COY21 Opens in Antalya as Young People Launch Global Youth Statement 2026 for COP31

Antalya, Türkiye — The 21st Conference of Children and Youth on Climate Change (COY21) opened in Antalya on 5 November 2026, bringing young climate leaders from around the world together at Akdeniz University just four days before the COP31 climate summit begins in the same city.

Organised by YOUNGO, the official children and youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COY21 runs from 5 to 7 November under the theme “Climate on every coast”. It is the world’s largest gathering of children and young people focused on climate change, and its main outcome — the Global Youth Statement — is carried into the COP31 negotiations that follow.

Global Youth Statement 2026 launched

YOUNGO launched the Global Youth Statement 2026 ahead of COY21, describing it as a collective step towards turning youth voices into policy priorities, negotiation-aligned demands and actionable climate commitments ahead of COP31. “Young people are not just demanding a seat at the table. We are shaping the policies, influencing climate negotiations, and calling for decisions that reflect the realities, rights, and aspirations of children and young people worldwide,” YOUNGO said at the launch.

The statement comes in five parts: the full version with the collective vision and thematic policy demands; a child-friendly version that makes climate policy accessible to children; negotiation-aligned demands that connect global youth priorities with national climate realities; a national and regional version drawing for the first time directly on the demands of the regional and local conferences of youth; and the 10 Key Priorities, described by YOUNGO as a clear, collective call for the priorities that must shape climate action and negotiations.

YOUNGO says the documents are more than publications: they are tools for advocacy, participation, accountability and policy engagement, designed to bridge the gap between youth perspectives and the decisions that shape their future. “As we move towards COY21 and COP31, our message is clear: children and young people must not only be heard; their priorities must inform the decisions, financing, and implementation that follow,” the constituency said.

How the statement was built

The Global Youth Statement is built from the ground up. Inputs are gathered from YOUNGO’s thematic working groups, institutional partners and individual youth submissions, and from the outputs of local and regional conferences of youth held around the world through the year. More than 50 thematic policy hackathon sessions then refine those inputs into negotiation-ready demands, before a dedicated team of volunteers synthesises them into a single document aligned with the UNFCCC process. The final statement is formally handed over to COP Parties, the UNFCCC Secretariat, the COP Presidency and key negotiators.

The scale of the process is large: the 2025 edition of the statement brought together more than 30,000 voices from over 150 countries, representing more than 80,000 hours of creation, consultation and synthesis across more than 20 thematic areas, according to the Conference of Youth. COY itself is YOUNGO’s flagship gathering before each COP, with more than 150 countries represented across recent editions.

Youth voice on food and farming

A separate Food and Agriculture Global Youth Statement 2026 has also been published ahead of COP31. It was developed through five open consultations in four languages — Portuguese, French, Spanish and Arabic — along with three open calls for written inputs from local and regional youth conferences, partner organisations and youth groups, and two policy hackathons.

That statement brings together youth priorities on gender justice and human rights, child nutritional security, agrobiodiversity and seed sovereignty, Indigenous knowledge and locally led action. Its negotiation priorities cover the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Agriculture, adaptation, climate finance, just transition, loss and damage and the second Global Stocktake.

From Antalya to the COP31 negotiating table

COP31 opens in Antalya on 9 November and runs until 20 November 2026, with nearly 200 countries taking part. The COP31 Presidency has made youth and education a core part of its action agenda, noting that 1.8 billion people worldwide are aged between 10 and 24 — the generation that will live with climate impacts the longest — and aiming to move youth participation beyond symbolic representation towards genuine influence at the negotiating table.

Young people will also have a formal space inside COP31 itself: the Youth-led Climate Forum 2026, the official annual youth space at the COP, is accepting applications from children and young people attending COP31 to speak or moderate its thematic sessions, with applications closing on 6 November 2026. The forum’s sessions this year will spotlight Pacific, Indigenous and Global South youth voices, and carry youth priorities and the Global Youth Statement into the negotiations.

The COP31 Presidency has also appointed a Youth Climate Champion — Australia’s Sally Higgins, a farmer from Queensland — to bring youth perspectives into decision-making spaces, and offered subsidised accommodation in Antalya for young delegates aged 18 to 35 from small island developing states and least developed countries. COY21’s own cultural programme runs under the theme “One Planet, Many Cultures, Shared Future”, with Turkish youth organisations supporting the gathering alongside co-hosts from Australia.

Read our earlier report on the conference here: COY21 in Antalya: World’s Largest Youth Climate Gathering Sets Agenda Before COP31. For what is at stake when the summit opens, see COP31 Opens in Antalya on Monday: What Is at Stake at the UN Climate Summit.

Key facts

• COY21, the 21st Conference of Children and Youth on Climate Change, runs 5–7 November 2026 at Akdeniz University in Antalya, Türkiye, organised by YOUNGO.
• The Global Youth Statement 2026 was launched ahead of COY21 with five deliverables: a full version, a child-friendly version, negotiation-aligned demands, a national and regional version, and the 10 Key Priorities.
• The statement is formally handed over to COP Parties, the UNFCCC Secretariat, the COP Presidency and negotiators before COP31.
• COP31 takes place in Antalya from 9 to 20 November 2026, with nearly 200 countries taking part.
• 1.8 billion people worldwide are aged 10 to 24, according to the COP31 Presidency’s youth and education agenda.

Frequently asked questions

What is COY21?

COY21 is the 21st Conference of Children and Youth on Climate Change, the world’s largest gathering of children and young people focused on climate change. Organised by YOUNGO, the official children and youth constituency of the UNFCCC, it takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 5 to 7 November 2026, immediately before COP31.

What is the Global Youth Statement 2026?

It is the official children and youth policy outcome of COY, consolidating climate priorities and policy recommendations from young people worldwide into a single advocacy document. The 2026 edition was launched ahead of COY21 and is presented to the UNFCCC and COP Parties, stakeholders and observers.

What are the 10 Key Priorities?

The 10 Key Priorities are one of the five deliverables of the Global Youth Statement 2026. YOUNGO describes them as a clear, collective call for the priorities that must shape climate action and negotiations at COP31.

How does the statement reach COP31 negotiators?

The final statement is formally handed over to COP Parties, the UNFCCC Secretariat, the COP Presidency and key negotiators, and young people carry it into the negotiations through lobbying, bilateral meetings, side events and the Youth-led Climate Forum at COP31.

When does COP31 start, and what role do young people play there?

COP31 opens in Antalya on 9 November 2026 and runs until 20 November. Youth take part through the Youth-led Climate Forum, the COP31 Presidency Youth Climate Champion, and youth delegates in country delegations, with the Presidency aiming to move youth participation beyond symbolic representation towards genuine influence.