Youth @ COP19

UN Climate Negotiations

Warsaw, Poland
December, 2014

Sections
Introduction

Page 01

COY 9 / PS CEE

Page 03

Youth activities

Page 10

Fast for the climate

Page 12

The Walk Out

Page 13

What Happened after?

Page 17

Art. 6

Page 18

International Youth Projects over 2014 and beyond

Page 19

Youth to COY10/COP20 Process

Page 20

Things to know about #YOUNGO

Page 22

Photo credits

Page 25

Acknowledgements
This report and youth activities organized by YOUNGO with the
UNFCCC secretariat during COP 19/CMP 9 mentioned herein were
made possible by the generous contribution by the European Union.
Thanks to UNFCCC secretariat for their support enabling YOUNGO to
make impact during COP19 in Warsaw and special thanks to the 2013
YOUNGO Focal Points, Jamie Peters and Liang-Yi Chang; and all
youth in the ongoing fight against climate change.
Thank you for being committed activists and agents of change in your
respective countries; it enriches and strengthens YOUNGO every
year.
Photo: Kaori Shiohara

Introduction
By Jamie Peters and Liang-Yi
In 2013, it was a challenging and mostly enjoyable year
to serve as Focal Points for YOUNGO. As the Youth
Constituency we must always be the group at the UN
climate talks who aligns ourselves with the science to
restrict temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees
and must always be the group who refuses to
compromise on what we demand and expect from
governments around the world. Making compromises
for the lives of those most vulnerable around the world,
today but also in the future, in the name of playing the
game or diplomacy just wont cut it for us.

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

That is why we found strength in some of the actions and stances that YOUNGO took in 2013. Rejecting a corporate
COP that was dominated by vested, dirty energy interests was a liberating experience for those who took part in the
walkout in Warsaw. However, we said volveremos! We will be back. This report will perhaps shed some light on
why we will be back and what we have to hope for from COP20 in Lima.
As Focal Points for YOUNGO, we were very pleased to serve the Constituency and also aware that we were
performing a function that did not afford us any power or decision making. That is what should make YOUNGO a
very unique group working at the UN, a non-hierarchical group of people from around the world fighting for justice.
We were very pleased to play our part in a constituency that has a rich history or climate activism and a strong tradition for aiming to push for ambition at at UN talks and push our boundaries when we can

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

01

The two weeks of COP at Warsaw were intense for everyone and as Focal Points we felt that as much as anyone.
With support from the UNFCCC Secretariat we were able to arrange a number of exciting actions, interventions as
well as a range of meetings and briefings with various groups, diplomats and negotiating teams.
Two of those diplomats were the incoming chair for COP 20 in Lima and COP20 team for Paris. It was energizing to
see the commitment that our Peruvian hosts are showing before COP in 2014 and the same goes for our brothers
and sisters working hard to arrange youth activities in Peru before COP takes place.
Gracias hermanos!

Polluters talk, we walk

Warsaw, 2013

With a new global climate treaty to be agreed in Paris next year it is more important than ever that YOUNGO condemns any false solutions or weak deals that fail to have historical responsibility at its centre or fails to keep us under
1.5 degrees of warming. Groups within YOUNGO must continue to do all they can to build our movement, make it
more inclusive, bigger, more ambitious and to ensure we do not lose our independence to cal for what we know is
going to bring justice to the climate crisis that our generation have been left to deal with by a careless few generations in the West before us and a broken global system. We can change it and we will be back, Volveremos.
Hasta Lima!

Jamie & Liang-Yi

2013 YOUNGO Focal Points at the Walkout

02

COY 9 / PS CEE
By Saket Mani

Children and young people have been participating in the UNFCCC intergovernmental process going back to COP 5
in Bonn. Starting in COP 11/CMP 1, youth have also organized preparatory meetings called "Conferences of Youth,"
which help build their capacity to participate in the UNFCCC negotiation process. Conference of Youth (COY) has
been an essential part of the youth delegates calendar since 2005 as the first Conference of Youth was held in
2005, in Montreal, Canada, shortly before the Eleventh Conference of Parties.
Prior to COP 15/CMP 5, the secretariat granted a provisional constituency status to admitted Youth
Non-Governmental Organizations (YOUNGO). The constituency status provided a channel for the exchange of
official information between young people and the secretariat besides assisting the secretariat in ensuring an
effective participation by youth appropriate to an intergovernmental meeting and coordinating young people's
interaction at sessions, including convening constituency meetings, organizing meetings with officials, providing
names for the speakers list and representation at official functions; and provided logistical support to youth during
sessions. In practical terms, YOUNGO is given the opportunity to address the plenary, High Level Segment of a
COP/CMP, make submissions (individual youth organizations also), attend workshops, meet with officials of the
Convention such as Chairs of the subsidiary bodies and the COP Presidency.

Courage is not the absence of

fear, it is inspiring others to
move beyond it
Nelson Mandela

Photo: Kaori Shiohara

03

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

The 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) opened in Warsaw, Poland on 11 November 2013 with three clear priority issues for the 195 countries represented: the elaboration of a timeline to secure a new international climate
agreement at COP21 in Paris in 2015; the establishment of a mechanism on loss and damage; and the provision of
long-term finance.
The Power Shift Central & Eastern Europe (PS CEE) was the official name of the 9th Conference of Youth (COY9)
held from 7 to 10 November in Warsaw (Poland), prior to COP 19/CMP 9 to continue building the capacity of young
people for their effective engagement in the UNFCCC process through targeted policy inputs and advocacy activities. It was organised and facilitated entirely by members of the movement uniting hundreds of young climate leaders
in order to build their capacity, share skills and collaborate on campaigns and strategies related to the UNFCCC
process. Throughout the four-day conference, the COY prepared youth delegates for the COP 19/CMP 9 and
strengthen the effectiveness of YOUNGO. The tools developed and distributed at the COY were then used effectively by dozens of youth delegations, and hundreds of youth, both in the intergovernmental climate change negotiations and in their home countries. It composed of 320 participants from 60 countries. COY is inclusive, while COP is

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

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This year, COY was four days long (instead of three) and was formally be known as the Power Shift Central &
Eastern Europe. This is because the Conference of Youth (COY) was officially only for youth organizations who
were accredited with the UNFCCC however this year it was opened up to all youth organizations. Although it was
open to youth from all over the world, the focus was on Central & Eastern Europe since COP 19 was happening in
Warsaw, Poland and youth from this sub-region had previously been underrepresented at COPs and COYs
Getting insight into youth movements across the countries was an inspirational reminder of in what way this amazing
movement is all about. Though the scale of climate change is enormous and complex to tackle, but that has not
dwindled the energy of the youth involved in this fight whose future is at maximum risk from the decisions made.
Workshops were held, demonstrations were made, and speeches were given; all done to incite their governments to
scale up climate action and raise ambition towards a post-2020 climate change regime. It brought together passionate youth from around the world to build capacity and move forward on issues of sustainability and climate change.
The conference featured an impressive array of workshops, such as introductions to the UNFCCC; the connection
between gender and climate change, strategies of social movements etc.
The Conference of Youth remains a side event, important,
but excluded from the negotiations and overlooked by most
of the media. This years COY helped the youth to:
Gain tools and skills to continue applying pressure to their

governments post COY

Come up with realistic action plans to make change in

their local communities

Gain visibility as a strong and active youth organization
Network and build connections and lasting relationships

with other youth involved in climate movement.

Following YOUNGOs successful virtual dialogue with UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June, the SecretaryGenerals Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, attended
COP 19/CMP 9 to engage with the international youth climate movement and advocate for the key role that young
people play in addressing climate change. The UNFCCC
secretariat, in close collaboration with YOUNGO and other
members of the United Nations Joint Framework Initiative on
Children, Youth and Climate Change, facilitated the following
events and activities with and for young people:
A Youth Virtual Participation Room,which will allow youth

organizations to hold coordination meetings and connect

with their peers back in their home countries via video
conferencing.
High-level youth briefings with key figures in the UNFCCC

process followed by Q&A sessions.

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More Info can be found at:

http://unfccc.int/cc_inet/cc_inet/youth_portal/
items/6578txt.php
http://www.youthclimate.org/
http://unfccc.int/cc_inet/cc_inet/youth_portal/items/8323.php

Citation:
http://unfccc.int/cc_inet/cc_inet/youth_portal/items/6795.php

 The 6th Intergenerational Inquiry on climate change as part of the YOUNGO organized 'Young and Future

Generations Day' on 14 November.

The UN Youth Booth.
Side events and exhibits.
A series of mini-side events at the Climate Change Studio.
A comprehensive event calendar on the CC: iNet Youth Portal providing a platform for all youth related events in

the run up to and during COP 19/CMP 9.

Young and Future Generations Day is a non-stop celebration of youth power and participation at UNFCCC conferences. Youth-led side events, workshops and festivities will take place on 14 November, with a continuous stream of
creative actions that prove young people are key players in reaching innovative, ambitious solutions on climate
change. One of its highlights will be the Intergenerational Inquiry, which will focus this year on intergenerational equity as a moral principle that can unite developing and developed countries.
The Intergenerational Inquiry provides a platform for youth delegates from around the world to engage with key players of the intergovernmental climate change arena. This year's sixth edition will focus on intergenerational equity as
a moral principle that can unite developing and developed countries with civil society; older, younger and future generations; and all genders in pursuit of climate justice and an ambitious post 2015 climate agreement.
Photo: Alashiya Gordes

Young activities during COP

Special side event on how Youth is working with
children to build a sustainable future

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

06

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

07

Youth activities
By Sabrina Marquant

Three days of discussion and interaction with the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth,
Ahmad Alhendawi.
During the June session of the UN Climate talks in 2013, YOUNGO had the
opportunity to launch a virtual meeting with M. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary
General of the United Nations and its Special Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi. The discussion was oriented on how youth can play a better role in the
future and especially the role of young people during the 2014 UN
Climate Summit.

More information :
#TellBanKiMoon
http://bit.ly/1tyhaFA

A second discussion had been launched in August 2013 for the International Youth Day through twitter. During this
discussion, YOUNGO officially invited M. Ahmad Alhendawi to meet YOUNGO members at the COP19 and to discuss
with them on youth expectation for the COP21.
Each year, at the UN Climate Change Conference, one day is devoted to the Young and Future generations day. This
day is the occasion to celebrate the role of young people at the UN climate change talks. At COP 19, YOUNGO has
decided to invite on this specific day M. Ahmad Alhendawi to present to him the diversity of activities and initiatives
launched by young people and youth organizations and networks on the climate change issues.
During the rest of his journey, he had the opportunity to have informal meeting with YOUNGO to discuss more deeply
on youth expectation for the 2014 UN Climate Summit and for the COP21. The panel discussion on intergenerational
equity was hosting and moderating by YOUNGO.
Photo: Alashiya Gordes

Kishan Kumarsingh; Frances ambassador for climate change, Jacques Lapouge; UN Secretary-Generals Envoy on Youth,
Ahmad Alhendawi; UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres; and two youth delegates Nathan Niedermeier and Sylvia
Yirenkyi.
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Discussions between M. Ahmad Alhendawi and YOUNGO have continued after COP19 and concrete projects have
been set up. During the UN Climate talk in June 2014 a team of the international youth climate movement has presented a youth-led project called Youth Climate Action for the 2014 Climate Summit to enhance the youth participation during this summit and beyond.
For it, a virtual platform has been established and opened
on August 23rd. This platform is following two main
objectives: to enhance the international youth climate
movement on the road to COP20-COP21 and beyond and
also to give more visibility of youth activities leading
around the world.

More information :
#Youthclimateaction
@IYCM
http://action.youthclimate.org

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

"Let us acknowledge and celebrate what youth can do to build a safer, more just world.
Let us strengthen our efforts to include young people in policies, programmes and
decision-making processes that benefit their futures and ours."
Secretary-General NU, Ban Ki-moon
Message on International Youth Day, 12 August 2010

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

09

Linking youth inside the venue and youth outside to establish a strong youth climate
movement
Communicate on the last updates from the official venue to outside and especially to the young people not present at
the COP. Comment and analyse the state-of-art of the climate change negotiations and the last decisions taking by
negotiators. Those activities are essential for YOUNGOs members.

Send us:
#YOUNGO
@IYCM
@YOUNGORetweet

Among the main tools used : Social networks (e.g Twitter, Facebook) are
mainly used during the UNFCCC conference and intersession. This is one of
the best tools to communicate faster and larger on action leading by YOUNGO
inside the venue, but also to gather youth community and to reinforce the
international youth climate movement.
Blogging activities are also essential for YOUNGO during the UNFCCC
Conference and intersessions. This activity gives the opportunity for YOUNGO
members to develop, reinforce, and give more visibility on their expertise on
climate change negotiations.

This is a non-exhaustive list of blogs during the COP19, which are still active today:
Adopt a negotiator :

http://adoptanegotiator.org/category/tracking/

UKYCC :

http://ukycc.org/blog

CliMates :

http://studentclimates.wordpress.com

Youth policy :

http://www.youthpolicy.org/environment/tag/unfccc/

Earth in brackets :

http://www.earthinbrackets.org/category/climate-change/unfccc/page/3/

Students on climate change :

http://www.studentsonclimatechange.com/links.html

Push europe :

http://pusheurope.org/blog/category/blogspace/

The Verb :

http://theverb.org

For the third time, the United Nations Joint Framework Initiative on Children, Youth and Climate
Change has decided to establish the youth
participation room.

Check this out :

http://bit.ly/1vWqXpG

The objective of this youth participation room is to

enables youth all over the world to participate in the
Climate Conference in real time by making video
calls. During the COP19, several video calls have
been made. For instance, the Google hangout
organized by YOUNGO with the participation of the
UN Envoy for youth, M. Ahmad Alhendawi.

Photo: Alashiya Gordes

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Focus on two innovative and original initiatives at COP19

Connected voices
This is a youth-led initiative launched in 2013. The main objective of Connected voices is to provide an effective platform by
which youth from all countries and backgrounds are able to articulate their demands in the international climate arena through
peer representation.
At COP19 in Warsaw, they organized an action to display the
messages of young people had sent in to negotiators as they
arrived at the official venue.

More information :
http://connected-voices.org
Photo to use in the report: http://bit.ly/Wn6GdG

COP in MyCity
COPinMyCity is another youth-led project launched in 2013. The objective of COP in MyCity is to bridge the gap between climate negotiations and youth in order to inspire climate actions in all cities around the world
The concept of the COP in MyCity initiative is:
Before the COP, to train and raise the awareness of young people around the

world on climate change negotiations by using simulation.

During the COP, to mobilize young people around the world. Connect all COP in

MyCity initiatives around the world and YOUNGO members inside the venue.
After the COP, to debrief with all young people involved in this project and pre-

pare the next year project.

More information:
http://copinmycity.weebly.com

Being a National Youth Delegate at COP19!

Each year, some YOUNGO members have the opportunity to attend the COP as National Youth Delegates.
Youth Delegates is an UN Programme launched several years ago by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, M.
Ban Ki-moon to enhance youth participation at the national and global level of decision-makers and to build a stronger
dialogue between national government and national youth community.
Although the role of National youth delegate differs from a country to another; during the UNFCCC Conference, their
roles are mainly focusing on being a focal point between their delegations, YOUNGO members and youth in their
country.
In more concrete terms, at COP19 in Warsaw, the National Youth Delegates had shared their time in participating in
the daily YOUNGO meetings, and following some specific YOUNGO working groups. They also attended to their official delegation meetings and followed the negotiations. They also kept inform youth in their county by publishing some
blog articles and by using social network tools.

Facebook pages :
Belgian Youth Delegate: http://on.fb.me/1xkv3tA
Netherlands Youth Delegate: http://on.fb.me/1CxIR3Z
Photo: Alashiya Gordes
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Fast for the climate

By Jamie Peters

For the second year in a row during the climate negotiations the Philippines were devastated by a Typhoon as their
climate becomes increasingly volatile and damaging to human life.
On the first day of talks Filipino negotiator Yeb Sano pleaded with the world to respond to climate change
"I speak for my people affected by the climate change, for those orphaned by the Typhoon
We can take drastic action now to ensure that we prevent a future where super typhoons are a way of life. Because we
refuse, as a nation, to accept a future where super typhoons like Haiyan become a fact of life. We refuse to accept that
running away from storms, evacuating our families, suffering the devastation and misery, having to count our dead,
become a way of life. We simply refuse to.
Super Typhoon may now be in my own familys homeI struggle to
find words for the images we see. I struggle to find words to describe the losses. To this hour I am still waiting to hear back from
my own family. In the last two days my brother has been gathering
the body of the dead with his own handsthis last two days there
are moments when I should rally behind climate activities, these
selfless people, who demand historical responsibility. These people
will , the youth who constantly remind us that our future is at liberty.
These brave people who put their body on the line in the Arctic.
With all due respect my brother has not eaten in 3 days due to this
Typhoon. With all due respect Mr President I do refrain from eating
during this COP until a climate deal is in sight"

Photo: Public

Yeb Sano - Filipino negotiator

With the horrifying regularity of damage in The Philippines and the outrage at developed countries refusing to act on
climate change or even compensate nations like Phillipines for climate impacts, young people and Civil Society took a
stand. A solidarity action with The Philippines was held as young people also decided to fast and refuse to eat until
certain demands were met in the talks, including meaningful progress and a compensation package for loss from
climate change (Loss and Damage).
YOUNGO supported this fast at COP with young people
refraining from eating during as solidarity with The Philippines.
This fast has carried on from COP in the form of one day each
month without food until COP in Lima as people around the world
Fast For The Climate.
Fasting was carried out as a means to draw attention to the unjust atrocities that climate change is bringing to the
world and the lack of responsibility that nations with climate debt are taking for the climate crisis.

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The Walk Out

By Jamie Peters

Polluters Talk, We Walk

The disappointment, sadness and anger that young people felt at the negotiations in Poland were demonstrated at the
end of the second week of talks when Civil Society held an unprecedented walkout on COP19. Young people, big
NGOs, social movements and the rest of Civil Society joined together, putting aside any differences, and collectively
saying enough is enough as they walked out of talks. Over 800 individuals felt that negotiations at COP19 were so
completely dominated by the vested interests of dirty energy that they staged a dramatic walk out saying Polluters
Talk, We Walk.
The action was a unifying and empowering event that pulled together diverse groups all with the intention of strengthening and
coming back stronger to tackle climate change and those attending COPs that continue to benefit from climate change. Those
who walked out held banners and had t-shirts with the message
Volveremos - we will be back in Spanish. It was a walkout on
what was being witnessed and what was taking place at COP19.
It was a strong reaction to COP19 and it was an action that had
a positive aspect of resistance and a promise to turn up at
COP20 stronger than before.

Photo: Carmen Capriles

As it once more became apparent that industrialised

countries would not scale up their climate finance or show any
sort of ambition for emissions reductions and would instead side
with dirty fossil fuel industry instead of with the worlds most
vulnerable groups it was time for Civil Society to turn their back
son talks.

Photo: Public

The sense of betrayal at governments around the world

serving the fossil fuel lobby instead of climate impacted
people and future generations was what spurred the
walkout for many young people. COP19 was labelled the
Corporate COP with everything seemingly up for sale
advertising for fossil fuels inside the conference...sponsorship from companies destroying the
climate...and even our future seemed to be up for sale as
negotiators from the Global North choose profit over
people.

Civil Society united like never before at the talks not to condemn UNFCCC but to condemn COP19. In Lima Civil Society will hopefully unite again to hold governments to the promises that they have made to respond to climate change.

13

The message of the walkout was that COP19 failed us all and the only voices being listened to were those of dirty
energy. The voices of young people were not being listened to. The voices of indigenous people were not being
listened to. The voices of the worlds most vulnerable were not being listened to. The voices of the developing world
were not being listened to. The voices of Civil Society were not being listened to. But the message was also that we
will be back in Peru for COP20. We will demand fair and ambitious action on climate change in Peru and we will
demand that our voices are heard. As young people, YOUNGO will lead the call for leadership from those who owe the
rest of the world a just response to climate change.

Photo: Carmen Capriles

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What Happened after?

YOUNGO outside the UNFCCC negotiations over 2014
By Dana Espinoza
International Youth. International Youth make up YOUNGO, a constituency at the UN Climate Talks, comprised of
young people from around the world, which is made up of many voices, many projects and young people willing to be
part of the solution to mitigate climate change. Since COP18 in Doha, youth participation was strengthened in many
agendas related to climate change, and during COP19 this was further strengthened given that these two years are
crucial to have a fair and inclusive climate agreement.
YOUNGO, organised a Conference Of Youth (COY) prior to each each COP. YOUNGO is also active 365 days a year.
This year, youth has been involved in movements across the globe. This year, YOUNGO was present at the following
international events:
YOUNGO at the Preparatory Meeting of the Social PreCOP on Climate Change in Isla de Margarita, Venezuela,
in which three members of YOUNGO were official delegates and others were special guests such as climate change
experts to share their experiences as young climate change leaders.
Youth Climate Action Project (YCA) and COY 10 in Lima, Peru road to COP20: Youth Empowerment through
concrete actions to mitigate climate change.

Photo: Social PreCOP Web Site (courtesy)

15

YOUNGO IN ACTION!
YOUNGO at the Preparatory Meeting of the Social PreCOP on Climate Change in Isla de Margarita.
What was the Preparatory Meeting of the Social PreCOP on Climate Change?
In order to learn, share and combine positions and initiatives of organisations and movements, the political process
towards the Social PreCOP on Climate Change includes a preparatory four day session meeting at Margarita Island,
Venezuela, from 15 to 18 July with international participation: "Local Governments on Climate Change", "The Future
takes the floor: Youth and Climate Change" and " Good Living, Sustainable Living and Climate Change".
Since COP19 in Warsaw, there was much discussion about the Social PreCOP towards the COP20 in Lima, Peru.
During the month of March began to make all the arrangements for international civil society organizations and local
Venezuelan organizations were present at the preparatory meeting in July. YOUNGO was one of those invited to
participate as Constituency and three official delegates were elected to represent YOUNGO in the event.

YOUNGO in the Preparatory Meeting of the Social PreCOP on Climate Change

Photo: Dana Espinoza

The official YOUNGO delegates were:

Kaori Shiohara
(Climate Youth Japan - Japan)
Waynelle Collymore
(Caribbean Youth Environment Network - Barbados)
Avishek Shrestha
(Nepalese Youth for Climate Action - Nepal)

Other members of YOUNGO were special guests to

participate as speakers at the panel "Generational
Equality and Rights of Future Generations." The speakers
were:
Lorena Terrazas
(CLIC!)
Jamie Peters
(Climate Justice)
Silje Lundberg
(Push Europe)
Anjali Appadurai
(Tipping Point Collective)

16

Photo: Dana Espinoza

In addition, more YOUNGO members such as Jaime Granillo and Dana Espinoza from Mexico were there representing the Latin American and Caribbean Climate Youth Movement (CLIC!), Elizabeth Ann from Australia as part of CliMates, Sudarsha De Silva, Chulani Kandage and Sajith Wijesuriya were there representing EARTHLANKA from Sri
Lanka and Nathan Thanki and Mara Alejandra Escalante representing Earth in Brackets.
In this preparatory meeting there were five workshops for the formulation of the Declaration of Margarita, which were:
I. Social Impact of Climate Change
II. Climate ethics: Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities
III. Social Participation in Decision-Making
IV. Fighting Climate Change: Direct Action for Change
V. Responsibilities North-South. Commitments actions to enhance North South.
All YOUNGO members present were working in each of the working groups and contributed their expertise as agents
of change in the formulation of the Declaration of Margarita towards the Climate Summit in NY and heading to the Social PreCOP in November.
This has been one of the international events outside the COPs that has had more YOUNGO members actively participating. YOUNGO had meetings with Venezuelan youth organizations. These meetings created strong bonds between
the IYCM and Venezuelan youth. It is important to include more young people in the processes of climate change so
Bienvenida, Venezuela!
Photo: Dana Espinoza

Documents
Margaritas Declaration (Spanish version):
http://bit.ly/1rBjo65
Margaritas Declaration (English version):
http://bit.ly/1kSXB2q
YOUNGO Social PreCOP Publications
(English and Spanish version):
http://bit.ly/1lNJUb5
http://bit.ly/1rOf5mS

Photo: Dana Espinoza

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Photo: Dana Espinoza

Art. 6
By Harriet Thew

At COP 19 the YOUNGO Working Group on Article 6 were very active. They attended and gave interventions at several of the Article 6 negotiating sessions and would like to thank Parties and the Secretariat once again for ensuring that
Article 6 negotiations are open to observers and for supporting our meaningful participation.
At SB 40, the Article 6 working group gained some new recruits and many of us attended and enjoyed the three Dialogues on public participation, publication awareness and public access to information. We were thankful that discussions became more participatory and were grateful to the Secretariat for allowing participation to those who were not
present via twitter.
We would like to reiterate the statements made by many YOUNGOs on Twitter during the Dialogues and look forward
to seeing these contributions reflected in the final report.
Additionally, at SB 40, many YOUNGOs attended a meeting with Parties and the Secretariat offering suggestions for
the guidelines for Article 6 focal points. Our main recommendations for focal points were:
Be accessible. Please, share your contact details online so we can get in touch with you.
The current Focal Point list gives names and job titles but no email addresses nor telephone numbers.
YOUNGO would like to support our Article 6 Focal Points but, other than those we have built relationships with at
international negotiations, we find it difficult to make contact at national level.

Bonn Climate Change Conference June 2014

At the Bonn Climate Change Conference June 2014 youth delegates continued to engage in the intergovernmental
negotiation progress through various activities.

Youth statement at the Bonn Climate Change Conference June

2014
We are a group of young people from many different NGOs from
around the world, joined together as YOUNGO. Represented here in
Bonn we have German, French, British, Norwegian, Brazilian, Japanese, American, Singaporean, Czech, Cypriot and Belgian youth. We are
here because we are all deeply concerned about climate change and
believe an ambitious youth voice pushing for solutions in these
UNFCCC negotiations is necessary. We are taking action for our future
with a growing impact on negotiators and fellow NGO representatives.
We also work in our local communities through raising awareness and
gathering support for combating climate change. Our goal is one that
every delegate at these negotiations should share: a just, sustainable,
de-carbonized, climate-friendly and equitable future."
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Photo: UNFCCC Portal

YOUNGO with Christiana Figueres,

Executive Secretary UNFCCC

International Youth Projects over

2014 and beyond over 2014 and beyond
Over 2014 have been cooking two projects made by the IYCM, Youth Climate Action and COY10 in Lima, Peru.

Youth Climate Action (YCA)

Youth Climate Action is a group of young people from across the world who feel that young people should be given a
voice at the UN Secretary General's Climate Summit in September. We are launching a web platform that celebrates
and showcases young people taking action on climate change on the 23th of August, as well as have youth represented at the Summit itself. We are coordinating a month of action leading up to the Summit to show world leaders how
we are leading the way in the fight against climate change. We want our decision-makers to be as ambitious as we are!

More information:
Web: http://action.youthclimate.org
Hashtag: #youthclimateaction
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1ob7XvP

The 10th Conference of Youth -COY10

COY10 is an event that gathers young people from all over the world interested in conducting actions facing climate
change as well as sustainable lifestyles. This year is the turn of Lima city, capital of the republic of Peru, which will
receive 1000 world young leaders from November 28th to 30th. During these days, we, the youth, will share information, experiences and knowledge related to climate change and negotiation processes. Together we will develop abilities and encourage joint actions with the aim of strengthening the youth climate movement.
Turning VOICES into ACTION is a motto that nowadays all young people around the world continuously repeat at being witnesses of the destruction of our planet. Now is the moment in which every one of us should get down to work
and change its destinity.

More information:
Web: www.coy10peru.com
Mail: info@coy10peru.com / coy10.peru@gmail.com
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1yxp3cc
Twitter: @COY10Peru

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Youth to COY10/COP20 Process

Turning VOICES into ACTION
By Israel Maldonado
This year, Peru has taken up the challenge of hosting the next UN Climate Conference and with that the mission of
establishing an atmosphere of trust to lay the foundations of a new climate agreement which will reflect a higher level
of commitment and global solidarity to tackle the consequences of climate change. This challenge has not only been
taken by the Peruvian government but also civil society, and youth in particular.
Peru is the third most vulnerable country to Climate Change, after Bangladesh and Honduras (according to the Tyndall
Center of England). This vulnerability is due to the occurrence of hydrometeorological effects like El Nio-Southern
Oscillation, its climatic megadiversity (27 out of the 32 climates in the world), the poverty rate of its population around
to 24% (according National Institute of Statistics and Informatic) and high economic dependency on highly vulnerable
activities for climate variations: energy, agriculture and fishing.
This is a common situation lived in many countries of Latin America and Caribbean and other regions. COP20
therefore is not only a preliminary step towards COP21, but the opportunity to let the world know how we live every day
with the consequences of climate change and why we care about the decisions to be taken on the road to Paris. In that
regard, the success of COP20 is assumed by us a lot of responsibility and enthusiasm.
Responsibility because we are convinced that exist an international
context in which the interests at stake take precedence and in which
the ruling generation does not understand the severity of the
consequences of Climate Change. From this point of view, we feel we
must continue requesting and proposing changes in global and local
policies to address climate change. Because we also feel that the
solution is within us, from our daily activities, generating changes in
consumption patterns and promoting new sustainable lifestyles. Thats
how we contribute to the achievement of new and better ways to live.
And enthusiasm, because we feel that the fact of holding a COY in the
heart of Latin America and the Caribbean opens the possibility of
promoting more active participation of young people in this part of the
planet and connect more with the global youth climate movement. So
COY10 intends to become an inclusive space to house young people
from all over the world who come with experiences, learning and lots of
energy to turn VOICES into ACTION.
We have to keep in mind that without the big meeting in Lima, there
will be no meeting in Paris in 2015. A successful process requires
organization and strategy. This year is the time we must come together
to prepare the action of YOUNGO, strengthening the dialogue between
North and South of the globe, promoting new partnerships and joint
actions, because that is the way that, together, all young people can
contribute to build a new climate agreement.
Bienvenidos a Lima!
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"Lima is a crucial moment to reach a climate

agreement in 2015. Together with all actors,
the Presidency of COP20-CMP10 will lead
the process and take actions on the
principles of transparency and inclusiveness
to build trust and confidence
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal
Peru Environment Minister

More information:
http://bit.ly/1eyxrxE
http://bit.ly/1AoI97f

Expectations on the 2015 agreement

By Clment Bultheel
Two criteria have to be used to judge the success of the future climate agreement, firstly the participation, and
secondly the global ambition of the agreement, especially the commitments and the contributions in terms of
mitigation, as well as adaptation, climate finance capacity-building, intergenerational equity and transparency.
It seems essential to establish the success of the agreement from a participation as wide as possible. And it is clearly
necessary to work to have the most ambitious and wide commitments as possible, but others criteria have to be
included to complete the already expected ambitions.
One of them would be the potential of the agreement to strengthen itself over time, and to deepen the level, the nature
and the requirements of the contributions. It has to be an agreement capable of evolving without requiring necessarily
a whole new cycle of negotiations, an agreement which plans a ratchet mechanism to gather in a more important effort
over time, to draw the transition towards a decarbonised economic system. This element will doubtless be the most
important one, allowing to reconcile the weakest efforts granted in the short and the medium term with the necessary
deep transformation in the medium and long term.
We can finally notice that the success of Paris also depends on a last criterion: the relevance of the agreement, its
capacity to convince, to attract the participation and to answer to the interests of all Parties.
Indeed, each Party has to find itself in the agreement, as well on the measures concerning mitigation than on adaptation or mobilization of finance and technologies. If the agreement is only a "sharing of the effort ", it will not be a
success. That is why te notion of equity will be a fundamental part of the acceptability of the agreement by both Parties
and civil society we represent.

Photo: Kaori Shiohara

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Things to know about #YOUNGO

How YOUNGO works?
On September 28, 2009 the international youth movement gained official constituency status. The provisional status
took effect in November 2009. YOUNGO (Youth Non-Governmental Organization) is a constituency within the framework and is meant to represent all the Youth NGOs at the negotiations.
As a constituency within the UNFCCC framework we are accorded the following rights:
We will be invited to (some of) the workshop taking place in between sessions,
We will receive a speaking slot at the high level segment of the COPs,
We will receive an office space at the COPs,
We will have additional opportunities to make statements during the plenary,
The secretariat will facilitate the logistics of our daily meetings (every day in same room, announced in the pro-

gram and on CCTVs),

We will have the opportunity to hold bilateral with the chairs of each official bodies (COP, SBI, SBSTA, AWGs),
We will have an enhanced chance to hold bilateral with the chair of other groups such as expert groups and con-

tact groups,
Our participation to the Secretary General NGOs briefings will improve (particular right to ask specific questions).

In counterpart, we have the following obligations:

We will need to designate a focal point.
We will need to manage information dissemination (secretariat to youth networks), and to keep these information

channels updated.
We will have to give a unique feedback to secretariat (youth networks to secretariat, such as nominations for par-

ticipation to workshops etc.)

List Serves
http://groups.google.com/group/unfccc_youth:
Primary list of the YOUNGO Constituency at UNFCCC.
It contains all information related to UNFCCC process
and to the COPs. This includes youth strategy at COP,
relevant news, addressing governmental delegates, etc.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/youngointersessionals : Related to the concrete work of the
YOUNGO for all of the intercessional negotiations
(i.e. not COP/CMP).

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Regional Youth Movement Lists:

African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC
Asian Youth Climate Movement
CLIC! (Latin America and Caribbean).
European Youth Climate Movement.
Global South Youth.
Nordic Youth Climate Action Movement.
Youth Climate Movements in the countries of the
former USSR (in English and Russian).
United States Youth Delegation.
Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC).
Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.

Spokescouncil
We have a special format that we use during COP meetings called Spokescouncil. Spokescouncil is designed to let us
share information and make decisions as a constituency, so that we can give everyone a voice but also get things
done quickly. Spokescouncil a process that will enable youth to establish and work for unified demands at the
UNFCCC Climate Talks.
There are 5 important types of people in Spokescouncil, and everyone who attends Spokescouncil each day is
identified as one of these:

Spokes

Group

Spoke is person who represents a particular

collection of youth in YOUNGO which might be a
working group (for example Finance policy), a
regional or identity youth movement (for example
Latin American youth or Indigenous), etc. The role of
the Spoke is to represent his or her Group (see
below) and communicate with all of the other Spokes.
The group that the Spoke represents decides who
from their group will be the Spoke at Spokescouncil
each day. It can be a different person every day.

Groups are all of the other people in the same

collection of youth as the Hub. They are there to
ensure that the Hubs communicate the information of
their Spoke accurately to the rest of Spokescouncil,
and are equal partners in deciding how their Spoke
will vote or speak on an issue if there is a decision
that needs to be made. ,Each person should only be
representing one group as a Spoke, even if they are
active in multiple groups within YOUNGO, outside of
Spokescouncil.

Facilitators
Facilitators do not represent an organization. Their
job is to manage the Spokescouncil meeting and
facilitate the dialogue among Spokes. They develop
the agenda for the meeting, based on past decisions
and new agenda items submitted to them each day.
They keep the conversation moving, ensure Hubs
have a chance to speak, or Spokes have a chance
to talk to their Hubs, and also ensure that the
meeting moves efficiently and finishes on time, and
that notes are taken and circulated to YOUNGO.
Anyone can become a Facilitator. Facilitators must
be able to speak one of the languages being used
for Spokescouncil that day, which is usually English
and possibly Spanish and French.

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Minute Taker:
The Minute Taker's job is to record the major points of
the conversation at Spokescouncil, and send this
information out to Primary list of the YOUNGO after
the meeting.

Translators:
Translators provide translation if groups in the room
request it.

Focal Points
YOUNGO democratically elects two focal points on an annual basis. YOUNGO attempts to provide balance by selecting one focal point who is a citizen of a developing country and one from a developed country. The focal points are
mandated to be the points of contact with the UNFCCC secretariat and are responsible for communications between
the secretariat and the YOUNGO constituency as well as a range of administrative and organisational tasks.
The current two focal points are Sabrina Marquant (Global North) and Dana Espinoza (Global South).

Description of Affinity and Working Groups

Affinity
Groups

Bottom Lining team

YOUNGOs volunteer internal & coordination group. They ensure that the essential logistical,
funding, mediation, and staffing needs, as identified by the Spokescouncil/YOUNGO, are met.
Education (Article 6) Working Group:
This is a long-standing group which has been extremely successful in drafting and providing text for
negotiations on Article 6 (education) of the UNFCCC. The group has previously made
submissions to the UNFCCC (e.g. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2010/smsn/ngo/216.pdf) and has
been instrumental in shaping the agenda and outcomes of negotiation on article 6 and advocating
for youth appropriate policies.
Intergenerational Equity (Inteq) Working Group:
This group was created in 2013 and aims to have Intergenerational Equity codified and made
operational in the 2015 climate agreement. They were successful in having the term future generations inserted into the preamble of the COP19 ADP outcome document and have a number of
negotiating alliances advocating their policy positions. This group is responsible for creating the
YOUNGO ADP submission (see- http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2013/smsn/ngo/357.pdf)

Working
Groups

Mitigation Working Group:

Share resources and develop strategies on the multiple areas of mitigation.

Others Working Groups:

The following Working Groups are currently inactive, but will likely be formed and become
operational at COP20:
Loss and Damage Working Group: Track and advocate on issues concerning the international
mechanism on loss and damages.
Adaptation Working Group: Track adaptations issues, share resources, collaborate on plans for
COP.
Finance Working Group: Track cross-cutting finance issues, share resources and collaborate.
Technology Transfer Working Group: Discuss and share on this cross-cutting issue.

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Thanks!
Photo Credits:
Alashiya Gordes - FAO
The UNFCCC secretariat
Kaori Shiohara - Climate Youth Japan
Dana Espinoza - Red Nacional de Jvenes por el Agua
Carmen Capriles - Reaccin Climtica

Design:
Israel Maldonado Min - Ecos UNALM
Year of Publication: 2014