Youth Policy Case Competition

Climate change presents the most urgent long-term challenge the world has ever faced. At the same time, it presents an opportunity to reimagine how we interact with the natural world and, by adapting to climate change, to build a greener, healthier, and safer future. Since its launch in 2016, the Technical Examination Process on Adaptation (TEP-A), including the Technical Expert Meetings on Adaptation (TEM-A) that have been at the heart of the process, have illustrated a variety of challenges and opportunities related to different dimensions of adaptation ranging from finance, to policy integration, to vulnerable groups and ecosystems. For the fifth and final TEM-A, the UNFCCC secretariat and Adaptation Committee are inviting young people from around the world to share their ideas on how policymakers can tackle enduring adaptation challenges and build resilience to worsening climate change impacts. 

Youth (aged 18-30) are invited to form small teams to select and describe an adaptation-related challenge (your chosen case study) and propose an innovative solution to the challenge targeted to policymakers. These challenges can be drawn from the findings of the TEP-A from 2016-2019 (see reports from previous years at http://tep-a.org/technical-paper/). For example, how can policymakers better direct adaptation finance to the local level? How can governments speed up the development and deployment of adaptation-related technologies? How can ecosystem-based adaptation be applied effectively in urban settings? You may also choose a challenge affecting your own community or draw your inspiration from current affairs. For example, you may propose a solution that helps policymakers with the challenge of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in a manner that helps them build long-term resilience to climate change.

 

• Teams of 3-5 individuals must submit their entries to the policy case competition by 30 September 2020, 23:59 CEST which describe the challenge (case study) they are responding to, as well as their proposed solution. Submissions can be made in the form of presentation slides (up to 10 slides), documents (up to 5 pages), or videos (up to 5 minutes) and should be submitted via this form. Please note that you must include a primary e-mail address for the submission in the first question on the form; this will be the e-mail address that receives a response receipt (if requested) and this e-mail should be the same as the e-mail address of one of the entrants (i.e. enter one email address twice, first in the general Email address slot and second under the entrant’s information).
• Entrants must be between 18-30 years old as of the original submission deadline (15 September 2020).
• Entries that do not meet these criteria will be disqualified.
• Additionally, teams are encouraged, though not required, to be interdisciplinary, including individuals with diverse experiences and expertise. Where appropriate, teams should incorporate the 2020 TEP-A theme of “education and training, public participation and youth to enhance adaptation action” in their solution. Entries will not, however, have points deducted if this theme is not explicitly incorporated.

• Innovation and creativity – your solution should build on good practices and conventional wisdom in the field of adaptation, but it should also strive to inject a new perspective into the discussion.
• Targeting – your solution should be primarily targeted towards policymakers. The solution itself does not need to be a policy proposal – it can be an app, financial mechanism, initiative, or anything else—but it should be something that policymakers can make use of as they seek to tackle the challenge you have identified.
• Feasibility – your solution should be feasible to implement with limited financial and human resources.

• Finalists will be notified by October 2020 and invited to present their solutions in a virtual showcase where judges and an audience will be able to offer feedback and ask questions. Further details regarding the presentations will be sent to finalists along with the notification that they have made it to the next round.
• Up to three members of the first-place team, as judged by a panel of experts, will be invited to travel to Glasgow and be recognized at the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow (set to take place in November 2021) and will be presented with a platform to share their idea during the conference.