Global Young Leaders Initiative
Engaging Young Climate Leaders From Around the World on Climate Risk and Intervention
All too frequently, climate intervention is discussed among people who will not live to see the worst impacts of climate change. The conversation has not placed the experiences of young people, facing these threats now and for the rest of their lives, at its center. SilverLining supports dialogue among youth and between younger and older generations to help put young people at the forefront of future developments in climate intervention research and policy.
Youth Call to Action (YCA)
In July 2021, distinguished young climate leaders from different parts of the world held the first-ever global youth summit on climate intervention. In this forum, they developed the concepts taken forward by the Global Young Leaders Initiative Steering Committee to develop a Youth Call to Action (YCA) on research and dialogue on climate intervention. The Youth Call to Action is a thoughtful, detailed proposal for engagement on research in climate intervention written and supported by young professional leaders in climate. As part of the COP26 event, youth leaders presented the Youth Call to Action on Climate Intervention.
Steering Committee: Béatrice Coroenne, Madeleine Karlsberg Schaffer, Ricardo Pineda Guzman, Neeshad Shafi
Thursday, 5 December 2024 | 8:00-9:30 AM ET | Virtual
Youth Pre-Summit on Near-term Climate Risk and Climate Interventions
Partner organizations: Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), Operaatio Arktis (OA), Sustainability Week Pakistan (SWP), Sustenta Honduras, and Arab Climate Youth Movement
The world is on a dangerous trajectory toward exceeding the critical 1.5°C global warming threshold. Keeping global warming below 1.5°C isn’t just a target—it’s a vital safeguard against a cascade of devastating and irreversible impacts for both human communities and the ecosystems that sustain us. It is the most vulnerable communities, and young people who contributed the least to the crisis, that will bear the brunt of these impacts. As one possible tool for safeguarding the future, scientists have proposed interventions to cool the climate - with potential benefits and risks that require careful consideration.
Against this backdrop, Global Young Leaders Initiative will hold a virtual event that will bring together a cohort of young climate leaders, climate scientists, and activists to discuss research, policy and equity considerations on climate interventions as a potential avenue to ensure a safe climate. During this interactive summit, attendees will engage in dynamic discussions on how we can expand the 2021 Youth Call to Action on Climate Intervention. The event will offer a unique opportunity to amplify youth voices and foster intergenerational collaboration to address the most pressing climate risks of our time. Its aim is to place youth at the forefront of developments in climate intervention.
This pre-summit will serve as a platform to discuss a proposed in-person Youth Summit in March 2025 on the side-lines of the ECOSOC Youth Forum.
Global Young Leaders at Climate Live Pavilion at COP28
Past Events
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Led by the Global Young Leaders Initiative and co-moderated by young climate experts Joshua Amponsem and Ricardo Pineda Guzman, the summit brought together young leaders, advocates, policymakers, and climate scientists, as well as global experts on climate intervention research and international governance, in order to facilitate an open and interactive dialogue in which young people’s voices are central.
The summit explored what actions must be taken on climate intervention research and policy to promote safety and equity, particularly for youth and the world’s most vulnerable.
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During the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), SilverLining co-organized an event at the Children and Youth Pavilion with several youth organizations. The interactive session explored climate solutions that youth are bringing to climate resilience.
Event partners and co-sponsors: Sendai Framework Children and Youth Stakeholder Group (MGCY DRR), Youth Resilience Lab (YRL), Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), YOUNGO, UNDRR Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism (SEM), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
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SilverLining hosted a reception to foster an intergenerational dialogue on climate intervention among young climate leaders and climate intervention experts from all over the world. The event was an opportunity for young professionals, representing their countries and organizations around the globe, to learn about climate interventions and bring their perspectives from COP27 and beyond to the discussion.
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During the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), SilverLining partnered with global youth climate organizations for "An Intergenerational Dialogue on Research in Climate Interventions to Protect Vulnerable People and Ecosystems from Catastrophic Climate Change." The event held in-person and virtually, featured a powerful exchange between youth climate leaders, scientists, and audience members on climate intervention research, the reality of climate impacts in the Global South, and the objections to climate intervention research. Read reflections from Kelly Wanser and Madeleine Karlsberg Schaffer.
Event partners: Green Africa Youth Organization, Sustenta Honduras, Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar
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SilverLining and YOUNGO TechMech Working Group hosted the first-ever summit for young climate leaders (age 18-34) on near-term climate risk and climate interventions. The event featured young people sharing insights into near-term climate threats in their respective parts of the world - the problem that climate intervention aims to address. It included a discussion between younger and older climate professionals, which sought to shed light on crucial questions on climate intervention and intergenerational justice, and engagement with expert scientists on the realities of climate intervention research.
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In January 2021, SilverLining held a youth dialogue on climate intervention as part of the Youth for Climate Adaptation Conference 2021. The event featured global youth climate leaders, scientific researchers, and policy experts and engaging visualizations and interactive elements, in a candid discussion of the near-term risks of climate change and possible interventions to help address them.
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Arctic Momentum: A New Paradigm: Climate Repair
Video [17m], Aug. 2023
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Global Youth Summit on Near-term Climate Risk and Climate Interventions
Video [129m], May 2023
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COP27 Changing Youth Narratives from Risk to Resilience
Video [17m], Nov. 2022
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COP26 Intergenerational Dialogue on Climate Intervention Research
Video [118m], Nov. 2021
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Global Safe Climate Youth Summit on Solar Climate Intervention
Video [153m], Jun. 2021
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Youth for Climate Adaptation: Youth Dialogue on SCI
Video [42m], Jan. 2021
Want to get involved?
“SAI can reduce potential flooding risks and extreme rainfall events for cities that are vulnerable.”
Yuchen Gu (MSci)
Researcher, University College London, and University of Exeter
“Only 3.8% of global climate change research funding was spent on Africa.”
Chris Lennard
Senior Researcher, University of Cape Town
“There is a general deficit in research funding and technology access in the global south, particularly in the most vulnerable parts of the world.”
Kelly Wanser
Executive Director, SilverLining
“Warming temperatures make adaptation more difficult, with increasing intensity and frequency of extreme events.”
Jim W. Hurrel
Professor and Scott Presidential Chair in Environmental Science and Engineering, Colorado State University
“How can we work together to ensure that young people, in the south, can have equal access to knowledge and information on [climate intervention].”
