UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) side event: Youth taking a stand for climate change: Gender-responsive and inclusive climate action for sustainable climate adaptation

Date and Time: 4 December 2023, 15:00-16:00 Dubai local time (UTC+4:00)

Young women are powerful change-makers for climate adaptation and mitigation. Pakistan has a growing network of young climate activists who are complimenting the efforts of the Government in building resilience of the communities. Supporting and amplifying these endeavours of young women and men presents a significant opportunity to scale up resilience and adaptation to climate change and associated crises.

Co-hosted by Pakistan's Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination and UN Women Pakistan, a side-event at COP28 will delve into the transformative potential of youth-led climate action. The discussion will highlight best practices from Pakistan and the region how to foster synergies between youth-led and government-driven climate adaptation initiatives.

Context

Recognizing the fact that 68% of Pakistan’s population comprises of young people, the Government of Pakistan’s vision for youth involvement in climate action was emphasized in Pakistan’s climate change policy and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC) is committed to provide youth a platform to discuss their ideas, engage in debates, and empower them to take actions and lead on mitigating and adapting to climate change in Pakistan.  

By mobilising youth through CoP in My City -initiative, the Government of Pakistan is seeking to leverage the knowledge and solutions of young men and women in identifying opportunities for improved, government-led climate resilience. By prioritization the voices and solutions of young people in climate adaptation efforts, is also bringing the gap between climate change adaptation and disaster response efforts.  

Format: In-person panel discussion with online participation through registration. 

Speaker: Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination of Government of Pakistan

Panelists:

• Young woman climate champion from Indonesia, Nala Amirah Putri, Founder of Green Welfare Indonesia
• Young woman climate champion from Pakistan, Mahnoor Raashi, climate change advocate and a member of YOUNGO, previous delegate at the LCOY-Pakistanelegate at the LCOY-Pakistan
• Young woman climate champion from Pakistan, Shajeea Khalid, Policy Associate for Climate Finance Pakistan
• Young man climate champion from Bangladesh, Rijve Arefin, Co-Founder of the NGO Awareness 360, UNDP Youth Co:Lab Fellow, member of Climate Action Champions Network.
• Young woman climate champion from Pakistan, Hira Amjad, Cora Weiss peacebuilding fellow at the GNWP, Founder and Executive director of DASTAK Foundation in Pakistan.
• Youth representative from Children and Youth Pavilion at COP28 (to be advised)

Moderators:

Fizza Ahmeed Khan, Pakistan, research writer at a think-tank The Human Security Institute and student at the Fatima Jinnah Women University in Rawalpindi at the Department of International Relations & Inkasar Aziz, Climate Change awareness raiser at Pakistan Red Crescent Society and Fellow at 2023 programme by Global Disaster Preparedness Center and delegate at LCOY.