Outcome
This workshop aimed to equip youth attending the 2024 UN Summit of the Future, New York Climate Week, and the UN General Assembly (UNGA79) with practical skills required to navigate the climate funding landscape efficiently and effectively. The workshop served as a call-to-action addressing the critical gap in youth access to climate funding by equipping participants with the knowledge and tools to navigate the complex climate finance landscape. As the first in Youth4Capacity’s three-part series, the workshop laid the groundwork for future discussions on raising and sustaining funds, emphasizing the importance of practical skills and strategic thinking in securing long-term support for youth-led climate initiatives.
Key Issues Discussed
- Barriers to Youth Accessing Climate Funding: Explored the challenges young leaders face, such as lack of transparency, complex donor requirements, and difficulties in finding youth-friendly funding mechanisms.
- Crafting Compelling Value Propositions: Highlighted the importance of clearly articulating the value of youth-led climate solutions. Discussions focused on building narratives that align with donor priorities to increase the likelihood of securing financial support.
- Strategies for Successful Funding Proposals: Covered key components of effective proposals, including clear objectives and compelling storytelling - emphasizing the need for proposals to be both technically sound and emotionally resonant with funders.
- Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: Stressed the importance of partnerships with established organizations to enhance fundraising efforts.
- Sustaining Funding and Ensuring Scalability: Discussed planning for long-term sustainability and scalability, with case studies of successful projects.
- Call to Action for Participants: Encouraged young leaders to implement the discussed strategies, leverage shared resources, refine their value propositions, and translate their learnings into action by actively engaging with potential donors. The workshop encouraged participants to continue to build their capacities by engaging with opportunities like the upcoming sessions of Youth4Capacity’s three-part series on the topic under its Climate Catalysts Mentorship Programme and at COP29.
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Key Recommendations for Action
- Invest in Capacity-building: Empower young people with the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the funding landscape, while also advocating for the climate funding landscape to become more inclusive and accessible for youth. Both youth and the broader funding structures and its stakeholders must adapt to better support youth-led climate initiatives.
- Promote Inclusive Financing Practices: According to the Youth Climate Justice Study (2022), youth-led climate justice initiatives represent only 0.76% of climate grants from the largest climate foundations (on average between 2019-21). This underscores the urgent need for transparency and inclusivity in funding, ensuring youth-led projects gain fair access to resources and removing barriers that gatekeep vital support.
- Foster Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: Encourage collaboration between youth-led organizations, funders, and established institutions to create a supportive ecosystem for climate action.
- Focus on Sustainable Business Models: Guide youth in developing financial strategies that not only secure initial funding but also ensure the scalability and sustainability of their projects.
- Highlight Successful Models: Share and replicate best practices from successful youth-led initiatives to inspire and guide future efforts.
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Background
Germany and Namibia, co-facilitators of the Summit of the Future, announced the release of the second revised draft of the Pact for the Future. The draft is intended to serve as the basis for further deliberations with the ultimate aim of adopting an ambitious, concise, action-oriented Pact for the Future, per resolution 76/307. Paragraph 62.d calls on states to provide accessible and transparent funding and capacity-building support for youth-led and youth-focused organizations.
To this end, UNFCCC’s Youth4Capacity program together with Azerbaijan and Italy seeks to provide youth attending the 2024 UN Summit of the Future, New York Climate Week and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79) with an opportunity to build their capacities with the knowledge and skills necessary to unlock funding for their climate solutions. This workshop entitled “How to access funding for your climate solution” would take place within the margins of the 2024 UN Summit of the Future in New York and seeks to assist youth in understanding the funding landscape whilst conducting a mapping exercise as an entry point for effectively accessing finance for advancing climate solutions.
This workshop was first in Youth4Capacity’s 3-part series and will be followed by a virtual workshop under the Climate Catalysts Mentorship Programme entitled “How to raise and mobilize funds for your climate solution” and an in-person workshop at COP29 entitled “How to sustain funding and ensure scalability”. The series is led by UNFCCC’s Youth4Capacity programme and will be delivered in collaboration with TED Countdown, Youth Climate Justice Fund, Youth4Climate, and other partners as appropriate. The series will cover three key elements to effectively enable young people to advance climate solutions, including:
- Effective approaches and tools for accessing funding: Understanding the climate funding landscape, types of funding sources (grants, donations, sponsorships, crowdfunding), key considerations for youth organizations, research techniques for identifying relevant funders, tools and resources for mapping funding opportunities, building a compelling case for support, articulating the value proposition of climate solutions, and tailoring pitches to align with funder priorities.
- Developing successful funding proposals and engaging with donors: Crafting effective funding proposals, key components of successful proposals, writing tips and best practices, engagement strategies for donor relations, building and maintaining relationships with donors, effective communication and reporting, strategies for securing multi-year funding and long-term commitments, and case studies of successful donor partnerships.
- Sustaining funding and ensuring scalability: Developing sustainable business models, case studies of scalable models and their impact, best practices for replicating and scaling successful youth-led projects, financial planning for long-term stability through a systems thinking approach, and adapting to changing funding environments.
Objectives
- Equip youth with practical strategies for fundraising and mobilizing financial resources for climate initiatives.
- Enhance the organizational capacities of youth-led climate projects to increase their financial sustainability and impact.
- Foster a collaborative network among young climate activists, organizations, and potential funders.
Agenda
This session is delivered in-person, through a combination of dialogue, presentations and practical exercises with the participants, conducted in a plenary and breakout group setting.
| 2 mins |
Welcome and Intro to the Youth4Capacity programme |
Riddhi Dutta, Consultant, UNFCCC |
| 3 mins |
Context setting |
Fleur Newman, Team Lead, Communications and Engagement UNFCCC |
| 5 mins |
Keynote |
Mr. Alessandro Guerri, Director General, Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, Italy |
| 3 mins |
Guest speaker |
H.E. Mr. Abdulah Marson Moustapha, Minister of Youth and Sports, Madagascar |
| 5 mins |
Remarks on youth capacity-building on the road to COP29 |
Leyla Hasanova, COP29 Youth Climate Champion |
| 10 mins |
Presentation of Youth4Climate initiative and its Call for Solutions including five success stories |
- Buay Tut, Analyst, Youth4Climate
- 5 Youth4Climate awardees from the 2023 Call for Solutions (see below)
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| 15 mins |
Presentation on Effective Approaches for identifying youth funding sources |
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| 40 mins |
Breakout Group Activity - Finance Mapping Exercise and Report Back by facilitators |
| 5 mins |
Closing Reflections |
Prof. Francesco Corvaro, Special Envoy on Climate, Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, Italy |
| 2 mins |
Call to action & Networking |
Riddhi Dutta, Consultant, UNFCCC |
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Moderated by Riddhi Dutta, UNFCCC
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Youth4Climate Awardees:
Credit: Displayed individuals
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