About the coalition

A global space for young women shaping climate justice.

The Coalition of Young Women for Climate Justice brings together young women, movements, networks, institutions, and allies committed to changing who shapes climate decisions.

It is a coalition, not a single organization. Its strength comes from the leadership, knowledge, relationships, and action of the people and movements connected through it.

Join the CoalitionRead Our Shared Agenda

Our story

Why this coalition was created

Young women have always been part of climate leadership.

They protect ecosystems, organize communities, produce knowledge, lead enterprises, care for families, negotiate policy, defend rights, build technology, strengthen food systems, and imagine new ways of living with the planet.

Yet their leadership is often treated as emerging rather than established. Their participation is celebrated while their influence remains limited. Their stories are amplified while their work remains underfunded. They are invited to speak, but not always given power to decide.

The Coalition of Young Women for Climate Justice was created from the belief that young women need stronger collective infrastructure around their leadership. They need spaces to connect across borders, build shared positions, exchange knowledge, engage decision-makers, access opportunities, and move from participation to influence.

The coalition is launching ahead of COP31 because global climate negotiations offer an urgent opportunity to organize, advocate, and shape public debate. But the coalition is not a COP31 project. It is being built as a long-term global platform for climate justice leadership, solidarity, and collective action.

What makes this a coalition

Our role is to connect, not control.

Coalitions work differently from conventional organizations. The Coalition of Young Women for Climate Justice does not seek to absorb, direct, or replace the work of its members. Members retain their own identities, missions, strategies, and areas of expertise.

The coalition creates shared space where people and movements can:

  • Build relationships
  • Identify common priorities
  • Coordinate advocacy
  • Share knowledge
  • Develop collective positions
  • Mobilize around urgent issues
  • Open pathways into decision-making
  • Support one another across regions and movements

The coalition’s value lies in what becomes possible when leadership connects.

Our vision

A world where young women shape climate decisions at every level and lead equitable, inclusive, and sustainable futures for people and the planet.

Our mission

The Coalition of Young Women for Climate Justice connects young women and allies to strengthen collective leadership, influence climate policy and finance, amplify community-led solutions, and advance a shared climate justice agenda.

Principles

What guides our work

These principles shape how the coalition centres young women's leadership, works with allies, and holds itself accountable.

Young women lead

Young women are political actors, knowledge holders, organizers, innovators, researchers, negotiators, and decision-makers. The coalition centres their leadership while creating clear and responsible roles for allies.

Climate justice is intersectional

Climate change cannot be separated from gender, race, disability, class, age, health, care, migration, colonial histories, land, work, sexuality, and access to power. Our work recognizes these connections.

Lived experience is expertise

Knowledge developed through community experience, Indigenous traditions, organizing, care, survival, and local practice must be respected alongside academic and institutional knowledge.

Participation must carry influence

Being present is not enough. Meaningful participation requires access to information, time to prepare, accessible communication, resources to attend, the ability to shape agendas, and accountability for what happens afterward.

Collaboration must be equitable

Partnership should not reproduce the inequalities the climate movement is trying to change. We value transparency, shared decision-making, fair recognition, and responsible use of power.

Accessibility is foundational

Accessibility is not an additional feature. It shapes how meetings are designed, how information is shared, how events are funded, and how people participate.

Solidarity crosses borders

Climate impacts are unequal but connected. The coalition supports relationships that allow young women across regions to learn from one another and act together.

Accountability builds trust

The coalition must remain accountable to its members, its stated values, and the communities whose realities inform its agenda.

Who the coalition is for

A young women-led coalition with space for committed allies.

The coalition centres young women across diverse identities, geographies, abilities, experiences, and areas of work.

Allies may include institutions, networks, governments, researchers, funders, media, and private-sector actors that respect the coalition’s principles and support young women’s leadership.

Participation may include

  • Young women climate activists
  • Grassroots organizers
  • Indigenous young women
  • Disabled young women
  • Researchers and students
  • Farmers and food-system leaders
  • Climate entrepreneurs
  • Artists, journalists, and storytellers
  • Engineers, scientists, and technologists
  • Care workers and health advocates
  • Human rights defenders
  • Policy advocates and negotiators
  • Youth-led and feminist movements

Long-term ambition

Built for the work ahead

The coalition's long-term ambition is to become a trusted global platform for young women's climate justice leadership. Over time, it will support:
  • Stronger regional and global connections
  • Shared advocacy priorities
  • Young women's participation in climate governance
  • Collective policy positions
  • Public campaigns
  • Research and knowledge exchange
  • Cross-movement collaboration
  • Partnerships that move resources and influence
  • Annual reporting on young women and climate justice
  • A sustained presence in global climate processes

The coalition will evolve through consultation, participation, and accountable governance.

Join the CoalitionRead about governance