The Global Youth Climate Training (GYCT) programme provides free capacity development to young people aged 16 to 35 who want to learn how to engage with global climate processes. Fully online and delivered in multiple languages with the support of Eco Interpreters, the programme has trained 5,400 participants since its inception in 2023. Each iteration of the course receives thousands of applications from all over the world. Across the three cohorts, 65% of the participants are MAPA (most affected people and areas – the people and places facing the worst impacts of climate change), and 21% are Indigenous. The programme connects them with dozens of climate experts and practitioners, and a global community of youth interested in climate action.
This report sets out what the programme has achieved in its first three editions and makes recommendations on how the UNFCCC can engage youth in climate processes. The GYCT is a collaboration between Oxford Net Zero, the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and the Global Youth Coalition.
