One of the Asia-Pacific region's biggest youth climate gatherings, the Regional Conference of Youth (RCOY) Asia-Pacific 2026, ended on Tuesday (6 October) at the CCDB Climate Centre in Gazipur. The four-day conference was held in Bangladesh for the first time.
It was organised jointly by 12 youth organisations from across the region, and in Bangladesh by Sikta Bangladesh and BRAC University's Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER). Recognised by YOUNGO, the youth constituency of the UN climate body UNFCCC, it took the theme 'From Mountain to Sea: United for Climate Justice'. More than 500 young people, climate activists, researchers, development workers and policymakers from 28 countries took part.
Panel discussions, workshops, COP-style simulations and networking covered climate finance, sustainable energy, environmental protection, youth leadership, jobs, and the participation of women and marginalised people. Participants drew up a joint Regional Youth Statement, to be presented at the Conference of Youth and COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, from 9 to 20 November.
At the closing ceremony at BRAC University, A K M Sohel, head of the UN wing of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), said the loans being taken now will have to be repaid by today's young people, so their views must count in decisions, and those views must rest on facts, data and scientific evidence.
Miguel Mateos Munoz, head of communication and advocacy at UNICEF Bangladesh, reminded the participants that many voices outside the conference also need to be represented. Bangladesh's NDC 3.0 puts children and young people at the centre of climate action, he said, and the real work now is implementation. The report is from Channel i Online.
Source: Channel i Online
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