#DrivingAmbition: Youth Driving Ambition

Driving action at the local level can take many different forms: climate clubs at school, community demonstrations, knowledge-sharing in social media groups. We're all authorities on our own hometowns—and when we stand up for climate at home, we all contribute to a global push toward a green future! Respecting local expertise while developing a global movement is the challenge of the international climate community, and this working group offers a unique chance to reckon with that challenge.

Goal: This working group will generate proposals to foster youth engagement with climate issues at the local level in regions all over the world.

• Learn More

  • Watch #Youth4ClimateLive Episode 9: Driving Local Action

  • Read "There’s an Easy Way for National Governments to Help Cities Act on Climate Change - Give Them Data," an article from the World Resources Institute

  • Read "Why Kinshasa Could Be in the Vanguard of Megacities’ Climate Resilience," a World Bank Feature Story on a $500 million climate project driving sustainability and climate resiliency in one of the world's largest metropolises

  • Explore C40 Cities, a network of megacities around the world committed to robust climate action

  • Use the Reach Not Preach Forum to connect with other young people and put your heads together on driving climate action

Often, contributing to climate action at the national level means linking up with many local groups online and planning larger-scale climate demonstrations, letter-writing campaigns, etc. Taking every chance you get to learn more about the political processes in your country and form strategies to convey your concern on climate to policymakers is key—productive pressure on legislators is what leads to the kind of action we need to turn back the climate crisis. And when given the opportunity, youth should be unafraid to engage with policymakers directly on their Nationally Determined Contributions and other climate policies. But governments need to meaningfully include youth in their decision-making processes as a first step in order for these approaches to be viable: that's what this working group's all about!

Goal: This working group will produce guidelines and recommendations on how countries can enable youth to make their voices heard and shape climate policy at the national level.

• Learn More

  • Watch Episode 3 of #Youth4ClimateLive, "Driving Youth Action"

  • Read "Building Public and Political Will for Climate Change Action," a helpful reference from Yale's School of the Environment

  • Peruse the UNFCCC Toolkit for Engaging the Private Sector in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) 

  • Read "A Roadmap to Meaningful Youth Engagement in NDCs," a helpful roadmap from the NDC Partnership on how young people can influence their countries' Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the global fight against climate change

Just as local organizations can come together to effect national change, national youth delegations can come together to effect global change! Your interest in multilateral collaboration is clear, and this working group offers a unique opportunity to brainstorm ways of expanding youth representation at the highest-level climate events.

Goal: This working group will generate proposals to better include youth in international fora and harness their unique knowledge to shape international climate policy.

• Learn More

  • Watch our #Youth4ClimateLive series to see youth leaders in intergenerational conversations with decision makers

  • Read up on YOUNGO and the work it's doing to bring young perspectives to the highest levels of international policymaking

  • See what the UN Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change is doing to shape the global discourse around climate action

  • Discover the work of SDSN Youth to empower young people to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals at the highest levels

  • Browse this UN reference on its work with Youth in Action

  • Connect with other young people using SparkBlue, a UN Development Programme online platform for coordinating global action

  • Look into the UN Climate Change Conference of Youth (COY) happening in Glasgow, Scotland this November alongside COP26