Minister Ryan appoints new Climate Youth Delegate

The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, in collaboration with the National Youth Council of Ireland, is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Climate Youth Delegate for 2024-2025 under Ireland's annual Climate Youth Delegate Programme.

Beth Doherty, a final year law student at the University of Cambridge who has been involved in climate activism since 2019, has been appointed Ireland's next Climate Youth Delegate to join the National Climate Delegation for 2024-2025. Beth will join current Climate Youth Delegate, Jenny Salmon, as she completes the remainder of her term.

The purpose of the Climate Youth Delegate Programme is to ensure that the perspective and knowledge of young people, and their active participation in international climate policy and processes, informs the work of Ireland's National Climate Delegation.

The Climate Youth Delegates will be tasked with promoting Ireland's action on climate change through outreach, engagement and knowledge sharing with youth networks at home and abroad, including through a dedicated social media channel @climateyouthdelegate.irl on Instagram. Each Climate Youth Delegate will also be invited to attend international climate change negotiations as part of Ireland's official delegation, including COP29 in Azerbaijan later this year.

Commenting on the announcement Minister Ryan said:

"I am delighted to welcome Beth as Ireland's new Climate Youth Delegate for 2024-2025. The Climate Youth Delegate Programme, launched in 2023, continues to offer young people in Ireland an opportunity to contribute to Ireland's national and international climate policies. Ireland's young people are passionate and committed to addressing the crisis of climate change and this programme allows our national climate delegation to benefit from their knowledge and perspective on important issues which will affect their future. I look forward to working with both Beth and Jenny throughout their term as Climate Youth Delegates."

Beth said:

"We are at a point in time where impactful youth engagement is absolutely crucial. Following the focus at last year's COP for the need for a just transition away from fossil fuels, and as we go into COP29, we have the opportunity to deliver tangible paths towards climate justice that involve and empower young people and communities. I hope to meaningfully engage with young people from across Ireland to deliver their input to the delegation and use this to contribute to ensuring protection for our planet, addressing the harm already being experienced as a result of this crisis, and a just transition which delivers cross-society support and empowerment."

Jenny said:

"I'm so thrilled to be joined by another climate youth delegate. One of the best aspects of the role is the overlap between delegates. I learned so much from my predecessor in this role, Oileán, and I really hope to be able to share experiences from the last year with Beth, and learn lots from Beth too. I'm really looking forward to working with Beth to widen engagement with young people in Ireland about climate as much as we possibly can."

Further details on the programme and this year's delegates can be found on the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications website: Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications website.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

Climate Youth Delegate Programme

Each year, the Climate Youth Delegate Programme will appoint one young person from Ireland aged between 18-25 years to be part of Ireland's national and international climate change efforts for a term of 20 months. The goal of this programme is to provide the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with a channel to support the active participation of young people in international climate policy and processes and ensure Ireland's official delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) benefits from the perspectives and knowledges of youth in its work.

Each Climate Youth Delegate will be tasked with raising awareness of Ireland's international climate action efforts through informative and engaging social media posts, including, where possible, interviews with high-level representatives. Additionally, the Climate Youth Delegate will conduct outreach with youth communities and networks across Ireland to share knowledge and gather ideas and solutions to feed into Ireland's national and international climate change priorities.

For roughly six months of each year there will be an overlap of two Climate Youth Delegates, one serving as a junior and one as a senior. This longer term was implemented to enhance the learning opportunities arising from the role, encourage the building of strong networks and allow for additional support for each Delegate upon appointment to their role, with the senior Delegate acting in a mentorship role.

As part of their remit, the Climate Youth Delegate will be invited to accompany the Taoiseach, Ministers and departmental officials at different national and international climate change negotiations each year to represent the voices of Irish youth. These events may include:

• the National Youth Assembly on Climate
• the Annual Climate conference 'COP' (Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC)
• the meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies of the UNFCCC (SBs)

COP29 is the 29th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). COP29 will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 to 24 November 2024.