This event will include a panel of youth leaders from around the world working in a diversity of themes around climate action. Youth engagement is about climate justice. Youth all over the world today are the most vulnerable stakeholders in climate action, and the ambition of climate action taken today will directly impact their entire lives going forward.
Youth can be an integral part of mobilizing climate finance and their advocacy can play a key role in the magnitude of climate finance commitments. Given the growing youth climate activism worldwide, it would not be incorrect to assume that it plays a role in influencing governments towards a greener agenda and links to higher commitments by governments to climate finance. This makes it even more imperative to support young people in gaining a better understanding, capacity, and agency to engage in climate finance.
However, there is potential for climate finance and multilateral development banks to strengthen their engagement to benefit young people. Climate funds like the CIF and MDBs like EBRD are making efforts to address this gap, by not only building the capacity of young people in climate finance but also ensuring the needs and voices of young people are considered when programs are designed today- investment and infrastructure that today’s young people will live with for the rest of their adult lives.
This event will discuss engage youth leaders around the world to showcase their work, and how MDBs and Climate funds can support and collaborate better with these efforts. Through consultations with youth organizations and youth climate leaders, the CIF has developed a consultation note called “Towards a Youth Engagement Strategy (YES)”, which outlines recommendations and opportunities for CIF’s youth engagement. The publication of this note will be announced during the event, demonstrating commitment towards an ongoing effort to mainstream youth needs into CIF’s governance and operations.
Key Learnings:
- Engage youth climate leaders from regions around the globe to highlight the role of youth in climate action, along with why and how climate funds and multilateral development banks should engage youth.
- Showcase youth engagement efforts of the EBRD and CIF, through youth leaders as panelists who have benefitted from these efforts to demonstrate how climate funds and MDBs can play a key role in addressing barriers to youth engagement
- Announce publication of a consultation note on CIF’s youth engagement, called “Towards a Youth Engagement Strategy (YES)”- developed with feedback from youth climate leaders through consultations and a survey, this note contains recommendations and opportunities for the CIF to better engage and benefit youth through its activities.
