COP and the Experiences of Children and Youth

11 Nov 2025

The Youth Climate Justice project (at University College Cork, funded by the European Research Council) research child and youth leadership on the climate. They recently  spoke to children and youth who attend (or have tried to attend) COP and have produced an article in the leading children's rights journal, the International Journal of Children's Rights. 

Each year, more and more children and youth are attending COP, the global United Nations conference where decision-makers from across the world discuss climate action and progress.

We do not know a lot about the experiences of children and youth who have participated (or tried
to participate) – both the positive experiences they have had, and the challenges they have faced.

As part of the Youth Climate Justice research project, the research team decided to explore
this by speaking with children and youth from across the world.

The research group found that: 

• peer mentoring and support from NGOs make a big difference to the work of young advocates at COP.
• tokenism and lack of resources limit their work, especially when from they are from the Global South and/or under 18 years.
• young advocates adopt creative strategies to overcome barriers, such as collective protests and digital campaigns.
• their work takes an emotional toll, and they can be disappointed by COP outcomes, but they feel their work at COP is crucial for helping the climate.
• In doing this they progress human rights and demand stronger climate action for all of us.

There is an easy read version here and the full article can be accessed here