Climate Cardinals appointed to UNESCO Youth Climate Action Network Steering Committee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York City, July 26, 2024 — Climate Cardinals is proud to announce that it has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the UNESCO Youth Climate Action Network (YoU-CAN) for a term that ends in 2025.

Climate Cardinals, a youth-led non-profit dedicated to expanding access to climate information globally, will be joining YoU-CAN, an effort to foster collaboration among climate organizations.

YoU-CAN is a network of youth-led and youth-focused organizations representing over ten million individuals. The network provides input on UNESCO’s climate-related initiatives and develops new youth-led action and research projects with the support of the intergovernmental agency.

Climate Cardinals will offer YoU-CAN expertise in youth empowerment and accessible and equitable climate education.  

For the first time, Climate Cardinals’ Founder Sophia Kianni was invited to deliver an inspiring speech at the opening of the 13th UNESCO Youth Forum on the social impact of climate change and the need to achieve a just transition, organized by UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector in November 2023, that gathered 173 youth participants from 154 Member States and Associate Members.

Climate Cardinals Vice President and Deputy Executive Director Hikaru Wakeel Hayakawa will represent the organization as part of the YoU-CAN Steering Committee. Hayakawa will be present in regular meetings and aid in project management for initiatives that align with the shared goals of UNESCO and the youth network. Thanks to Hikaru’s coordination and extraordinary commitment of the Climate Cardinals team, YoU-CAN was able to launch its first Study on “Youth Challenges and Actions in the Climate Crisis” in six UN languages in record time in July 2024.

 “YoU-CAN is an impressive initiative by UNESCO that empowers collaboration across youth networks, bringing together a diverse group of individuals to develop coalitions and learn from each other,” said Hayakawa. “Climate Cardinals is excited about the opportunity to bring together its expertise with those of other youth networks and UNESCO to push for systemic change.”

In addition, Hayakawa has acted as a focal point for the network’s communications task force, supporting identity design and an upcoming newsletter, and has been invited to share Climate Cardinals’ expertise in the context of the 2024 UNESCO Media Information and Literacy Hackathon.

 Climate Cardinals also plans to support and mobilize its young experts for YoU-CAN’s Youth Climate Action Survey and initiative on research in Africa and to co-lead the network’s COP29 youth newsroom in Baku, Azerbaijan.

 For inquiries, please contact: exec@climatecardinals.org.

 About Climate Cardinals

Climate Cardinals is a youth-led nonprofit organization dedicated to making the climate movement more accessible to non-English speakers and championing grassroots climate education. It aims to educate and empower a diverse coalition of people to address the climate crisis. The organization has mobilized more than 16,000 volunteers who translate and source climate information into more than 105 different languages.