Youth Climate Dialogue

The youth climate dialogue 2021 was organized and implemented in partnership with JWHI and GAGGA as a place for youth, women, and key stakeholders (with a spirit of leaving “no one behind”) to share their experiences and voices on the road to Pre COP & COP26. It was a two days online session with participants from different parts of the Globe. 
The main theme of the event was to see how youth are “driving ambitions on the ground and the best way to sustain them”. 
The first session on the 23rd August 2022 we had discussions focusing on two themes: “Reflecting on how Youth Driving climate ambitions on the ground” and “Shaping a sustainable road in climate Action” with five speakers and presenters.

The second session on the 27th August 2022 we had discussions focusing on: “Reflecting on the role of women and youth in driving climate justice” with four speakers and presenters 
Recordings of the sessions:

• Youth climate dialogue session 1: https://youtu.be/Z1YEe-QypVg
• Youth climate dialogue session 2:https://youtu.be/JNZ27YQCoI8

In 2022 the youth climate dialogue series was organized and implemented in partnership with the German Embassy Kigali. The goal was to raise awareness and build youth’s knowledge on UNFCCC negotiations processes for their involvement in national and international climate change policy and advocate for the community’s needs.

The first and second dialogues were held in October on the 19th and 20th respectively, where we had discussions in the form of presentations, panel discussions and group discussions on “Increasing youth’s understanding of climate negotiations” and “Strengthening youth’s leadership and ability to influence international climate policy before COP 27.” 

The third dialogue took place on the 2nd December after COP 27, this time Young Volunteers for the Environment  Rwanda (YVE Rwanda) and EU were part of the event preparation. We held a joint event entitled “Post-COP27 dialogue on strengthening youth leadership and the role of different stakeholders to achieve global climate goals at the national level”.  The discussions were in the form of a panel discussion and presentations on the outcomes of COP 27 and the way forward.

We were able to conduct these series and reach our goal with different stakeholders and partners support namely REMA, MoE, German Embassy Kigali, FONERWA, UK High Commission, Egyptian Embassy in Rwanda, youth representatives, youth organizations, young negotiators in the UNFCCC. 

In 2023 with the financial support of the German Embassy in Kigali, we were able to hold two youth climate dialogues, one after the UNFCCC 58th Subsidiary Bodies sessions (SB 58) and the second one after the UNFCCC COP 28,  the aim of the dialogue was to strengthening  knowledge and understanding of the youth on the UNFCCC negotiations processes.  The  first dialogue took place on July 27th, at  St Famille Hotel and the second one took place on December 21st,at Grazia apartment Hotel.

Various thematics were discussed during the dialogue, including the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 “Carbon Market” of the UNFCCC, Article 8 “Loss and Damage,” Article 9 “Climate Finance,” Article 14 “Global Stocktake (GST),” and Article 12 “Action for  Climate Empowerment.”

Young people from various organizations participated in the dialogue, and following the introduction of those thematics, they were able to delve deeply through group discussions and share their opinions and comprehension of the various thematics under discussion.