As 2025 draws to a close, C4C looks back on a year of exciting and wide-ranging engagements that galvanized intergenerational dialogue, strengthened and expanded our network of trusted partners, and mobilized communities around the world to join us in pursuit of ending poverty on a livable planet.
Take a moment to reflect with us as we revisit some of this eventful year’s brightest moments.
Launch of the 2025 Edition of the Max Thabiso Edkins Climate Ambassador Program
In February, C4C and the World Bank Group’s Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Global Youth Climate Network (GYCN) announced the 2025 cohort of the Max Thabiso Edkins Climate Ambassador Program. Selected from a pool of 3,300 applications, this group of ambassadors comprised 150 driven young changemakers representing 114 countries.
The program empowered these rising leaders to connect with one another; learn from World Bank Group experts and partner organizations; and take more than 200 actions in their communities. Even beyond the formal end of the program, alumni continue to lend their voices to C4C storytelling content and other events.
We are proud that the legacy of Max Thabiso Edkins continues to grow and that this initiative is now widely known as our flagship youth program.
Youth4Innovation at Innovate4Climate (Sevilla, Spain)
Young Climate Innovators join C4C Partnerships Specialist and GYCN Program Lead Inês Silva Araújo on stage at Innovate4Climate 2025. (Photo by Kaia Rose, Connect4Climate)
In June, C4C partnered with Innovate4Climate to deliver the third edition of the Young Climate Innovators program, selecting twelve Max Thabiso Edkins Climate Ambassadors to join the conference in Sevilla, Spain. There, the delegation participated in a Youth4Innovation workshop designed and hosted by C4C to foster collaboration across sectors and generations.
Using design thinking methodologies, the young innovators collaborated with representatives of the private sector and academia to explore the future of work and co-develop solutions within three outcome areas linked to the World Bank Group Scorecard: More and Better Jobs, Resilient Communities, and More Private Investment.
Valerie Hickey, the World Bank’s Global Director for Climate Change, attended the intergenerational final presentations, and, beyond the workshop, joined the young innovators for an intimate roundtable discussion about the Bank’s work on environmental issues and how such efforts dovetail with their own.
2025 Climate Leadership and Innovation Conference (CLIC)
Youth delegates attend the 2025 Climate Leadership and Innovation Conference in Morocco. (Photo by Kaia Rose, Connect4Climate)
In July, members of the C4C team traveled to Rabat, Morocco for the 2025 Climate Leadership and Innovation Conference (CLIC), which the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security organized to convene young innovators and experts to enhance capacity and advance solutions for a more resilient future.
C4C captured a wide range of intergenerational conversations and youth stories at the event, creating informative content to bring insights from the CLIC to the rest of the world via social media and other channels.
WBG/IMF Annual Meetings
During the World Bank Group / International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in October, C4C amplified the perspectives of young people participating in the event, hearing their reflections, ideas, and visions for the future of jobs. In one such engagement, Pyae Pyae Phyoe, a Burmese Max Thabiso Edkins Climate Ambassador studying for a career in sustainable tourism, contributed a youth perspective to the “Delivering Jobs, Livelihoods, and Growth from Natural and Cultural Heritage Tourism” event. The video message she recorded presented her vision for a thriving tourism industry that could share her country’s cultural and natural heritage with the world while creating jobs for local communities and protecting the environment.
Pyae Pyae went on to write an article for our website that elaborated on her answer to the question “How can we welcome visitors while still protecting what makes our home so special?” Read her story here!
Italy COP30 Branding Challenge
Andrea Spagnoli, winner of the Italy COP30 Branding Challenge. (Photo by Kaia Rose, Connect4Climate)
Ahead of November’s COP30 climate conference, C4C collaborated with the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security to issue the Italy COP30 Branding Challenge, a competition inviting young Italian designers to submit their ideas for logos to represent Italy’s presence at the summit in Brazil.
The winning student, Andrea Spagnoli, got to see firsthand how his design, featuring three elements that represent a leaf, waves, and the rays of the sun, was used to brand the COP30 Italian Pavilion in Belém, Brazil. “It was a wonderful experience” to see his work alongside other national pavilions on such an international stage, Andrea told us at COP30, and helped to shape his journey as a young graphic designer.
