ACE Youth Forum 2018
The first ACE Youth Forum (AYF) was inspired by the Fiji COP23 Presidency and realized through their partnership and collaboration with YOUNGO, UNDP, the Government of Canada, and the UNFCCC Secretariat. It was held directly preceding the 48th session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB48) in Bonn, Germany; thus, it provided the opportunity for young people to contribute their recommendations into the formal process of ACE negotiations conducted during SB48.
More than
100
participants
More than
70
countries represented
40
scholarships for participants from the Global South
Prior to attending the AYF itself, participants also engaged in a combination of online and in-person capacity building sessions in order to ensure all could contribute meaningfully to the process. A portion of these youth were able to remain in Bonn to participate in SB48, where they advocated for the AYF Outcomes during the negotiations and side events. Having enriched the global arena with their perspectives, they returned home more empowered to implement ACE activities in their countries.
“The first-ever ACE Youth Forum raised the bar for meaningful youth engagement in the UNFCCC process. Through direct engagement with Parties and the crafting of concrete policy outcomes which were recognized in the formal negotiations, young people raised a strong and relevant voice. Meanwhile, the provision of capacity building for all the youth participants - as well as travel funding for 40 young leaders from the Global South to be able to attend - truly demonstrated implementation of ACE alongside the important policy deliberations about it.”
Timothy Damon, Co-Organizer, ACE Youth Forum 2018
