UNFCCC Conference of Youth (COY13) in Bonn, Germany
The Conference of Youth (COY) is an official event of YOUNGO, the official youth-constituency to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is an annual international gathering of young people passionate about environmental and climate change thematics, and takes places right before the annual UN Climate Change Conference, also known as Conference of Parties (COP). A COY is envisioned to have the following objectives:
providing capacity building and policy training to prepare youths for their involvement in the upcoming climate negotiations
facilitating the sharing of knowledge and experience in the broader context of climate change between the participants
COY13 will be an opportunity to address a wide-ranging field of topics related to climate change and sustainability. As Fiji holds presidency of this year’s COP we will focus on the perspective of Small Island Developing States and the issue of Climate Justice. Furthermore, we want the programme to address the wide variety of theory of changes that are pursued by different parts of the youth climate movements, broadly falling under the category of activism and policy work.
Perspectives of Small Island Developing States
The Fijian COP23-Presidency has led to overall awareness of the perspectives of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), that are vulnerable and that are disproportionately more affected by the impacts of climate change.
Climate Justice
Climate Justice puts climate change and climate action in the broader social and environmental context. This includes aspects such as intergenerational equity, gender, human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples. Climate justice also recognises the responsibilities of the Global North due to their historic emissions. Building on this thematic, the participants will be encouraged to reflect not only about the current challenges in the international decision making process, but also about their personal responsibilities towards the Mother Nature.
Activism
COY13 will connect multiple strands and approaches of activism to spark discussion and share skills required in the fields of policy and actions. This also includes possibilities to develop national, regional or international networks and movements, and to showcase how individuals can get actively involved.
Policy and Advocacy
Bearing in mind that current negotiations at COP23 are highly technical, COY13 will provide policy training for young participants at COP23. There will be content-related sessions regarding topics addressed in the upcoming sessions of COP, APA, SBI and SBSTA. Furthermore, workshop sessions will share the necessary knowledge and skills for working with policy documents and advocating youth positions in various circumstances.
Deadline: Ongoing
| Type of Opportunity | Conferences |
|---|---|
| Deadline | Ongoing |
| Deadline | Ongoing |