National Youth Statement Launched in Canberra
Last week, on the 15th of October, the Australian National Youth Statement was launched in Parliament House by young climate leaders, including co-Authors of the report, Senator Charlotte Walker, Josh Wilson MP, and Kate Chaney MP.
The statement is developed on the findings of a process called the Australian Local Conference of Youth. This is a national consultation for young people and children, focussing on climate change. They happen across the world, and are run by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's official youth consitutuency, which is called YOUNGO.
This year, the 2026 Australian LCOY was designed and led by young volunteers from UN Youth Australia, and the Australian Youth for International Climate Engagement with the support of UNICEF Australia. It engaged with 1,166 young people across every state and territory, including the Northern Territory, and combined a total of 30 consultations and surveys.
The statement itself is written by the same core group that organises it, including contributors from UN Youth Australia, and the Australian Youth for International Climate Engagement, as well as the UNICEF Australia Young Ambassadors and participants in Local Conferences of Youth. This year, the statement examined the key issues of:
Climate Justice
Disaster Risk Reduction
Adaption and Resilience
Mitigation and a Just Transition
Climate Health and Wellbeing
Child and Youth Education and Engagement
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Climate Leadership
Pacific Climate Leadership, Priorities and Partnership
Nature, Biodiversity and the Ocean
If you are interested in learning more, you can read more about the report here.
"Our generation is united by the shared reality that the world is changing. This is the reality that this statement carries – the reality that the world is getting hotter, that brings floods and fires into our communities and that makes our homes increasingly unliveable. But young people still have hope. Hope that we can protect this country, build a sustainable future in which no community is left behind and that we can preserve the environment for generations to come."
-UNICEF Australia's Foreword, written by UNICEF Young Ambassador, Esther Klerck (She/Her)
UNICEF Australia. (2026). Australian local conference of youth 2026 | UNICEF Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org.au/lcoy-2026 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2026].
Lutz, T., Harkins, G., Turk, A., Conser, D., Maknoor, S., Archer, S., Murphy, C., Chhabra, J., Williams-Jones, T., Shaw, C., Klerck, E., Ishimura Wright, H., Jang, H., Gelder, L., Hegarty, J., Fidge, P., Clark, T., Sarkar, U., Okolie, F., Azam, W. and Fisher, Z. (2026). National child and youth statement on climate change. [online] UNICEF Australia, pp.1–52. Available at: https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/99f113b4-e5f7-00d2-23c0-c83ca2e4cfa2/3e2cde59-6ba1-430d-a111-b3613a5d0cda/UA-LCOY-NationalChild-YouthStatement-2026.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2026].
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