Nearly 400 young climate champions from all over the world are about to flock to Milan for the three days of #Youth4Climate: #DrivingAmbition taking place ahead of Pre-COP26. Tackling in dedicated working groups the core themes of Youth Driving Ambition, Sustainable Recovery, Non-State Actors' Engagement, and Climate-Conscious Society, the delegates will develop nuanced climate action proposals to be passed on to the world leaders attending the Pre-COP and COP26.
Paralleling this meeting of young minds, #All4Climate events approaching climate action from many different angles will convene across the city of Milan and beyond.
It's a lot to keep up with, so we thought we'd provide a brief rundown of each of the days of #DrivingAmbition, September 28-30, flagging some key events we think might be of interest to you. Take a look, get engaged, and join us in letting world leaders know the #WorldIsWatching!
For the complete official calendar from the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition, click here.
September 28
- #Youth4Climate: #DrivingAmbition kicks off at 10:00 AM Italian time. Youth leaders Vanessa Nakate and Greta Thunberg will be setting the tone with keynote addresses. Look out for coverage on socials!
- After the opening plenary, dedicated working groups will discuss each of the four guiding themes, developing ideas to include in their proposals to world leaders. The youth delegates will spend the rest of the day developing first drafts of their proposals and assessing their progress.
- September 28 is also the "day of cinema" within the All4Climate calendar. Connect4Climate will accept the Venice Film Festival's Green Drop Award, and Flore Vasseur's documentary "Bigger Than Us" will be screened for the youth delegates with an introduction from its subject, Melati Wijsen. The general public will be invited to enjoy a Film4Climate event at Milan's IULM University, presided over by leading Italian film critic Gianni Canova.
September 29
- Day 2 of #DrivingAmbition will feature a special ministerial event on climate education in which delegates will have the chance to engage with Ministers of Education from around the world to develop novel strategies for bringing climate into classrooms and improving public awareness.
- Upon the conclusion of that event at 3:00 PM Italian time, delegates will work together to refine their ideas from Day 1 and commit to final drafts of their theme-specific proposals for world leaders.
- The youth delegates' proposals, aggregated into a unified document, will be formally adopted in a closing plenary at 5:00 PM Italian time.
September 30
- The morning of Day 3, following remarks from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as well as prime ministers Mario Draghi (Italy) and Boris Johnson (UK), each youth working group will present key elements of its proposal in turn.
- Then, in a concluding plenary moderated by Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, ministers will offer their initial thoughts on the youth delegates' ideas and engage them in a dynamic Q&A session. This marks the end of the #DrivingAmbition event!
- At 9:00 PM Italian time, an amazing #Music4Climate concert kicks off. Details below!
#Music4Climate Concert
- An unforgettable #Music4Climate concert featuring Rockin'1000, the world's largest rock band, will begin in Milan at 9:00 PM Italian time on September 30.
- The event will be globally live-streamed on A-Live in media partnership with Sky, so wherever you are, you can tune in!
- A set of iconic songs in the spirit of climate positivity will be performed by 100 musicians from all over the world rocking out onstage together. Help us transition from #DrivingAmbition to the Pre-COP in style!
