GLOBAL YOUTH CLIMATE TRAINING

The Global Youth Climate Training Programme (GYCT) is a free, fully online capacity-building programme that equips people aged 16-35 with the knowledge and confidence necessary to engage in international climate policy. Young people are increasingly being given a seat at the table in domestic and international climate policy, and therefore require appropriate capacity-building to ensure their interventions are cogent and relevant.

This project is a collaboration between the Global Youth Coalition (GYC), a coalition of climate youth changemakers, and researchers at the University of Oxford (Oxford Net Zero, Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment). The joint team delivering this project represents a strong international and intergenerational collaboration, spanning multiple continents, professional backgrounds and ages. We received 10,000 applications for our first iteration of the programme, demonstrating greater need for effective youth capacity building programmes.

2024 Programme

This year, with the generous support of the ClimateWorks Foundation, we are running our second iteration of the programme from 3 September-1 October 2024, with one final session on 1 November 2024. The whole course takes place online. 

Last year, our programme was all about demystifying the UNFCCC and its many tracks of negotiation. Yet, on the margins (and increasingly moving to the heart) of COPs are the actions of non-state actors: corporates announcing pledges for fossil fuel phase out, cities making net zero promises, finance being promised by private entities. It is so important that young people are given the tools and the confidence to navigate this landscape and separate the greenwash from the legitimate in real-time. This year, our programme focuses on understanding the integrity and ambition of nonstate climate action. The programme brochure for this year includes details such as the schedule, focus of this year’s course, and applicant criteria. It can be found here as a PDF and here as a Word version (if using a text-to-voice reader). 

Applications are now CLOSED.

UPDATE ON APPLICATIONS (1 September):

This year, we again received over 10,000 applications. The distribution of applicants is shown below:

Thank you to everyone for their applications, it was a pleasure to learn about the amazing climate and sustainability work that global youth are doing.

We were delighted to welcome 285 participants into the 2024 cohort, representing 135 countries. Of these participants:

• 227 identify as MAPA
• 141 are from V20 countries
• 69 identify as a part of an indigenous community
• 54 participants are under 20
• 132 are under 25
• 156 are female

We would remind the unsuccessful applicants that this year was really competitive, and it does not diminish from your incredible achievements: we could only accept 3%. All applicants are invited to engage with the public sessions live streamed to our YouTube channel here. Sessions from the 2023 training can also be found on this YouTube channel. 

Opportunity: COP29 bursary

Through the generous support of the ClimateWorks Foundation, we are delighted that this year we are able to offer 5 bursaries for admitted applicants in our 2024 training to attend COP29. This bursary of up to £3000 is to cover flights, accommodation, food and transport.  We can unfortunately not support accreditation – this is primarily for applicants who have the ability to attend COP29 but face financial barriers.

Application process for the bursary:

• Apply for the 2024 Global Youth Climate Training Programme (link above and here)
• Accepted applicants will be directed to a secondary application form to express their interest in receiving a bursary to attend COP29.
• Applications will open near the end of September and applicants will be informed of the success of their application by early October.

Application criteria for the bursary:

Since we are unable to support all applicants, first priority will be given to applicants representing diverse regions and groups most impacted by climate change.

Our Programme History 

This programme was launched May 2023 to provide greater clarity on the negotiation tracks of the UNFCCC ahead of COP28. It brought together leading experts and young climate professionals and covered topics such as Climate Finance, Loss & Damage, Adaptation & Resilience and more.

Alexis McGivern, Oxford Net Zero Fellow, created and led the programme alongside several youth activists from the Global Youth Coalition, leveraging the University of Oxford’s wide network of climate experts. 

The 2023 curriculum was built by consulting 180 young climate justice activists who gave their input on their training needs. We educated 4,500 activists under the age of 35 spreading over 177 countries, with 64% identifying as from Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA). 

This youth training is trial of radical open-access and inclusion, with all of the recordings published to YouTube, a completely free course for participants.  We also partnered with EcoInterpreters to offer the course in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. 

Several Oxford Net Zero researchers taught on the 2023 programme (including Dr. Myles Allen, Dr. Jose Maria Valenzuela, Dr. Tom Hale), alongside researchers and practitioners from around the world. The programme was intentionally crafted to prioritise expert Global South voices on climate issues. Each session began with a testimonial by a youth speaker, followed by a technical lecture by relevant global climate experts.

We have received wide recognition for our course, including being used as an example of best practice by the UN Youth Climate Champions team and winning the University of Oxford’s Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Environmental Sustainability.

TESTIMONIALS FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS

“The training I received through Global Youth Climate has been a transformative experience in my life. It has not only equipped me with valuable knowledge and skills but has also given me the confidence and motivation to contribute meaningfully to the global efforts in addressing climate change. As a refugee, this opportunity has been a ray of hope, a chance to grow, and a reminder that even in the face of adversity, there are organizations like yours that value the participation of most marginalized people like me.” – Byaombe Lumona

“Honestly I have no words to express what I have learned with the opportunity to attend this training. My views on different aspects and levels surrounding climate change have expanded enormously and this has been shaping the local projects I have been working towards. Thank you so much! – Marilynn Holguín Clover

 “One of the greatest things that happened to me this year was being part of this group. Love it here…thank you for such an informative learning session!”- Nhlanhla Sibanda

 “Thank you a lot for arranging such lectures! Sometimes the global agenda and negotiations in climate change seem to be so far from me, some days I doubt my abilities to make a valuable contribution and enter the discussions of the international cooperations and institutes, but thanks to the organisers and the smart and young speakers I see than anything is possible, and this atmosphere inspires me to keep pushing forward towards a more resilient and sustainable world.” – Linara Khadimullina

 “Three cheers! To the Global Youth Training Team and Oxford Net Zero team. I loved all the sessions. One of the finest youth training I have come across. The content is just great and brilliantly curated! I do hope to see more such training sessions with more specialised topics! Thank you once again!”- Shaurya Patel