The Youth UNESCO Climate Action Network (YoU-CAN) was officially launched during COP25 in December 2019. In line with the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, aimed to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change, YoU-CAN was created with a view to supporting and facilitating youth-led climate action to reach its full potential and impact, by building on existing relevant youth action in the areas of Natural Sciences, Education, Culture, Social and Human Sciences, Communication and Information.
SUPPORTING YOUTH-LED ACTION: A KEY-LEVER TO RAISE CLIMATE AMBITION
Results of UNESCO’s World in 2030 Survey show that climate change is the most important topic the world needs to address in the coming decade. YoU-CAN can help UNESCO reinforce its climate action and transform its operations to identify and implement new and innovative ways of addressing the issue, by strengthening strategic partnerships and meaningfully engaging with youth.
Indeed, youth of today are among the strongest voices for social change and particularly for climate action. The ambition behind YoU-CAN is to promote and support their mobilization and advocacy efforts to address the climate crisis, especially in the Small Island Development States and among indigenous youth communities.
Therefore, YoU-CAN aims to be a youth-led network that provides youth with a safe space to engage, participate, communicate and generate solutions to address global climate change issues, within UNESCO’s fields of competence.
YoU-CAN’s action
As a hub of knowledge, a pool of potential partners, a source of innovative projects, and a resource for multidisciplinary climate solutions, YoU-CAN aims to:
- leverage youth-led climate action by sharing and upscaling ideas, collaborating with networks and organizations, and implementing successful grassroots projects.
- upscale UNESCO’s positioning on climate change, by contributing to its climate change activities, and codesigning and co-implementing climate activities in all its fields of competence.
- improve the ownership of youth and leadership in UNESCO’s activities by building on the knowledge of youths, their creative potential and innovative ideas to make and influence positive climate action, through meaningful collaboration and partnerships.