Bringing the youngest generation's climate policy to the world
With CliMates Austria, four young people aged between 18 and 26 travel to the UN Climate Conference each year to represent the voice of Austrian youth, sent by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK). They immerse themselves thoroughly in the subject matter beforehand, then follow the negotiations on the ground and share the latest developments with Austrian youth. They are supported by a communications team that captures the output.
In 2018, CliMates Austria took over the organisation of the Youth Delegates Programme and relaunched it. In its current form, the programme runs over two years and operates as a Junior/Senior programme. Each year, two new youth delegates are recruited who are attending the climate conference for the first time, accompanied by two seniors who attended the conference the previous year and can pass on their knowledge to the two newcomers. Not every European country has a youth delegates programme as inclusive as that of CliMates Austria. As an official part of the Austrian delegation, the youth delegates are in regular exchange with it and have individual delegates as regular guests at relevant events.
