The United Nations has announced outstanding young climate champions chosen from around the world will receive support to participate in the UN Youth Climate Summit on Saturday, September 21 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Participants were selected from a group of over 7,000 applicants between the ages of 18 to 29, based on their demonstrated commitment to addressing the climate crisis and advancing solutions. In the Caribbean, UNDP’s Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) is supporting the attendance of 11 youth who have played key roles in advancing climate action in the region.

Their participation builds on the 2017 J-CCCP-supported Caribbean Youth Climate Change Conference where youth agreed to a Youth Statement on Climate Change. Now, many of these youth have come together to create a NGO – Youth Climate Change Activists where they actively advocate for increased climate action among peers and decision makers.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated all successful applicants in a video message, saying, “I appeal to young people around the world to follow the Summit online and to be drivers of climate action in their own countries.”

Young people who are unable to attend in person are encouraged to participate in the My Future Our Planet Campaign by sharing a selfie video on Twitter or Instagram with the phrase “Youth #ClimateAction Summit”, declaring what actions they are already taking to fight climate change and asking their leaders to take climate action now. They can also get involved in local United Nations Association chapters; continue to make choices to have less harmful effects on the environment and track these efforts through the UN’s ActNow campaign; and tune into the Youth Climate Summit virtually via livestream on UN Web TV. More ways to engage will be announced in the coming weeks on the UN Youth Climate Summit website.

The Youth Climate Summit is a key milestone ahead of the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, which is calling on leaders from government, business and civil society to boost efforts to tackle climate change and comes just one day after the Global Climate Strike on September 20. Caribbean representation at the Summit serves to lend support to the voices of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and, to meet J-CCCP’s mandate to strengthen knowledge networks in the Caribbean to foster South-South and North-South cooperation through sharing of experiences surrounding climate change, natural hazard risk and resilience.