The Asia-Pacific region is on the brink of a climate crisis.  The August 2021 release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) AR6 Report highlights the urgency of the situation, with the UN Secretary General declaring a “code red for humanity.”

Across the Region, temperatures are increasing, floods and droughts are becoming more intense, and sea-levels are rising - with disastrous impacts for young people that live there.  As the climate crisis intensifies, bold, decisive action must be taken at the national and regional levels to avert disaster.  

Today, Asia-Pacific’s youth are more connected, more creative and more informed than any previous generation. Young people are responding to the challenges of today with innovative approaches, contributing fresh ideas, creating the world they want, and driving human development across their communities. They also care passionately about climate change.  But when it comes to political action, young people are being left out of the decision-making process.

To address this challenge, major development partners from across the region have come together to provide a safe inclusive space for young people to advocate for climate action in their respective countries. The Youth Empowerment in Climate Actions Platform (YECAP) was officially launched in February 2021.

Key partners supporting the Platform include the United Nations Development Programme’s Climate Promise initiative, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Movers Programme, the British Council, YOUNGO (the Youth Constituency of the UNFCCC), the 2030 Youth Force and others. 

 The Platform’s key objectives include:

• Increasing awareness for action: Raising young people’s awareness and thought leadership on the climate crisis, including practical steps to tackle it. 

• Moving from awareness to action: Supporting governments to engage with young people in meaningful ways, including the design and implementation of the Paris Agreement’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). 

• Providing resources for action: Providing direct financial support to young organizations and youth entrepreneurs, allowing their to scale up their impact and reach.

Despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, YECAP has been able to mobilize significant youth action ahead of this month’s COP26 in Glasgow. This action has included:

• 125 Movers Workshops on Climate Action have been organized by YECAP, bringing together more than 4,500 young climate activists, strengthening their climate advocacy and leadership skills.

• A YECAP regional dialogue engaged over 1000 participants around climate change action, including youth climate activists, youth network volunteers, government counterparts and supporting partners.  The event helped establish and strengthen a regional community of practice to foster South-South collaboration among youth.

• To support the development of YECAP, 10 youth consultations (“The World We Want – YECAP") were held with 323 youth participants from Asia-Pacific from July to August 2021.

• The Springboard Programme has supported the expansion of 200 youth-led start-ups across the Region, supporting youth entrepreneurs to take their climate ideas to scale.

• YECAP Fellow Lameya Alam implemented the Green Bangladesh initiative, a 90-day online and offline campaign to create a community of youth climate leaders who undertook a series of climate actions such as tree planting activities and awareness workshops in 8 divisions of Bangladesh. The campaign has made a real effort to prioritise the inclusion of rural and grassroots youth.

YECAP youth plant trees as part of the Shwarup’s Green Bangladesh Campaign

(Bangladesh, 2021) 

• 2 flagship research reports have been launched:

  • Rising to the Challenge: This study examines youth experiences and perceptions of climate change learning and their needs to become effective and confident agents of change (UNICEF South Asia 2020).

  • Policy Briefs on Advancing an Inclusive and Green Economy Through Empowerment and Participation of Young People in the Greater Mekong Region, curated from 3 country case studies in Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam (UNESCO and UNICEF 2021).

• As the result of YECAP’s advocacy efforts, the regional High-Level Dialogue on Energy (August 2021) was able to include the voices of 300+ young energy leaders.  This resulted in policy action for Energy across the region, including the launch of UNDP’s commitment to provide access to clean and affordable energy to 500 million additional people, focusing on the world’s most vulnerable communities.   

• National youth consultations for NDC planning were held in 8 countries (Malaysia, Viet Nam, Iran, Niue, the Cook Islands, the Maldives, Tonga and Thailand).

• The launch of the Regional YECAP Fellowship with 23 young leaders from across the Region.

• With YECAP support, 10 youth speakers attended Asia-Pacific Climate Week and ran a dedicated session on youth for young people and policy makers across the Region.

• “My Climate Story” and the “YECAP Un-conference” engaged over 1,000 youth from across the Region.

• A Climate Hackathon was launched earlier this year, which included 4 YECAP Fellows and 23 YECAP youth volunteers. The Hackathon identified 10 promising youth-led climate initiatives, which have gone on to receive additional funding and mentorship support from YECAP.  

• YECAP is also having an impact at the community level. Many of YECAP’s youth volunteers come from lower income communities, communities who are being most impacted by the climate crisis. For the first time, they have access to a platform that can help raise their voices and connect them with policy makers. In doing this, YECAP is able to play a unique role in ensuring their voices are heard and turned into meaningful climate action.  
• Following a successful first 18 months, YECAP’s youth volunteers and convening partners are determined to build on the results and momentum established, to engage and empower millions more  young climate action leaders across the Region. 
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• To quote a recent Op-Ed by YECAP youth member, Mai Hoang and UNDP’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Kanni Wignaraja:
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• “Youth is a mindset that we must all embrace to fight climate change. Only by daring to be young can the world shift the current discourse.”
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• Interested in joining YECAP or learning more about the great work they do? Please visit their online community and website for more information.