The UN Youth Climate Summit is a platform for young leaders who are driving climate action to showcase their solutions at the United Nations, and to meaningfully engage with decision-makers on the defining issue of our time. This historic event will take place on Saturday, September 21 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, as part of a weekend of events leading up to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit on Monday, September 23.
The track will focus on initiatives showcasing that making public and private finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development is possible and irreversible, and on delivering on commitments of providing USD 100 billion annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation. It is led by France, Jamaica and Qatar and supported by the World Bank.
The track will focus on integrating climate risks into public and private sector decision-making to assure sustainability of food, water and jobs for the future as well as to prevent disasters and to enable a quick recovery in the aftermath especially for the most vulnerable groups. It is led by Egypt and the United Kingdom and supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The track will focus on forests and land-based ecosystems, smart agriculture and food systems, regeneration of life in rivers, lakes and oceans and enabling of all people to connect to nature. It is led by China and New Zealand and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Mr. David Nabarro, Strategic Director of Skills, Systems and Synergies for Sustainable Development.
The track will focus on scaling up ambitious commitments on low-emission and resilient infrastructure, in particularly land-based transportation, buildings, water and waste systems and the requisite private and multilateral development bank financing. It will also mobilize cities and sub-national governments to allocate necessary resources to develop and finance Paris-aligned plans and budgets. The track is led by Turkey and Kenya and supported by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
The track will focus on creating stronger commitments from the hard-to-abate sectors (steel, cement) and build on positive momentum in areas such as shipping. It is led by India and Sweden and supported by the World Economic Forum.
The track will focus on main elements of accelerating energy transition, including boosting renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, access and innovation as well as mobilizing investments for the energy transition. It is led by Denmark and Ethiopia and supported by Sustainable Energy for All (SeforAll).
The track will focus on mobilizing youth and civil society in support of the Summit and streamline youth participation across all the tracks of work. It is led by the Marshall Islands and Ireland with the support of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
The track will focus on cross-cutting issues, including health and just transition, and will consider gender, climate and security, among other topics. It is led by Peru and Spain with the support of the United Nations Department Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO)
The track will focus on enhancing mitigation commitments (nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, net-zero plans etc..) of major emitting countries. Chile, as chair of COP25 will be supported by Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP, and Mr. Paul Polman, Chair of the B-Team.
