Question

To ask the President of COP26, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that young people, such as those involved in the all-party Parliamentary group on Youth Action Against Climate Change, are adequately engaged in the run up to COP26 in line with target 13.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

We have established a dedicated COP26 youth engagement team in the Cabinet Office who are coordinating the UK Government’s strategy to ensure youth voices are heard at COP26. We are harnessing young people’s expertise through the COP26 civil society and youth advisory council, which I chair alongside Elizabeth Wathuti, a 25-year-old climate activist from Kenya, and Bella Lack, an 18-year-old climate activist from the UK.

In addition, this month we are proud to have launched the Together for Our Planet Schools Pack, designed to engage students on climate action, encourage conversations about tackling climate change, and help students learn more about the COP26 summit in Glasgow this year.

Internationally, we are working hard to champion and amplify youth voices from across the world, particularly those on the frontline of climate change, including through our regular engagements with Mock COP26 and YOUNGO (official youth constituency to the UNFCCC).

On the road to COP26, we are working on two youth events, including Italy’s ‘Youth4Climate2021: Driving Ambition’ event held in Milan this September and YOUNGO’s sixteenth Conference of Youth event held in Glasgow this October.