UN Youth Climate Summit

The inaugural Youth Climate Summit, is an action-oriented intergenerational event that will take place on Saturday September 21, 2019 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The event brings together young leaders who are seeking change at a pace and scale needed to meet the challenge of the climate crisis.

This summit will provide a platform for leaders between the ages of 18-29 to share their solutions, it will also give them access to decision makers. Those under 18 are also given the opportunity to attend through a nomination process.


The high level inclusive event will feature a programme that brings together young people concerned about the climate crisis. This includes activists, innovators, entrepreneurs and change makers from all walks of life but it will highlight the participation of leaders from the Global South.

Participants were selected from 7,000 applicants based on their demonstrated commitment to addressing the climate crisis through leadership in advancing solutions and evidence of impact. The UN has awarded 100 fully funded Green Tickets that provided carbon-neutral travel for youth leaders. Those who were not selected to attend are able to participate virtually or host events in their communities.

In June 2019 a youth group met for a pre-Summit preparatory meeting in Abu Dhabi. The group was comprised of 30 young leaders from the Global South and elsewhere. They provided direct input into the Youth Summit agenda and ensured that the Youth Climate Summit is inclusive, representative and impactful.