The Indian Youth Delegations to the Conference of Parties (COP) under UNFCCC is one of the flagship programs of IYCN. It is aimed at representing the voice of the Indian Youth in the international climate change negotiations as mandated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). So far 2 delegations have been sent to COP 14 and COP 15 held in 2008, 2009 respectively
Candid about Cancun
The climate negotiations live to see another day! Amidst the cheer and applause that marked the end of the talks in Cancun, Mexico; a mischievous sense of relief was shared by many parties and observers to the COP. Did we strike a historic deal that will limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius? Did we pave the way for a sustainable future? Far from it! The Cancun negotiations were a diplomatic success and an environmental failure.
Many have already commented on the outcomes of COP16 but here we look at the pros and cons from Cancun and attempt to simplify it for our readers.
Pros
a) After the disappointing outcome of Copenhagen, the UNFCCC process was under severe stress to deliver an outcome that was negotiated in a transparent and consensual manner. Cancun managed to deliver on this front. It restored faith in multilateralism as all nations except one (Bolivia) signed on to the Cancun agreements. Possibly realizing that it was counterproductive as it was an unaffordable risk to hijack the process, parties laid their guns to rest for a little while.
IYD 2010
The Indian Youth Delegation to COP 16 consists of 8 enthusiastic young people from India who will be representing IYCN. A brief profile of the people are as follows:
Janjri Jasani works with an Environmental NGO in Mumbai – Centre for Environmental Research & Education (CERE). Background: Environmental Science.
Reva Prakash is a research scholar (International Politics) at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Background: International Relations.
Natasha Zarine is a student of Law at the Government Law College, Mumbai. Interested in Environmental law and policy.
Katha Kartiki is a research associate at Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, completed Masters in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies, UK.
Indian Youth Delegation 2008
IYCN's Agents of Change program sent the first ever representatives of Indian youth to the United Nations Climate Change COP14 conference in 2008. It was the first time that a youth delegation from India was participating in the conference and negotiations. Youth from all over the world attend the talks, and the Agents of Change program made sure that the voice of Indian youth was present as well.
Indian Youth Delegation 2009
Highlights of IYD 2009
IYCN sent a delegation of 20 young people to United Nations Conference on Climate Change COP15 held from December 7 - 18, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark:
- A 20 member delegation called Indian Youth Delegation (IYD) from 13 Indian states bringing diversity and enthusiasm
- Made submissions to the UNFCCC on Climate Change policy
- Active participation in the Youth constituency of the UNFCCC – YOUNGO
- Organized 3 side events for the youth from India and Global South to identify common voices and efforts on cimate change
- Participated and organized various spontaneous direct actions with youth from other countries along with interventions and speeches at high level side events
- Worked with CAN, CANSA, GCCA et al to produce collaborative responses on the negotiations every day and also interacted with Indian Government negotiators
- Active participation in Klima Forum 09 - People's Summit on climate change
- Covered by some of the major mainstream media channels from India and other countries
- Used new social media for outreach to a big outside audience
- The delegation was funded and supported by NGO’s, Governments and Corporations