The impactful journey of GCA’s first Youth Advisory Panel
In September 2021, our diverse group of 12 young passionate climate adaptation leaders from around the world came together virtually for the first time.
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ack then, we could have never guessed that we were about to embark on a watershed journey as the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) Youth Advisory Panel. During our first meeting, we planned a year of action to both amplify and accelerate the adaptation agenda and raise the profile of #Youth4Adaptation globally.
By the end of 2021, we had developed a plan to host seven Regional Youth Adaptation Forums with the aim of bringing together the knowledge and ideas of hundreds of young people to ensure that we could effectively represent them through our advisory capacity to the CEO of GCA, Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen. Throughout the year we worked hard to build the profile of adaptation in youth spaces all over the world.
The Youth Advisory Panel’s first meeting with Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA, in September 2021
At COP26 in 2021, some of our panel gathered in person to present our action plan to Dr. Verkooijen. We also attended the awards ceremony for the YouthADAPT Solutions Challenge at the Africa Pavilion – an inspiring example of the concrete impact that we can have as young leaders when we are given the chance to access significant financial and technical resources.
Following COP26 we kicked off our series of seven Regional Youth Adaptation Dialogues, where generations came together to share expertise, knowledge, solutions and connection. We held the Forums in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the MENA region. We met inspiring young people who had to overcome multiple barriers to take action and participated in stimulating debates about the future of adaptation. But most importantly, we got to see firsthand that youth are not a homogenous group – we are experts, leaders, thinkers and solutions-brokers who are standing up to fight for our future.
Members of the Youth Advisory Panel with Prof. Dr. Verkooijen and GCA colleagues at COP26
#Youth4Adaptation Recommendations
Following the Forums, we developed our #Youth4Adaptation recommendations, a call to global leaders to stand up and listen to, include and act on the voices of young people in the adaptation space. The #Youth4Adaptation recommendations, launched at the Youth Dialogue on Adaptation Action in September, contain four major asks from thousands of young people around the world to global leaders. Most importantly, they aim to establish a sub-goal on youth participation within the Global Goal on Adaptation:
- Promote education, capacity-building, and upskilling of young people on climate adaptation.
- Provide an inclusive and participatory environment for meaningful youth engagement in climate adaptation decision-making processes.
- Empower young entrepreneurs and young professionals to advance the adaptation agenda.
- Increase financing for youth-led adaptation initiatives through adapted and flexible funding mechanisms.
Youth Dialogue on Adaptation Action
In September, we brought together 100 young people from 50 countries to Rotterdam, alongside over 4000 online participants for the inaugural Youth Dialogue on Adaptation Action: Delivering on the Glasgow Climate Pact. Over two days of powerful engagement, young leaders at the forefront of the adaptation agenda shared knowledge across the climate space and worked on developing concrete solutions through participatory working groups led by experts in the field. It was an inclusive space and the culmination of a year of hard work that paid off when we witnessed the impact of bringing together and growing the youth adaptation movement.
The Youth Panel played a key role in bringing together young people from across the globe for the Youth Dialogue on Adaptation Action
The Dialogue coincided with the Africa Adaptation Summit held at GCA’s floating office on 5thSeptember 2022. Two of our panel members had the honor to join and deliver our call to action to global leaders. As they sat with over 50 of today’s most influential global leaders, one thing became increasingly clear: youth voices must be at the forefront of the climate debate as we are the ones who are proposing the most ambitious, concrete and innovative solutions. We sat at this table as allies, ready to work together, across generations, to solve the most important crisis the world has ever faced.
Youth Panel members joined over 50 of the world’s most influential leaders at the Africa Adaptation Summit to call for adaptation action
Looking ahead
As our mandate comes to an end, the importance of the Youth Panel’s work and mission appears more relevant than ever. In a few weeks, we will take the #Youth4Adaptation recommendations to COP27 to influence the discussion around the Global Goal on Adaptation and increase adaptation ambition. Shortly after COP27, the 2nd Youth Advisory Panel will commence its work and carry forward the #Youth4Adaptation recommendations to COP28.
Engaging young people’s voices and perspectives is crucial to deliver climate action to adapt our world. We look forward to stepping in as regional coordinators of youth engagement for the Youth Adaptation Network, and collaborating with young people to continue building the youth adaptation movement.
The ideas presented in this article aim to inspire adaptation action – they are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Global Center on Adaptation.
