Amman, October 2022: In the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Youth Mohammad Nabulsi and His Excellency the Minister of Environment Dr Muawieh Radaideh, UNICEF Jordan and Generations For Peace (GFP) inaugurated today the second edition of the Local Conference of Youth on Climate Change (LCOY), in partnership with the Jordanian Ministry of Youth (MoY) and Ministry of Environment (MoE), under the umbrella of “YOUNGO”, the official youth constituency at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The ongoing conference on Wednesday and Thursday (19-20 October) in Amman is being live streamed and involves 90 youth and students interested in climate action from various governorates of the Kingdom, experts and specialists in the field, decision-makers, and representatives of civil society organisations. Four of the youth participants who are taking part in LCOY will be nominated to represent Jordan at the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the UNFCCC, which will take place next month in Egypt.

The conference includes a series of workshops, discussion sessions, and activities aimed at creating a space for local youth to promote climate action, by raising their awareness of environmental issues and supporting their skills in developing input for international conferences, where participants will formulate a set of recommendations related to climate change policies.

HE Dr Muawieh Radaideh, Minister of Environment said, “Young people are an integral part of finding solutions to the climate challenges we are face, due to their progressive ideas aligned with the global and national issues, including climate change challenges and ways to confront it.” he added, “It is necessary to involve young people in the planning and implementation of all programmes relating to climate change and to adopt the initiatives put forth by the youth sector in the field of environmental protection, of which climate change is an essential part, to reduce its impacts and effectively confront it.”

Dr Mohanned Arabiat, President of GFP, expressed his pride to be hosting the conference for the second year in a row, saying, “Continuing to strengthen our cooperation to host such conferences opens doors for youth in Jordan to activate their role and responsibility, and to raise their voice in this urgent issue at the national, and international levels.”

He added, “We thank all the supporting bodies and are proud of our young women and men who came from all over Jordan to participate in this event. We hope that the sessions, discussions, and exchanges with climate experts will encourage youth to voice effective recommendations that will influence decision-makers to mitigate the consequences of climate change. After all, if not dealt with quickly, climate change can have a negative impact on Jordan both socially and economically.”

Ms Shairose Mawji, Acting Representative of UNICEF Jordan, said, “Climate change impacts everyone but the future belongs to young people. It is really inspiring to see young people becoming leaders for positive change in their communities and nationally. Their message is loud and clear – the world must act now to prevent catastrophic climate disaster and to protect and prioritize children, adolescents, and youth in the response”.

The conference includes panel discussions, workshops, and interactive activities focused on calculating carbon footprints and building skills for formulating environmental policy recommendations and ideas for adapting to the negative effects of climate change in developing countries. Also, participating youth will present environmental initiatives and local success stories, and discuss Jordan’s National Climate Change Policy and the establishment of the Jordan Youth Coalition on Climate Action.

LCOY is a national version of the Global COY Conference, which will take place ahead of the COP27 in Egypt.