OUR MEMBERS
OUR MEMBERS
UK YOUTH CLIMATE COALITION
UKYCC AT THE UN CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS
Our COP Working Group approach climate justice at the international level. Spending the year training, plotting, and policy-wonking in preparation for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations, we attend twice a year! These negotiations are the summer (smaller) event, called Intersessionals, which are held in Bonn, Germany, and the later (larger) event, called COP (Conference of the Parties), which is in a different country each year.
These events are super complex, with a huge attendance from around the world - it can become exhausting too, but each one is a really important opportunity for us to contribute to the global fight for climate justice.
The main areas UKYCC have worked on at these negotiations:
WE DEMAND JUSTICE!
THE UK YOUTH DEMANDS FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE
REPARATIONS
REPRESENTATION
RESPONSIBILITY
UK Youth are asking the UK Government to achieve climate justice on the national and international stage. We call for reparations, representation and responsibility from the government - can your organisation support our call?
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Our main activities at UN climate negotiations:
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Working within YOUNGO working groups to collaborate with global youth on climate justice issues. YOUNGO are a youth constituency of the UNFCCC, forming one of the nine civil society constituencies.
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Working within the Demand Climate Justice (DJC) to collaborate on climate justice campaigns with global allies. DJC is a network of over 200 climate and human rights organisations.
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Collaborating with Climate Action Network on policy positions and campaigns with European allies.
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Hosting official UNFCCC side events that are open to the public and address various under-discussed topic, including on the Children and Youth Pavilion.
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Delivering informal workshops to engage with young people at conferences to encourage learning and skills-sharing across networks.
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Organising actions inside and outside conference spaces, to draw attention to important, real issues at play.
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Monitoring outputs of policy negotiations so we can better understand the progress (or lack of progress) that is being made on the Paris Agreement and other legislation under the UNFCCC.
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Writing blog articles that reflect on our experiences at these negotiations, which help to explain what these events are like to attend as youth.
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Broadcasting updates on social media, bringing the action home!
VESTED INTERESTS
The UNFCCC, the key international space for creating global climate policy has no definition of conflicts of interest and no policy to regulate them. That means that the fossil fuel industry, who are not only the most responsible for climate change, but also some of the richest companies on the planet as a result, are allowed free reign within the UN climate space.
And free reign they have. The fossil fuel industry attend, speak, and negotiate at the UN climate talks, and have done so for years.
At UKYCC we believe that the fossil fuel industry have enjoyed privileged access to power & profit for far too long, and our planet paid the price.
We therefore campaign at the UNFCCC, under the Arrangement or Intergovernmental Meetings (AIM) negotiations where we push to demand that the UN institue a comprehensive conflicts of interest policy like the World Health Organisation did with the Tobacco Industry.
GENDER EQUITY
Women are often disproportionately impacted by the worst of the climate crisis. As caretakers, food providers and mothers the toll placed on women is only made worse by the changing climate.
This crisis as we know, is not just about our changing planet physically. Climate change is likely to bring a swarm of social injustices which will further exacerbate the gap between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the marginalised, and of course gender inequalities.
Our work at the UNFCCC involves ensuring a social justice dimension to the Paris Agreement both in writing an implementation.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Similarly to our work on gender, we have focused on ensuring a human dimension to the Paris Agreement. This means putting indigenous and global south voices front and center, passing the mic and recognising that historical global treaties have not served those most vulnerable.
We have been pushing for human rights to be enshrined in the language of the Paris Agreement and will continue to force governments to recognise the social implications of this treaty and climate change in general.
LOSS & DAMAGE
Loss and Damage refers to a time where the global communities failures have resulted in death and destruction. Mitigation is designed to prevent climate change from happening. Adaptation is designed to help people prepare for it’s effects. Loss and Damage is what happens after climate-events have struck.
At UKYCC we recognise that the international community needs to do a lot more to support states that are already being impacted by climate change. There is a moral imperative for the Global North to fulfil its historical duties in this regard.
We therefore campaign on the Warsaw International Mechanism to achieve