Believe it or not, fighting climate change is not only a challenge but also a way to new opportunities. In this regard, the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Adaptation Committee organizes a competition for young people and invites them to share their ideas on adaptation to climate change. The competition is classified as a part of the 5th and final Technical Examination Process on Adaptation (TEP-A).
This competition should give us an incentive to reconsider our interaction with the environment and provide decision-makers with new creative ideas to be applied in practice. More information can be found here.
What is the idea behind the competition?
Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 must form small teams and select a climate change case and then propose an innovative solution to the problem that decision-makers can put into practice. For example, at the moment, the topic of responding to the global pandemic COVID-19 becomes relevant, taking into account the increasing resistance to climate change.
For other case ideas, see the TEP-A report, which is available here.
The main criteria of the competition:
- innovativeness/creativity - the introduction of new approaches in the field of adaptation to climate change;
- targeting - focus on decision-makers;
- Feasibility - availability of financial and human resources.
Competition rules:
- Teams of 3-5 people must submit their applications for the political case competition by September 15, 2020.
- The application must describe the problem as well as the proposed solution.
- Materials can be submitted in the form of presentation (up to 10 slides), documents (up to 5 pages) or video (up to 5 minutes) and must be submitted by filling out this form. Please note that you must provide your primary email address when filling out this form. This will be the email address to which the notification of the referees' decision will be sent. Besides, this email address must match one of the competitors (i.e. enter the same email address twice: in the question asking for a shared email, and also in the applicant field).
- Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 30 at the application deadline (September 15, 2020).
- Entries that do not meet these criteria will be disqualified.
- It is also recommended (optional criterion) for the teams to be interdisciplinary, i.e. included people with experience and knowledge from various fields. Where possible, teams should also include in their decision TEP-A 2020 "education and training, community and youth participation in strengthening adaptation measures." However, points will not be deducted for not meeting this criterion.
After applying:
- The competition's finalists will be notified by October 2020 and invited to present their work at a virtual exhibition where judges and the audience can speak up and ask questions. More detailed information about the presentations will be sent to the finalists, along with the notification that they have advanced to the next round of the competition.
- According to the experts' panel, up to three members of the first-ranked team will be invited to Glasgow, honoured at the COP-26 climate conference (to be held in November 2021 in Glasgow), and they will have the opportunity to share their ideas during the conference time.
Required resources:
- Technical papers published under the previous four TEP-A can be found here.
- More information on TEP-A is available here.
- Any questions or concerns, including problems with the form completion, can be directed to ac@unfccc.int.
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