Young people are disproportionately affected by the adverse effects of climate change. At the same time, they are important changemakers and the knowledge and decision makers of tomorrow. That is why we decided to invite 10 youth representatives from 10 different countries to join the Global NDC Conference 2023 in Berlin.
The group includes representatives from national and international youth networks as well as founders of local initiatives and start-ups. Coming from Bangladesh, Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Tunisia, and Uganda, they bring diverse regional backgrounds and professional experiences to the conference and will participate as speakers in various conference sessions.
You can look forward to learning from youth experiences in NDC updating and implementation, as well as jointly exploring how to best include youth stakeholders in just energy transition or the development of carbon markets. During the sessions, the young changemakers will contribute their specific perspective on topics like access to climate finance and capacity building.
Ahead of the conference, all youth representatives had the opportunity to meet virtually to get an outlook on the conference programme and plan their inputs and contributions to breakout sessions and innovation hubs. Following the Global NDC Conference, they will have the funded opportunity to participate in the first week of the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June 2023.
Several youths already participated in the Global NDC Conference in 2019. In a panel talk, they called for the chance to have their voices heard within international climate policy fora. By inviting these 10 representatives to the 2023 edition of the conference, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and all three conference partners are accommodating this demand.
Please meet the 10 young changemakers who will join the NDC Conference 2023:
- Zagy Yakana Berian, Indonesia (Founder of youth-focused Society of Renewable Energy)
- Beatriz Soledad Charis Montero, Mexico (Operación COP Mexico)
- Sara Cognuck-González, Costa Rica (Coordinator of Local Conference of Youth, Youth representative for Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action)
- Paloma Costa, Brazil (Engajamundo NGO, United Nations Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate)
- Wafa Hmadi, Tunisia (Coordinator of the Tunisian young climate negotiators group)
- JulietGrace Luwedde, Uganda (Global Coordinator of the Youth Constituency of UNCCD (Global Youth Caucus)
- Errachid Montassir, Morroco (High Atlas Foundation, Project manager)
- Shamim Ahmed Mridha, Bangaldesh (Founder of Eco-Network, Member of YOUNGO)
- Eric Njuguna, Kenya (Youth climate justice organizer, Fridays for future Kenya)
- Sriranjini Raman, India (Founder of Nurture, Community Manager Fridays for Future India)
