Youth Climate Council Global Alliance

The Youth Climate Councils Global Alliance (YCCGA) collaborates with local and sub-national government offices, municipalities/cities, and youth climate movements to establish Youth Climate Councils as institutionalized mechanisms for meaningful youth participation and inclusion in climate policy-making across all levels (city-level, national, regional and international).

Through replication, engagement building, and cross-regional advocacy, the YCCGA aims to boost sustainable change and foster inclusive decision-making processes for a resilient future.

We work across Africa, Latin America, and Europe to ensure that youth are not peripheral participants in climate action, but rather recognized governance actors who actively shape national and global climate futures. Youth Climate Councils are present in 10+ countries, including Botswana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Denmark.

Rather than limiting youth participation solely to advocacy and activist spaces, we focus on building credible, institutional governance platforms. We are committed to empowering young people to engage directly with ministries, city governments, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) processes, and multilateral forums.

More specifically, we work on:

• Establishing Governance Platforms: We formally launch national Youth Climate Councils and partner with global networks like C40 Cities to adapt and implement youth governance models at the municipal level.
• Advancing Policy Influence: We facilitate direct youth involvement in national environmental policy. In 2025, YCCs successfully participated in NDC 3.0 consultations, land-use dialogues, and national development planning processes across more than five countries.
• Capacity Building: We coordinate extensive training initiatives, such as the Global Funding Bootcamp Series, which trained over 200 youth leaders in proposal development, donor mapping, and accessing climate finance.
• Global Advocacy: We amplify grassroots youth voices by securing representation at high-level multilateral dialogues, including COP summits, the C40 World Mayors Summit, and UN Secretary-General roundtables