| Belém, Brazil, will host the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in about three weeks. In Lüneburg, Germany, around 1,600 young adults aged 14 to 30 from across Germany and the world gathered this weekend for the Local Youth Climate Conference (LCOY).
The focus was not on resolutions or demands, but on exchange, networking, and mutual reinforcement that young people’s interest in the climate crisis remains unbroken. The program: over 200 events, including panel discussions on climate and the rise of the right, workshops on climate communication and international climate policy.
The mood at the conference is positive. At a panel on the question “Has the climate ceased to matter to us?” the speakers from politics, science, media, and civil society spoke in unison. “The climate debate has, indeed, moved to the background and climate-policy progress faces being questioned,” says Elena Kold, a journalist at Correctiv. But the topic is established in society.
The 17-year-old Janneke from Leipzig had already attended LCOY last year. This time she returns with a group of fellow students and the question of how schools can be made more sustainable. They describe the conference as a place that “creates awareness of problems and gives hope because so many engaged people come together.”
Practice Space, Also for Understanding
For Line Niedegger, who herself runs a workshop on the increasing criminalization of climate activists, the conference is a practice space. “Here we can understand and discuss the climate crisis in all its complexity and really contribute our perspectives and expertise, rather than just being symbolically represented.”
That among the around 350 speakers there are representatives from business associations, ministries, and parties such as the FDP and the BSW is viewed critically by some participants. “I would have liked more systemic critique at the LCOY overall,” says 22-year-old Marvin Best. After an intense Q&A session with the climate-policy spokesperson of the Federation of German Industry, Marc Oppermann, all agree. “Cross-cutting discussions across camps are fruitful and important, and there should be more exchange spaces like this,” Oppermann said.
The largest youth climate conference in Europe, which was free for all participants, was organized by BUNDjugend and funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and Climate Protection. The BUNDjugend also organizes in mid-November a “Youth Hub – Bélem in Berlin” parallel to the UN Climate Summit, where young people can accompany COP30 with a critical eye.
