Overview
Organized by the United Nations ESCAP, Hackathon Thailand, the Youth Empowerment in Climate Action Platform, UNESCO, the UNFCCC RCC Asia-Pacific, and the Global Climate Action Partnership and Asia LEDS Partnership as an associated event to the 11th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD), this climate action ideathon engaged youth from the Asia-Pacific region (ages 18-30) to develop practical, yet innovative, solutions to accelerate climate action. To see more information on the solutions, see the tab "Documents."
This final session of the APFSD Youth Climathon saw the presentation of innovative youth solutions for climate action from the Youth Climathon finalists. Four talented teams of youth presented their solutions covering the themes of urban resilience, climate smart agriculture, and natural ecosystems. These solutions represented over a month of work from preceding workshops, pitches, and trainings and are backed by the passion and ingenuity of youth. Youth are critical stakeholders in climate action and in securing sustainable futures. Engaging them in solutions today is key for tomorrow.
Congratulations to the finalists for wining the following awards:
- Grand Award: Team Triple Echoes
- Innovation Award: Team Terra Grow
- Judges' Appreciation Award: Team YouthDee
- Audience Appreciation Award: Team Carbon Phaseout
Team Triple Echoes introduces Echo Block, an advanced bio-based construction material uniquely equipped with an activated carbon layer and increased porosity, not only addressing the urban heat island phenomenon in Kuala Lumpur but also tackling oil palm biomass accumulation, offering a versatile and cost-effective solution for construction in both urban and rural settings.
Team Terra Grow addresses Southeast Asian farmers' tech hesitations with a climate smart agritech solution, optimizing production and resource efficiency through precision agriculture techniques and empowering Southeast Asian farmers for more sustainable and resilient farming practices.
Team YouthDee addresses urban heat challenges with Thermocane Shield, a sustainable heat insulator from repurposed sugarcane waste, addressing urban heat islands in the Asia-Pacific, designed for SMEs to reduce electricity costs and minimize air conditioning usage, contributing to greenhouse gas emission reduction.
Team Carbon Phaseout's GAIA app guides users in choosing travel options with minimal waste and emissions to protect ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region by 2030.
For more on the preceding online sessions of the Youth Climathon, see: Youth Climathon: Innovative solutions for the acceleration of climate action at the 11th APFSD- Online Segment
For more details, see the concept note under the tab "DOCUMENTS."
Background
There is a growing recognition of the critical role that youth play in climate action. As highlighted in the youth statement presented at the 79th ESCAP Commission Session, youth across Asia and the Pacific are calling for more engagement in climate action and support for their development, including in implementing climate action solutions. Youth are in a strong position to drive solutions forward as they are in tune with the issues and developments of the present, are technologically savvy, and have the energetic, innovative, and disruptive approaches needed to accelerate climate action. As the recent United Nations Secretary-General policy brief on meaningful youth engagement in policy and decision-making processes points out “Youth are key to identifying new solutions that will secure the breakthroughs that our world urgently needs.”
Nowhere is this more applicable than in the Asia-Pacific region. Asia and the Pacific is home to many of the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change and is home to over half of the global youth. It is also the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. While progress needs to be accelerated for all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be met by 2030 in Asia and the Pacific, only SDG 13 on climate action has seen an overall regression in progress, according to ESCAP’s SDG Gateway. Limited decarbonization and green growth across sectors, inefficient food systems, mounting losses due to natural disasters, and continued deforestation and other forms of ecosystem degradation are some of the major reasons for the poor progress. Additionally, a lack of engagement across the whole of society stands as a major challenge. Thus, international cooperation and collaboration is mentioned in the Secretary-General's Climate Action Acceleration Agenda, which would also entail region-wide engagement of youth in climate action for a sustainable future. Fortunately, societies are already leveraging the presence of large young populations, but more needs to be done.
The 11th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) was held from 20-23 February 2024 and examined the multiple crises of poverty, food security, and climate change in the region and their relationship to each other. The APFSD is an annual, inclusive intergovernmental forum to support follow-up and review of progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals and presents an ideal opportunity to bring innovative youth solutions on climate action forward to a diverse regional audience.
Read more about climathons: https://climathon.climate-kic.org/
