Imogen Kane
Image sourced from Mayes via UNICEF Australia.
Climate change continues to be a critical issue young people care about and advocate on. With the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) Azerbaijan on the horizon, young people in Australia are mobilising to ensure that Australian youth perspectives are heard in international decision making.
On the 9th of September 2024, the National Child and Youth Statement on Climate Change was launched in Canberra by youth advocates from UNICEF Australia, Plan International Australia and Australian Youth for International Climate Engagement (AYFICE). This National Statement is the culmination of insights and perspectives from young people in Australia through the 2024 Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) Process, which was made up of seven youth-led consultations with 196 young people, aged 14-30, with representation from every state and territory.
LCOYs are not particularly well known in Australia, but they are a global initiative occurring under the umbrella of YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Every year LCOYs take place across the world, bringing young people together from across their respective nations to explore and discuss climate change-related issues which affect them. The ideas and experiences expressed during the LCOY are then streamlined into a National Child and Youth Statement on Climate Change. These national statements are then combined into a Global Youth Climate Statement that is submitted to the negotiations at the COP negotiations.
The entire LCOY process must have a youth led, designed, facilitated and authored component. This means the process results in hundreds of national statements, and one global statement on climate change which collectively represents the diverse experiences and demands of global children and youth. This in itself is incredibly exciting, as youth perspectives on climate change are too often either dismissed entirely, or restricted to a select few voices that insufficiently represent this diverse demographic.
It is worth noting that many barriers remain for young people from the global majority to participate in youth consultations, volunteering, youth advocacy, and of course high-level decision making and international forums. This process aims to address a few such barriers for diverse voices to participate, especially by encouraging young people to host consultations in their own communities, instead of expecting them to travel.
This year, 17 young people were involved in an organising group, including representatives from the youth-led organisation AYFICE. UNICEF Australia and Plan International Australia provided support and guidance to this group. They researched what young Australians were already feeling and thinking about climate change; prepared and facilitated the LCOY sessions; and consolidated the findings into the Statement. The Statement summarises the perspectives, realities and demands young people see as necessary for achieving a just and sustainable future for all. The key issues raised were First Nations and Pasifika knowledge and practices, child and youth engagement and education, mitigation, climate finance, nature and biodiversity, adaptation and gender and climate.
At COP29, climate finance will feature heavily. The LCOY statement outlines how young Australians want the Australian Government to pay its fair share to the global loss and damage fund and the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). They also call for fossil fuel subsidies to be redirected to climate finance, and for stronger accountability and transparency mechanisms for the NCQG. Lastly, young people demand the Australian Government allocate more funding to the Pacific, to ensure that they have the resilience to respond to the impacts of climate change via a just and equitable transition to renewables.
These demands were taken to decision makers with the launch of the National Statement in Canberra, which saw youth advocates present the national statement to the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Hon Josh Wilson MP, Members of Parliament, public servants, government departments and a cross section of the climate sector at the Better Futures Forum.
Alongside decision makers, opportunities were also made to engage other young people in the climate space with a climate youth breakfast at the Better Futures Forum – Australia’s largest multi-sectoral forum on climate. This youth breakfast highlighted to me how many amazing different projects young people are involved in across Australia, and how valuable it is to allocate time to connect with each other to better understand and appreciate our collective action. It also made me realise the importance of working more collaboratively as a youth sector. Despite our different approaches to making change in the climate space, we all have the same desire to incite/bring about systemic change. It is vital that we therefore learn from and support each other in this endeavour. I hope as we head towards more international climate engagements, us young people can mobilise as a cohesive voice to demand space and action.
2024’s LCOY was the third held in Australia. Consequently, its engagement with young people from every state and territory was an exciting milestone to reach. However, as we march closer to the 2030 deadline for many climate targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and a potential Australian-Pacific COP31, scaling up Australia’s LCOY process is increasingly important to ensuring youth voices are present at pivotal international decision-making moments. We can all play a part in ensuring diverse and national youth-led youth consultations become and remain a cornerstone of international problem solving. Participating and promoting LCOY is one way that young Australians can impact international affairs, so that more diverse voices are lent to the discussion, and the demands of Australian youth are not ignored.
If you are interested in ensuring that the diverse perspectives of Australian youth are present in climate decision making or want to be involved in the wider Australian youth climate movement, LCOY 2025 is your moment to take action. Keep an eye out for further information next year about how to get involved and have your voice heard!
Make sure to follow UNICEF Australia on socials and stay updated on their work here.
Imogen Kane was named 2024 Young Woman to Watch in international affairs by YAIA in 2024 and was also a 2023 YAIA Future Leaders Series Delegate. She is currently a project officer at UNICEF Australia and was the 2023 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations. Imogen will be attending COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2024.
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