Enhance your climate advocacy skills: Join the YOUNGO Just Transition Academy Open to youth globally (fully online)

Ednah Carrick July 31, 2025

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Closing Date: 12 August 2025

Enhance your climate advocacy skills: Join the YOUNGO Just Transition Academy Open to youth globally (fully online)

Ready to step up your climate advocacy ahead of COP30?

The Just Transition Academy is here — a space for young activists to dive deep into what Just Transition really means within UNFCCC negotiations, and how we can push for real, youth-driven change.

You’ll learn from experts, sharpen your negotiation skills, and connect with other climate advocates around the world. Once you have successfully completed the academy you’ll get a certificate.

About the Program

The Just Transition Academy is an initiative of the Just Transition Working Group under YOUNGO, the official children and youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This program is designed for youth changemakers, climate advocates, early-career professionals, students, and community leaders who are eager to deepen their knowledge and engagement in the global movement for a just, equitable, and inclusive transition toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient world.

In a time of rapid climate, energy, and social transformation, just transition is not just a buzzword, it is a guiding principle for climate justice. The Academy aims to equip youth with critical skills and knowledge, to advocate for policies that center people, equity, and justice in the transition process.This will be the first global cohort, creating a strong peer-learning space for capacity building, intersectional dialogue, and collective action.

Eligibility Criteria

This program is open to all nationalities who meet the following criteria:

Aged between 18–35 years
Passionate or actively involved in climate justice, just transition, sustainability, or community empowerment, with plans to be engaged at COP30
Able to commit approx. 3–4 hours per week during the program period
Conversational proficiency in English required (program will be conducted ONLY in English)
Access to stable internet to participate in online sessions
Prior engagement with climate (esp. UNFCCC), environmental, or social justice movements (local, national, or global) is preferred but not mandatory

What to Expect in This Academy

Over a structured 7 week virtual learning journey, participants will:

Gain a strong understanding of Just Transition concepts, frameworks, and global processes
Learn about just transition within various sectors such as energy and agriculture and global challenges for these transitions including financial and trade barriers
Learn about the Just Transition Work Program under the UNFCCC: current debates and civil society demands for COP30
Engage in peer learning, cross-regional collaboration, and intersectional discussions
Build advocacy to influence climate and development policies particularly within the UNFCCC
Interact with experts, negotiators, civil society leaders, and youth advocates from around the world
Receive a Certificate of Completion and opportunities for further mentorship, advocacy, or facilitation roles
Become part of an active global network of youth for climate justice and just transition

Timeline

Application Deadline: 12th August 2025
Selection Results : Week of 18th August 2025
Academy Duration: Week of 1st September to week of 17 October 2025 (7 weeks, virtual)
Format: Online sessions, readings, collaborative activities, and assignments

Program Themes Include (but not limited to):

SESSION 7: Create your own action plan for COP30
SESSION 1: Just Transition 101
SESSION 2: Sectoral deep dive: Agriculture, manufacture and energy perspectives
SESSION 3: Confronting the headwinds: global barriers to a Just Transition
SESSION 4: Demystifying the JTWP: Just Transition within the UNFCCC
SESSION 5: Civil society perspectives and demands for COP30
SESSION 6: Becoming a Just Transition advocate – how to maximise impact at COP30