Welcome to LCOY Canada 2022

“UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development” (UNFCCC, n.d.). 

YOUNGO is the official youth constituency at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is not an organization but rather, a collection of groups and individuals (ages 15-35) that work through a process of consensus-based decision making. YOUNGO runs various Working Groups, each focusing on specific aspects of climate change within the UNFCCC negotiations, as well as events, such as Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) and Conference of Youth (COY). These events “ensure the perspectives of youth and future generations are taken into account in the multilateral decision-making processes [of the UNFCCC]. Besides that, YOUNGO members observe and report on climate negotiations, and the implications of their outcomes” (YOUNGO, n.d.). Its name is a portmanteau of “Youth” and “NGO”. 

“The annual UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) brings together countries, civil society, companies and people on the frontline of climate change to accelerate action on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The 197 nations and territories – called Parties – that have signed on to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are responsible for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the UNFCCC with the objective to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system". (UBC Sustainability, n.d.) Visit UBC Sustainability to learn more about COP

The 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UNFCCC will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 7-18 November 2022. COP27 will seek to “accelerate global climate action through emissions reduction, scaled-up adaptation efforts and enhanced flows of appropriate finance. We recognize that 'just transition' remains a priority for developing countries worldwide.” (COP27, 2022)  Read more about COP27’s Vision & Goals

Global Conference of Youths (COY) is organized in collaboration with YOUNGO and is one of the largest youth-led global youth climate conferences in the world. The conference takes place right before the annual UN COP conference in the same host country. COY serves as a platform to prepare youth for capacity building and policy training in order to foster their participation at COP and as global climate leaders. COY is credited as the most significant youth gathering for its capacity in directly contributing an official global youth position in the UNFCCC process. COY achieves this through a policy document crafted by youth voices globally which is incorporated during COP for the Youth & Public Empowerment Day. Last year, COP16’s Global Youth Position Statement represented the views of over 40,000 young people worldwide. (COY16, 2021; COP26, n.d.) 

Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) is an event under the YOUNGO umbrella that works to educate, build knowledge and understanding among a nation's youth on climate change, sustainable development, and the United Nations system. LCOY empowers the youth to participate in these processes by developing positions of youth on issues related to climate change that are relevant in the respective country or region. Those positions are fed into COY as a part of the YOUNGO inputs to the annual COP and serve as a basis to spread the perspectives and ideas of youth around the globe. (YOUNGO, 2019, 1-2; YOUNGO, 2022)

Official LCOY Earth Website

LCOY is a space to empower youth to take action on climate change and sustainability through a variety of ways including but not limited to:

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1. Sharing knowledge and experiences regarding further youth-relevant topics which intersect with climate change;
2. Capacity building and raising awareness on climate change, its causes and impacts and ways to advocate for related interests of youth;
3. Connecting youth nationally or regionally
4. Developing new and strengthening existing climate and sustainability projects, campaigns, and action plans. “

(YOUNGO, 2019, 3-4)

These allow youths to make an impact in their region and country. Youths also have important roles in making an international impact with LCOY. LCOYs are required by YOUNGO to publish an output document that “captures the views of youth participants on UNFCCC processes, national policy issues, or other topics related to climate change or sustainable development” (YOUNGO, 2022). These output documents are combined with the other LCOY documents of that year into a Global Youth Position Statement and are presented at the COP conference for the Youth & Public Empowerment Day.

Outside of the UN Climate Change conference calendar, youth are able to continue making an impact by supporting their country's Paris Agreement commitments, doing climate action work through their own network, and continuing the work they started at LCOY year round. 

A collection of youths and/or youth-led entities come together and commit to hosting an LCOY within their region or country. The team undergoes an application process for approval from the YOUNGO LCOY Working Group to host their LCOY.

The primary target audience of LCOYs are youths. “Other individuals may participate as well, as long as these interactions do not compromise the youth driven process or objectives of COYs” (YOUNGO, 2019, 3).  

 There are 10 Pillars of Principle on which LCOY is based on

1. Capacity Building and Empowerment
2. Transparency
3. Inclusivity
4. Sustainability
5. By youth for youth
6. Community-building
7. Preparation for United Nations process
8. Global Action
9. Spirit of Cooperation
10. Creativity

“From the very beginning, youth have been actively engaged at the Conferences of Parties (COP) which are organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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In 2005, they formally gathered in Montreal ahead of COP11 to make their voices heard, thus creating the first Conference of Youth (COY). In 2009 during COP15, the UNFCCC secretariat and the member states to the Convention officially recognized youth as an observer constituency of its own (confirming the status in 2011), to represent the formal voice of Children and Youth in UNFCCC processes. The constituency is known as YOUNGO.

The Conference of Youth (COY) is an official event of YOUNGO. COY continues to involve children and youths from different sectors of society and areas of the world, with numbers growing steadily over the years. It is organized by the youth for the youth. Moreover, in 2015, the idea of COY started spreading around the world. Young people recognized the value of COYs, and got inspired to organize Local COYs (LCOYs).

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In 2017, a formal process has been set up within YOUNGO to endorse and empower youths as well as youth organizations to organize Regional and Local COYs.” (YOUNGO, 2022)

LCOY Canada 2022 will be held on Saturday October 22. 

LCOY Canada 2022 is being spearheaded by the Human and Nature Youth Club and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry Asian Forest Research Centre

High-schoolers, university students, and young-professionals have been leading this initiative since November 2021.

LCOY Canada has developed a strategy to involve youth-led entities across the country. Our aim is to achieve a partnership with a youth-led entity in each of these four affiliation categories

1. Indigenous
2. High School
3. University
4. Community

In the 6 regions we created:

1. Canada-wide
2. Central - (ON, QC)
3. West - (BC/AB)
4. Prairies - (SK/MB)
5. East - (NB, PE, NS, NL)
6. North - (NT, YT, NU)

For youth unaffiliated with entities, LCOY Canada will launch public relations campaigns across digital and physical channels in the weeks leading up to the conference to spread word and gain these youths’ participation. 

In alignment with a national fundamental purpose of Reconciliation with Indigenous People, LCOY Canada is prioritizing the participation and involvement of Indigenous youth and Indigenous youth-led entities in LCOY Canada 2022. To-date, LCOY Canada has kept engagement with youth-led entities at the forefront as seen in our engagement strategy. As we roll out our public relation campaigns in early Fall, we will work with our partnered indigenous youth-led entities to effectively secure intentional indigenous youth involvement in LCOY Canada 2022. The Organizing Team takes the perspective of intentional involvement of Indigenous youth and entities where their method of participation and participation overall is ultimately determined by them themselves to avoid tokenism and symbolic gestures. 

LCOY Canada's engagement with youth-led entities has allowed the conference to partner with entities doing strong localized efforts in supporting the involvement of BIPOC youth in climate action work. Through these partnerships, the conference is able to foster the involvement of BIPOC youth at LCOY Canada 2022.

For remote youth, LCOY Canada 2022 being an online conference minimizes the need for physical travel and thus helps youth from all over the country to participate.

LCOY Canada has invited a wide group of stakeholders including youth from across Canada, universities, community organizations, and industry representatives to be a part of this year’s conference. By everyone contributing their perspective and skills in the pursuit of cooperation, LCOY Canada will be able to produce a well-encompassing and specific Output document to be included in the Global Youth Position Statement, in addition we will be able to reinforce the perspective and calls to action of Canadian youth within our own provincial and federal governments by being an assembled group of youth and youth-led entities from across not only the nation, but industries, working approach, and climate action goals. 

LCOY Canada 2022 will be held on Saturday, October 22 . The two-day conference will involve keynote speeches, workshops, presentations, and panel discussions surrounding the themes of LCOY Canada inaugural conference. From these sessions, the Organizing Team will compile the highlights and perspective of youth into the LCOY Canada 2022 Output statement. 2022 being the inaugural conference, the perspective we are bringing to the conference is to meet each other for the first time and engage in each other’s work. 

Youth-led entities can participate and support mainly through: 

1. Engagement - Spreading the word and raising awareness 
2. Attendance - Attend the sessions and participate through Q&A and discussion.
3. Content - Youth-led entities have been invited to present content during the conference to either cultivate a discussion, provide skill building, or share about their work.
4. Keep me in the loop - Those unfortunately who cannot attend LCOY Canada are still welcome to support offline and be kept up to date periodically via email.

Youth can participate and support through:

1. Engagement - Spreading the word and raising awareness 
2. Attendance - Attend the sessions and participate through Q&A and discussion
3. Content - Present a 5 - 8 minute content piece about a climate change topic or their climate action work. (Applicants due 15 September 2022)