New York - On the margins of the 77^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Youth4Climate initiative, launched in May this year by the Government of Italy and United Nations Development Programme, will host a flagship global event on Tuesday, 20 September 2022, bringing together global voices on the most urgent issue of our times: climate action. Representing every region of the world, about  150 young climate leaders from 90 countries will discuss concrete climate solutions with peers and high-level representatives from national governments, experts from UNDP and the broader UN system, regional organizations, private sector and philanthropy.  

“The voices of the future generation must be at the forefront, and is vital in shaping the solutions of today. By joining forces, we aim to promote the rights, needs and aspirations of young people – helping to significantly boost youth-led climate action”, highlighted  UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner at the launch of the Youth4Climate initiative.

"Last year in Milan, we hosted the Youth4Climate event that was very successful. Hundreds of young people from all over the world gathered  to discuss perspectives, open issues, and new ideas to slow down climate change. For this reason, we decided to turn Youth4Climate into a long term vision initiative and collaborated with UNDP to organize this year's event. I wish this is just the beginning, and I hope this will be  very successful for the future", declared H.E. Mr. Roberto Cingolani, Italian Minister of Ecological Transition.

High on the agenda of the meeting is enhancing support to youth-led initiatives and impact, partnership-building, and funding. The discussions  will also garner recommendations by young people in the area of climate ambition, climate justice and intergenerational solidarity. The meeting comes at an opportune time, ahead of two milestone climate conferences, COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from 6-18 November, and COP15 on Biodiversity in Montreal, Canada, in 7-19 December.

"Young people all over the world deserve to be heard, which is why we are bringing in the Youth4Climate: Powering Action this September in New York. This is the platform where we can show all our diverse solutions in tackling the climate crisis", reiterated Elizabeth Gulugulu, YOUNGO’s focal point for the Global South.

The flagship global event was developed jointly with young people and youth constituencies, in partnership with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat (UN Climate Change), YOUNGO (the official children and youth constituency of UNFCCC), the Secretary-General´s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, the Office of the Secretary General´s Envoy on Youth and Connect4Climate – World Bank Group.

Driving the deep-dive into youth-led implementation of solutions are four areas of the Youth4Climate Manifesto adopted in Milan, Italy in 2021: Youth Driving Ambition; Sustainable Recovery; Non-State Actors' Engagement and Climate Conscious Society.

New opportunities for further engagement, partnerships and access to grants is expected to be announced at the end of the event. A Youth4Climate call for solutions, developed by UNDP with support from Italy, will be launched specifically on the day.

Plenary sessions will be broadcast live on www.youth4climate.info and Y4Cofficial Twitter account. Recordings will also be made available on the UNDP4Youth YouTube channel and on the Youth4Climate engagement platform, which will be launched at the event.

Following this flagship global event, UNDP will host on 21 September networking sessions, in smaller groups, on youth, climate, gender equality, biodiversity and enable opportunities for enhanced collaboration with youth. UNDP and other partners from the Global coalition on youth, peace and security will also convene a roundtable discussion on urgent issues with young climate activists and young peacebuilders on the occasion of the International Day of Peace, which is commemorated globally on 21 September.  

Join the conversation on:

Twitter: @y4cofficial @undp4youth @connect4climate

Instagram: @connect4climate @undp @mite_it

Trello board: link

Visit www.youth4climate.info

For media inquiries, please contact:

Guilherme Larsen - Media Analyst - Email: guilherme.larsen@undp.org