 

Technology Transfer & Innovation
We demand that technology transfer is implemented in the context of international cooperation in addition to technical and financial assistance for research and development of climate resilient innovations.

 

Arts, Culture, and Heritage
We call for investment in mitigation systems to protect threatened communities, indigenous populations, and cultural heritage sites, as well as investment in sustainable tourism and cultural education.