Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698927636452.pdf (United Kingdom)
Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council Meeting Minutes, 16 December 2020 13:00-15:00, virtual meeting Co-chairs: Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, COP President Designate and climate youth activist, Elizabeth Wathuti.

Attendees 1.

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

Elizabeth Wathuti (Green Generation Initiative, co-chair) 3.

Bella Lack (youth activist) 4.

Alasdair Roxburgh (Friends of the Earth, deputising for Hugh Knowles and Miriam Turner) 5.

Amanda Mukwashi (Christian Aid) 6.


Andrew Norton (International Institute for Environment and Development) 7.

Bernadette Fischler (World Wide Fund for Nature, deputising for Claire Blanchard) 8.

Graeme Reed (International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change) 9.

Hendrikus van Hensbergen (Action for Conservation) 10.

India Logan-Riley (Global Indigenous Youth Caucus) 11.

Kamran Shezad (Faith for the Climate, Bahu Trust) 12.

Laurie Lee (CARE, deputising for Michelle Nunn) 13.
Sushill Ram (Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network, deputising for Layne Robinson) 14.

Donna Lagdameo (Red Cross Red Crescent Movement) 15.

Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan (Africans Rising) 16.

Dr Muhammed Musa (BRAC) 17.

Naser Haghamed (Islamic Relief) 18.

Pooven Moodley (Natural Justice) 19.

Mary Kinyua (Fairtrade Foundation) 20.

Tim Wainwright (WaterAid) 21.

William Farrell (Tories for Climate Action and Conservative Environment Network) 22.
Yunus Arikan (ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability) 23.

Juan Carlos Jintiach (International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change) 24.

David Bush (Lewis Pugh Foundation, deputising for Lewis Pugh) 1 Apologies 1.

Aryaana Khan (Alliance for Climate Education) 2.

Ridhima Pandey (Youth activist) 3.

Rémi Orsier (Docip - Center for Documentation, Research and Information) 4.

Shehnaaz Moosa (SouthSouthNorth) 5.

Sarah Colenbrander (Overseas Development Institute) HMG attendees: 1.
Camilla Born, Deputy Director, Strategy COP26 unit 2.

Joanna MacGregor, Negotiations Strategy, COP26 unit 3.

Emma Judkins, Civil Society Engagement, COP26 unit 4.

Harry Bowles, Youth Engagement, COP26 unit 5.

Anum Ahmed, Youth Engagement Lead, COP26 unit 6.

Matt Toombs, Director, Partnerships and Engagement, COP26 unit 7.

Natasha Adkins, Policy Adviser to COP26 President Designate, COP unit 8.

Nikita Mistry, Civil Society and Inclusion Lead, COP26 unit 9.
Nick Baker, Deputy Director, Partnerships and Engagement, COP26 unit High Level Champions: 1.

Nigel Topping, High Level Champion Actions 1.

Members were asked to share their views on how they would like the sub groups to work.

2.

Member input to be fed into the planning for the March event.

Introduction: The COP President Designate (CPD) welcomed members and thanked Elizabeth for agreeing to co-chair the meeting.
CPD also reflected on the recent successes of the Climate Ambition Summit, the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan and the UK’s NDC announcement.

Elizabeth thanked the COP unit for being asked to co-chair and the opportunity to give her voice as a young person from the Global South; raising the importance of holding everyone to account, addressing issues of weather conditions, food insecurity and forced migration.
2 Item 1 - Council Member Feedback Matt explained the importance of council members shaping agenda items and thanked members for supplying feedback on the first meeting.

Nikita gave an overview of the feedback and highlighted the desire to work together to ensure more voices are heard, with particular focus on hearing from young people, women and Indigenous Peoples.

For those who gave consent for their email to be shared, a distribution list has been set up for members to convene their own discussions.
Attendees were happy to help inform agenda items and highlighted that it will be important to use members’ perspectives and expertise to support a successful outcome at COP26.

Members expressed the importance of being notified about events such as the Climate Ambition Summit in advance and also expressed an interest in discussing youth events, through organising themselves into sub groups and hearing from grassroots representatives directly.
Item 2 - Supporting Climate Vulnerable Countries COP26 officials outlined the plan for the Climate and Development Ministerial in March, recognising the need to focus on the priorities of those most vulnerable to climate change.

COP officials welcomed thoughts from members on how to deliver enhanced practical outcomes.

Attendees noted the importance of language and considering nuance around the topic of vulnerability.
Attendees offered examples of how community expertise can be used in combating climate change.

Council members highlighted the role community-based adaptation can play, bringing together decision makers and a cross-section of society, supply chains and incentivisation through trade.

Members also highlighted the importance of the G7, G20 and engagement with the United States’ administration.
Camilla and Joanna thanked participants for their insight and added that views will help inform discussions at the climate and development Ministerial in March.

3 Item 3 - Discussion on inclusion and supporting climate vulnerable countries Co-chair, Elizabeth provided an overview of the importance in supporting grassroots communities and the need to empower and showcase real world solutions led by local communities at the national and international level.
Attendees noted that those on the frontline of climate change experience the greatest impact.

Focussing on support; attendees noted the importance of self determination for climate and legal empowerment and bridging the gap between these communities and policymakers.

Others noted the disconnect between the local and national levels for adaptation planning and the need to share grassroots innovation at this level and at COP.
Attendees also expressed the need for gender responsive finance and the requirement in creating more climate friendly solutions and working together through regulation and partnerships.

The COP President Designate closed the meeting by thanking Elizabeth for chairing the council and suggested Elizabeth consider chairing future breakout sessions with Bella.
The COP President Designate agreed with Elizabeth on the importance of ensuring COP is as inclusive as possible.The COP President Designate thanked members for a helpful discussion and restated his commitment to working closely and openly together as we plan for COP26.
If you have any questions, please contact nikita.mistry1@cabinetoffice.gov.uk 4 COP President Designate Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council Terms of Reference (ToR) Annex A Role of COP26 the Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council members will call for and champion greater climate action and ambition around the world, ensuring that the views of those most affected by climate change are amplified.
They will support the UK’s efforts as the incoming COP26 Presidency to achieve significant progress in the lead-up to, and at COP26, and, work in partnership with us to deliver an inclusive, all of society COP26.

Objectives of the Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council ● Work together to call for greater global ambition and action on climate change.
● Share insight and views into the policy development and planning of COP, with a particular focus on those issues affecting those most affected by climate change.

● Work with the incoming Presidency to ensure there is a strong civil society and youth presence at COP26 which is inclusive and integrated with the event as a whole.

● Amplify the voices of those most affected by climate change.
● Advise how best to showcase the role of civil society and young people leading and calling for ambitious climate action in the run up to, and during COP26.

● Actively support COP26 themes, amplifying messaging and demonstrating that action is happening.

Membership Members include internationally focussed actors across a range of sectors who are taking positive climate action and seeking to profile the voices of those most affected by climate change.
Members are selected due to their particular influence in their area of expertise or interest and are working to mobilise and galvanise climate action ahead of COP26.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and President Designate of COP26 will co-Chair the Civil Society and Youth Advisory group.

They will be supported by two co-Chairs.

5 Delegation Each member can provide one named delegate in the event the principal can't attend.
In this instance we strongly encourage each organisation to consider diversity and inclusion in their named delegate.

Timing Meetings will be held regularly until COP26 and the first meeting is in October 2020.

The Chair/co-Chair will have flexibility to call additional meetings if necessary.

Agendas Each attendee has the opportunity to recommend agenda items.

Agendas are to be drafted and cleared by the COP26 Unit.

Secretariat Secretariat to be provided by the COP26 Unit.
Minutes and actions to be drafted by the Secretariat and agreed by all parties, for internal use only and not for publication.

Please note that the COP26 Unit (Cabinet Office) does have statutory obligations such as the Freedom of Information Act (2000).

Media To support the council's objectives, attendees are asked to support the work of this group through fulfilling media opportunities.
In being appointed to the COP26 civil society and youth advisory council, individuals are asked if they are willing for their name to appear as a COP26 Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council on the COP26/GOV.UK websites and in related media materials.

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