Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698927632631.pdf (United Kingdom)
Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council Meeting Minutes, 24th February 2021 14:00-16:00, virtual meeting Co-chairs: Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, President Designate of COP26 and climate youth activist, Bella Lack.

Attendees 1.

COP President Designate, the Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP (co-chair) 2.

Bella Lack (youth activist, co-chair) 3.

Alasdair Roxburgh (Friends of the Earth, deputising for Hugh Knowles and Miriam Turner) 4.

Andrew Norton (International Institute for Environment and Development) 5.
Aryaana Khan (Alliance for Climate Education) 6.

Carina Bachofen (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, deputising for Professor Maarten Van Aalst) 7.

Clare Shakya (International Institute for Environment and Development) 8.

Dominic White (WWF, deputising for Bernadette Fischler) 9.

Graeme Reed (International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change) 10.

India Logan-Riley Global Indigenous Youth Caucus 11.

Hendrikus van Hensbergen (Action for Conservation) 12.
Jennifer Larbie (Christian Aid, deputising for Amanda Mukwashi) 13.

Kamran Shezad (Faith for the Climate, Bahu Trust) 14.

Laurie Lee (CARE, deputising for Michelle Nunn) 15.

Lewis Pugh (UN Patron of the Oceans) 16.

Shahin Ashraf (Islamic Relief, deputising for Naser Haghamed) 17.

Pooven Moodley (Natural Justice) 18.

Sarah Colenbrander (Overseas Development Institute) 19.

Ridhima Pandey (Youth activist) 20.

Mary Kinyua (Fairtrade Foundation) 21.

Tim Wainwright (WaterAid) 22.


William Farrell (Tories for Climate Action and Conservative Environment Network) Apologies 1.

Dr Muhammed Musa (BRAC) 2.

Shehnaaz Moosa (SouthSouthNorth) HMG attendees: 1.

Nick Baker, Deputy Director, Partnerships and Engagement, COP26 unit 1 2.

Anum Ahmed, Youth Engagement Lead, COP26 unit 3.

Rebecca Thurston, Youth Engagement, COP26 unit 4.

Emma Judkins, Civil Society Engagement, COP26 unit 5.

Joanna MacGregor, Negotiations Strategy, COP26 unit 6.
Salka Sigurdardottir, Head of Cross-Cutting Issues, COP26 unit 7.

Robyn Mawdsley, Gender and ACE lead, COP26 unit 8.

Harriet Willets, Finance Campaign, COP26 unit High level champions 1.

Sayo Ayodele, People Engagement and Special Projects Lead, UNFCCC High-Level Champion Actions: 1.

COP26 officials to share with participants two slide decks that were presented.

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COP26 officials to share proposal of agenda items for future meetings.

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Participants to share feedback on which future agenda items they would like to lead.

Item 1 - Welcome COP President Designate (CPD) reflected on his recent international visits and highlighted that whilst there is a lot of work to be done ahead of COP26, there is real momentum building and a willingness across parties and non-state actors to make COP26 in Glasgow a success.
Co-chair Bella Lack reflected on the platform we must give to those most impacted by climate change and emphasised that there is a real opportunity to make COP26 the most inclusive, diverse and ambitious COP.

Bella also encouraged council members to promote the application window for youth to attend the Youth4Climate2021: Driving Ambition event hosted by COP26 partner the Government of Italy in Milan this September.
Item 2 - Discussion: Climate and Development Ministerial (Clare Shakya, IIED) Clare explained an NGO consortium comprising IIED, E3G, WRI and Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre as supporting the UK Presidency in facilitating engagement ahead of the Climate and Development Ministerial.

Clare presented the consortium’s planning for this, and provided feedback to advisory council members on discussions taking place at the workshops.
The workshops focused on gathering lived 2 experience, particularly from the global south, on the following four themes the Ministerial is seeking to address: responding to climate impacts; fiscal space and sustainability; enhancing access to finance; and mobilisation of finance.

Attendees reflected on whether the infrastructure of managing climate finance needs to be repaired or re-imagined.
Attendees acknowledged the system as it stands is not user-friendly for climate finance to reach communities on the frontline of climate change.

The importance of placing grassroots communities at the forefront of these discussions was emphasised.
Item 3 - Discussion: Gender and Climate Change (Salka Sigurdardottir COP26 Unit, Laurie Lee CARE and Jennifer Larbie Christian Aid) Salka, Laurie, and Jennifer provided an overview of the differentiated impacts of climate change on women and girls, the importance of engaging stakeholders representing women and girls, and how climate action that isn’t gender-responsive can reinforce gender inequalities.
Laurie presented the enhanced UNFCCC Gender Action Plan, highlighting that Parties’ NDCs must take gender into account.

Salka provided an overview of the COP26 Presidency’s approach to gender equality and its key objectives in this regard.

Attendees noted the importance of representation of women and girls from the most climate vulnerable communities but also at the negotiation level at the COP.
It was noted that indigenous women, in particular, will be critical in the knowledge they can bring to leading climate solutions.

Item 4 - Closing Remarks CPD welcomed the discussion and proposed that slides be shared ahead of meetings to allow for participants to engage in the material ahead of discussion.

Bella emphasised that we need to empower the communities most impacted by climate change and not just see them as victims.
Bella provided final remarks that it is inspiring to imagine a different future on climate action, emphasising the vital role civil society will play in building back better.

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