Climate Change – Knowledge Sharing Platform

Training participants posing happily for a picture.

From 7 to 11 August 2023, UNITAR delivered a training on gender and climate change to civil servants in Kigali, Rwanda, the first one developed in the framework of the One UNITAR Gender Initiative.

Read on to find out more about

“The land of a thousand hills” – this statement is no exaggeration to the undulating landscape of Rwanda. The hills were also a welcoming sight for UNITAR’s pilot training on gender and climate change, organized in collaboration with the Gender Monitoring Office of Rwanda and CIFAL Kigali with support from the Ministry of Environment under the One UNITAR Gender initiative. The One UNITAR Gender promotes innovative learning solutions on women’s empowerment, building on extensive experiences and knowledge of all UNITAR divisions.

Participants at the training in a meeting room.

The training, held from 7 – 11 August 2023 at the CIFAL Kigali centre, aimed to build capacities of a mix of participants drawn from government institutions including the Gender Monitoring Office, Rwanda Environment Management Authority, Rwanda Standards Board, National Institute of Statistics, Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA), Ministry of Environment, Rwanda Cooperation and civil society organizations including Action Aid and ADEPE. The focus of the training was on climate change and the interlinkage with gender equality and women’s empowerment. Climate change as a threat multiplier can deepen existing gender inequalities. Rwanda’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) aims to “promote and encourage the mainstreaming of gender considerations in climate change issues” including the capturing and reporting of gender disaggregated data. Ensuring that institutions like the Gender Monitoring Office that are mandated with monitoring gender related commitments within Rwanda’s ratified policies across sectors have the capacity to not only understand climate change impacts and differentiated effects on people but also on how climate policies can be made gender-responsive – from policy design to monitoring and evaluation.

A participant and Ms. Lisa Main, from UNITAR.

Rwanda is a leader in the African continent on advancing women’s participation in decision-making, with nearly two thirds of its parliamentary seats and 52 per cent of cabinet positions held by women. Women in Rwanda are also leading the charge when it comes to climate action, with examples from community-level champions to trailblazers at national and international levels. This training was a step towards enabling Rwanda’s climate policies to be gender-responsive and that a multi-institutional approach is taken towards their development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The end-goal is to ensure that climate policies speak to the realities of frontline communities and vulnerable groups and that Leaving No One Behind is not just a principle, but a practice.

This introductory course teaches learners WHAT is an integrated approach to sustainable development and WHY is it needed. The course explains the rationale, drivers, challenges, and opportunities for an integrated approach to tackling poverty-environment issues. The course lays the foundations for an advanced course focused on HOW to apply the integrated approach in practice.

Enroll

Climate Change

Self-paced course

2 hours

English

Why take this course?

After completing the introductory course, learners will be able to:

Discuss the poverty and environment nexus and related concepts.
Identify related international developments, as well as global and regional trends.
Explain the rationale and drivers behind integrating policy planning.
Identify challenges and opportunities for advancing an integrated approach.
Give examples of enabling policy conditions for integrating poverty and environment issues.

This course is based on Chapter 1 of the publication “Sustainable Development in Practice: Handbook for Integrating Environment, Climate and Poverty Reduction” (Bass et al., 2023).

The course at a glance

1. Introducing the integrated approach: Module 1 provides an overview of the poverty and environment nexus and the rationale behind adopting an integrated approach to sustainable development.

2. Drivers of integration: Module 2 looks at the main drivers for adopting an integrated approach to sustainable development at the international, national and sub-national levels.

3. Challenges and opportunities: Module 3 explores challenges for adopting an integrated approach to sustainable development, as well as the opportunities presented by tackling poverty and environment issues simultaneously.

4. Applying the integrated approach: Module 4 focuses on the application of the integrated approach and development of an overarching strategic framework to enable the same.

5. Wrap-up: The final wrap-up section of the course contain additional readings and the course final quiz.

Get your Certificate

After completing the course, you will get a certificate of completion. Once you complete all videos, lessons, and activities in each module, you will need to complete the final quiz at the end of the course before the certificate becomes automatically available for download.

You can keep track of your progress and download your certificate under the “Certification” tab on the main course page.

Partners and contributors

This course is a collaboration between UN CC:Learn and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-UN Environment (UNEP) Poverty-Environment Action (PEA) programme.

If you liked this course and other trainings on the platform, why not making a donation? Every little bit helps to improve the platform, add more courses, and reach new learners! Thank you!

Youth Engagement Forum Flyer with Title and Illustrated People

In July 2023, UN CC:Learn invited two of its Champions to tell their stories and speak about the role of youth in climate action in teach-in sessions at the NDC Partnership Youth Engagement Forum.

Read on to find out more!

In July 2023, UN CC:Learn was invited by the NDC Partnership to organize two teach-in sessions at the NDC Partnership Youth Engagement Forum (YEF). The YEF is used to inform the NDC Partnership’s Youth Engagement Plan and this year’s theme was “Shaping our Future”, which aimed to empower young people to engage in long-term climate action by building their capacity and by promoting dialogue on youth-focused NDC planning and finance needs.

This was the second consecutive year that UN CC:Learn took part in the event and, this time, the programme delivered two one-hour Fireside Chats in Spanish and French.

The sessions featured UN CC:Learn Champions and focused on the role of youth in contributing to broader societal changes. They provided participants with the opportunity to learn from and exchange with other young change makers who have been awarded the title of UN CC:Learn Champions for their outstanding work in the field of climate change awareness and action.

The Fireside Chat in French featured Ms. Axelle Vera, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion from Cameroon, who spoke about how the completion of a UN CC:Learn course helped her secure a spot in the US-funded Central African Women Initiative in Climate Action (WICA), and how this led her to become an Assistant Carbon Project Manager in her country.

The Fireside Chat in Spanish featured Ms. Karel Miranda, 2020 UN CC:Learn Champion from Panamá, who spoke about how the “Introductory e-Course on Climate Change” inspired her to get into youth activism and how the organization she founded as result – Young People Facing Climate Change Organization – supported Panamá’s Ministry of Environment to craft the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Both Ms. Miranda and Ms. Vera answered questions about their work, professional backgrounds and about the role of youth and climate action. In the second part of each session, participants were invited to ask questions directly to the speakers.

Moving forward, UN CC:Learn will keep engaging with partners, such as the NDC Partnership, to promote dialogue and youth engagement as solutions to the climate crisis.

Youth from different backgrounds and ethnicities.

The first results of the Youth and Climate Change Global Survey are out and have painted an insightful picture of UN CC:Learn’s youth audience.

Read on to find out more!

Since 2009, UN CC:Learn has trained and engaged with thousands of young people from all over the world. People up to 35 years old make up the bulk of users registered on UN CC:e-Learn and, over the years, thousands of youth have participated in UN CC:Learn events, from the Youth Climate Dialogues and Climate Classrooms to TEDx events.

In 2021, UN CC:Learn launched its 5^th implementation phase (2021 – 2025) which has a strategic approach to youth. Over this period, the programme aims to help young people, especially from developing countries, to learn about climate change and to apply their knowledge in ways that encourage climate mitigation and adaptation. Moreover, the programme wishes to leverage youth innovation and motivation to challenge the status quo and ramp up climate action globally.

To reach these ambitious goals, UN CC:Learn set out to learn more about this age group.

Against this background, the programme launched the Youth and Climate Change Survey in September 2022 to get insights into youth’s preferences and habits to help inform, shape and tailor UN CC:Learn’s youth initiatives and content to youth’s expectations and needs. The 25-question survey is still open and available in 7 languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish).

Its first set of analyzed data was collected from September 2022 and March 2023 and, during this period, 6,458 young people from 178 countries answered it. The responses received shed light on youth’s perception of climate change, what they are doing to deal with it and how they would like to learn more about. In addition, the answers made clear youth’s preferences in terms of content consumption and learning preferences.

Here are a few key findings:

1- Youth feel they are being affected by climate change.

91% of the respondents said they are being affected by climate change.

When asked how climate change is affecting them, 77% pointed out that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as droughts or storms, 45% said there is a disruption in the availability of resources and 35% are suffering eco-anxiety.

2- Youth want to learn more about climate change.

98% of the respondents said that climate change should be taught during primary, secondary, and higher education.

Respondents also want to learn about climate change in different settings. Regarding the type of learning event, they would be interested in attending to learn about climate change, 64% prefer to attend workshops, 55% would like to take part in a training, 51% would take e-courses or attend an experience-sharing with other youth groups.

3- Youth are taking climate action.

72% of respondents between 18 to 35 years old are taking climate action in their countries.

Here below are a few testimonials submitted by respondents:

“I developed a social project to combat fast-fashion and I participate in a student group where we clean public areas.” (Boy from Mexico)

“Help planning the local conference of youth, an event in the town I live, where young people create ideas they want to get discussed at the COP. Started to study Environmental- and Bioresource management.” (Woman from Austria)

“I created an Association of Environmental Sustainability in rural area and through it, I have been educating my community through the introduction of sustainability concepts, and awareness to not cut down the forest (they use trees to make fire to cook, sell, produce charcoal, etc). To not flame the field during the preparation of rice plantation, maize, and use biofertilizer. I trained young people about the meaning of sustainability and how we can reduce gas pollution emissions.” (Man from Mozambique)

“I am a med student and at my university, I created an activity called Recycling Life where we collect bottle caps to sell and buy treatment for kids who suffer from Epidermolysis Bullosa.” (Woman from Peru)

4- Youth prefer informative videos to other types of content.

Youth respondents are interested in consuming videos and tailored content on social media.

More than half of respondents would prefer to receive content on social media in video format (69%), image (62%), and/or through articles (52%). They are less interested in podcasts (27%), live sessions (20%), and games (14%). In terms of communication and language style, 77% of youth are interested in receiving informative content on social media and less interested in consuming informal content (32%).

Moving forward, UN CC:Learn will build on the findings of this survey to devise projects, initiatives, and content to achieve its Youth goals. The programme has come up with five key recommendations to help strengthen its Youth initiatives and, ultimately, support youth climate action.

To get the full picture of the respondents’ profiles, survey methodology, key findings and recommendations, access the Survey report here.

Women dancing in traditional African clothes.

The first course in our new two-part e-learning series is out.

The “Introduction to Sustainable Development in Practice” e-course will explain what an integrated approach to poverty and environment is and why countries should prioritise it.

Read on to find out more about the course.

Poverty and environmental issues are two interrelated problems that cannot be tackled separately.

As the world population increases and the climate crisis intensifies, natural resources become ever more scares and degraded. This puts a significant strain on poor people worldwide, whose livelihood is highly dependent on natural resources.

Can policies and interventions be developed to tackle the joint implications of poverty and environment issues?

This is the focus of the new “Introduction to Sustainable Development” e-course. The course is the first in a two-part e-learning series. It looks into WHAT an integrated approach to sustainable development is and WHY should countries prioritize it. In four modules, the course explores the rationale, drivers, challenges, and opportunities for addressing environment, climate, and poverty issues in an integrated manner.

The new e-learning series is the result of a collaboration between UNITAR and UNDP/UNEP’s Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development project (UNDP-UNEP PEA), which aimed to bring poverty, environment, and climate objectives into the heart of development plans, policies, budgets, public and private finance in partner countries.

The two courses in the learning series are based on years of experience, lessons, case studies, and practical guidance distilled by the PEI/PEA project and synthesized in the PEA Handbook.

Learn more about the course below!

What will you learn?

After completing the course, you will be able to:

Discuss the poverty and environment nexus and related concepts;
Identify related international developments, global and regional trends, and explore their significance in a local context;
Explain the rationale and drivers behind integrating policy planning;
Identify challenges and opportunities for advancing an integrated approach;
Give examples of enabling policy conditions for integrating poverty and environment issues.

Who is this course for?

The course is open to everyone, but the following groups may find it particularly useful:

Technical and policy planning staff at the national, regional, and local levels;
Development practitioners;
Change agents from civil society and the private sector, including youth;
Citizens interested in sustainable development in practice.

Will you get a certificate?

The successful completion of the course rewards the learner with a certificate. To complete the course, the learner must complete all four modules and pass the final quiz with a minimum grade of 70% from no more than three attempts.

Take the course!

The 2023 Fundamental Training of the Climate Youth Negotiators Programme has started.

Over six months, 100 youth negotiators from all over the world will be trained on key topics and skills to better negotiate on behalf of their countries at COP28.

Read on to find out more.

It’s no secret that a key characteristic of the climate crisis is that it bears inter-generational consequences. Truly just and sustainable climate action actively involves all age groups. This is part of the drive behind this year’s Climate Youth Negotiator Programme Fundamental Training that kicked off last week on 4^th and 5^th July 2023.

The training programme is a collaboration between the Future Leaders Network and UN CC:Learn that aims to equip youth negotiators with the knowledge and skills to navigate the often-complex multilateral climate negotiations. The introductory session featured around 100 youth negotiators from all over the world getting to know their counterparts in the programme and sharing their expectations in a dynamic 3-hour session.

The highlight of the session were powerful keynote speeches from seasoned experts including Prof. Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, world-leading scholar and jurist in the field of sustainable development law and governance, among others. The common theme – that the structural barriers that prevent youth from engaging in this space need to be removed and harnessing and fine-tuning soft skills like active listening, building connections with fellow negotiators among others are building blocks of a successful negotiator.

This year’s Cohort also got the opportunity to listen to youth negotiators from the 2022 pilot phase. It was an engaging session where practical tips on ‘how to survive in the day of a negotiator’, challenges and lessons learned were shared. A truly uplifting session that inspired the negotiators starting off their journey in the programme.

The programme now commences on a six-month long journey, culminating at COP28 in December, with the end-game in mind of empowering young people as agents of positive change and driving transformation in the climate negotiations for our collective futures.

In June 2023, UN CC:Learn was present at SB 58 to engage in a range of different activities to advance the ACE Agenda.

Read on to find out more!

The 58^th session of the Subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC, also known as the Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB 58) took place from 5 – 15 June 2023. Like preceding sessions, it was packed with mandated events and talks on issues preluding COP28, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai, UAE, at the end of the year.

There, UN CC:Learn, National ACE Focal Points and other key stakeholders got together to advance the ACE agenda, particularly at two key events: the Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Academy and the ACE Dialogue. The former consists of a capacity building events to train ACE Focal Points and Negotiators on key topics, and the latter provides a regular forum for Parties and other stakeholders to share their experiences, exchange ideas, good practices and lessons learned regarding the implementation of Article 6 of the Convention and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.

The Academy, guided by UN Climate Change and the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) Project, in collaboration with UNITAR/UN CC:Learn Secretariat, Euroclima and YOUNGO, focused on monitoring and evaluating ACE at national level. UN CC:Learn facilitated a session on National ACE Strategies. There was considerable interest from countries in developing a strategy or in setting activities around ACE, as well as experience sharing among those countries who were at some stage of implementation of the Strategy.

ACE Academy at SB 58.

The ACE Dialogue that followed delved even further into monitoring and evaluating ACE (watch recording for Day 1 and Day 2) with the event culminating in a showcase of posters through the ACE Gallery. The Gallery showcased several initiatives, including the integration of climate change and green economy into school curricula undertaken by the Government of Ghana, with support from UN CC:Learn (see Ghana’s poster featured in the ACE Gallery).

Mr. Emmanuel Tachie-Obeng, from Ghana, explaining the UN CC:Learn and Ghana poster to SB 58 attendees.

Mr. Emmanuel Tachie-Obeng, from Ghana, explaining the UN CC:Learn and Ghana posters to SB 58 attendees.

In addition, in the spirit of strengthening regional cooperation, UN CC:Learn, with input and support from UNFCCC, organized a regional meeting on strengthening climate change education in West Africa. Representation from various countries including Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Senegal and Togo, as well as the regional training centre Agrhymet, enabled an enriching discussion around the promotion of ACE in the region, as well as a declaration on climate change education to be presented during COP28.

Lastly, and in keeping with tradition, UN CC:Learn organized and delivered a Climate Classroom on Loss and Damage for around 250 young people attending the SB talks who joined in-person and online. In an exciting panel discussion featuring the United Nations University, the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition and UNICEF, this often complex but crucial topic was an unpacked with lots of questions, ideas and food for thought shared during the exchange.

The UN CC:Learn Dialogue Space on Learning through Youth brought key stakeholders to discuss ways of engaging youth in climate change action.

Read on to find out what went on.

How can UN CC:Learn and partners better encourage youth to get involved in climate action?

On 24 May 2023, UN CC:Learn and partners got together at the Dialogue Space on Learning through Youth to answer this and other questions related to the role of youth in climate action.

This Dialogue Space was set up as part of UN CC:Learn’s fifth implementation phase with the purpose of providing UN CC:Learn partners with a platform to discuss, share experiences, and collaborate on ways of strengthening youth capacity for climate change action and learning. This Space recognizes the role of youth as key leaders in climate action and strives to create and leverage synergies among UN CC:Learn partners to support youth in their climate endeavors.

The event was led by the newly appointed chair of the Learning through Youth Dialogue Space, Dr. Amanda Katili Niode, Director of the Climate Reality Project Indonesia, whose one-year term commenced in March 2023. Dr. Niode highlighted that there are 1.8 billion young people aged 18-24 globally today, which represents the largest youth generation in history. She also stressed that youth are already taking actions in favor of the climate around the world but that they require support, such as coaching, to unleash their full potential and harness their best ideas and solutions.

Dr. Niode and her team introduced the Climate Reality Project Indonesia, which is the Indonesia branch of the Climate Reality Project, a not-for-profit organization founded in the United States in 2006 with a mission to increase global public awareness of the climate crisis at a grass roots level. Dr. Niode and team highlighted three key projects being carried out by Climate Reality Project Indonesia: the Climate Hero project, the Youth Leadership Camp and the ClimArt project.

After the presentation, partners were invited to showcase their youth initiatives and answer three questions:

What are some effective strategies for communicating the urgency of climate change to other young people and to older generations?
How can we encourage more young people to get involved in climate activism, advocacy, and action?
How would you like to engage in climate action?

The one-hour discussion engaged participants, who provided their inputs throughout. A few takeaways from the discussions were: for the first question, partners agreed that the creation of an open space for people of all ages to share their perspectives and experiences can be enrich the climate change discourse. For the second one, capacity building arose as one of the key elements to encourage more youth to act on climate change. And for the final question, the World Scouts movement was brought up as a good way to get a large number of young people engaged in climate action.

To wrap up the event, Mr. Angus Mackay, Head of the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, delivered final remarks that touched on the importance of having both quantity and quality in youth climate action, since all degrees of involvement are needed given the urgency of the climate crisis. He also emphasized the role of international cooperation in collaborative and impactful action.

Neeshad Shafi took the Intro Course on Climate Change and founded the first and only not-for-profit environmental organization registered in the State of Qatar. His NGO strives to protect the environment while giving equal opportunities to women and the youth. Read his full story below!

When one thinks about climate change action, Qatar is not really the first place that comes to mind. But Neeshad Shafi, founder of the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar, is changing that. As a student, Neeshad wanted to better understand climate science and advocacy, which led him to discover UN CC:Learn and its platform with free e-courses. He set out to complete the “Introductory e-Course on Climate Change” and successfully completed the course in 2015. The knowledge acquired in the course laid out the groundwork for his future endeavor: founding the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar (AYCMQ), the single not-for-profit environmental organization registered in the State of Qatar.

AYCMQ is a youth-led NGO building a movement that fosters understanding of the natural ecosystems and empowers the community to act. It does that by raising environmental awareness at grassroots level and by targeting youth and adults with tailored activities, helping to promote active participation in dialogue and in finding solutions.

AYCMQ’s values are also rooted in gender equality. For instance, more than half of its team members are women and so are most of the participants who take part in the organization’s activities, which is something remarkable everywhere but especially in a Gulf country.

“At AYCM Qatar we are founded on the presciple of gender equality. More then 50% of our team comprises of women members and we have always given up most space for women and youth girls in various programs of ours.” – Neeshad Shafi, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

‘At the beginning of 2022, I took the two courses on REDD+ that are offered on the UN CC:Learn platform. Based on this, I was hired by a Foundation to carry out a REDD+ project in Argentina.’

The courses on REDD+ that I took from UN CC:Learn provided me with a theoretical framework ranging from the most basic to the most advanced issues that have to do with the conservation, recovery and protection of native forests. This allowed me to introduce myself to the “Huellas para un Futuro” (“Footprints for a Future”) Foundation with the necessary knowledge to be able to embark with them on their socio-environmental projects in the province of Misiones, Argentina.
My role consisted of project management and administration tasks, especially assisting with the formulation of REDD+ sub-projects on the sustainable management of the forest with the participation of indigenous communities and original settlers. The knowledge and skills that I acquired through the UN CC:Learn courses gave me the necessary bases to understand what REDD+ projects are about and the guidelines that must be taken into account to carry them out. I was able to apply all this knowledge in different ways throughout the management of the project. 

Girl planting a sapling (personal archive).Niña plantando un árbol (archivo personal).

The impact of the project in terms of gender equality in indigenous communities is seen in the high participation of women in the workshops held. In addition, with respect to this REDD+ project, one of the products that I consider most relevant is the one that has to do with the Nagoya Protocol. The Foundation established a partnership with a biotech laboratory to create products using a plant species native to Misiones, called Pitanga, and certify them with the Nagoya seal. Part of our REDD+ funds were allocated to train people from indigenous communities on the Biological Diversity Convention, the Nagoya Protocol and ways in which they could earn a living as suppliers of the raw materials to the laboratory. This represents an important source of work for everyone within the communities, including women. 

UNITAR delivers its first training on Gender and Climate Change in Rwanda

Introduction to Sustainable Development in Practice

Why take this course?

The course at a glance

Get your Certificate

Partners and contributors

UN CC:Learn Champions inspire participants at the NDC Youth Engagement Forum.

6,500 young people committed to improving UN CC:Learn’s youth initiatives.

1- Youth feel they are being affected by climate change.

2- Youth want to learn more about climate change.

3- Youth are taking climate action.

4- Youth prefer informative videos to other types of content.

New e-course explains the importance of an integrated approach to sustainable development.

What will you learn?

Who is this course for?

Will you get a certificate?

The 2023 Fundamental Training of the Climate Youth Negotiator Programme Kicks Off

Advancing Action for Climate Empowerment at SB58

UN CC:Learn and Partners Discuss Way of Increasing Youth Climate Action

Engaging Youth People to Advance Climate Action in QATAR

Building a professional career in REDD+