YSEC at COP
The Yale Student Environmental Coalition has been involved with the UNFCCC COP for well over a decade. Whether its working with partner NGOs and IGOs or conducting independent research and advocacy projects, we ask ourselves what meaningful youth participation can look like.
COP 31 Projects
Youth Coalition White Papers
This project will amplify youth perspectives on COP31 through an analysis of international climate negotiations and their outcomes. Combining policy research with youth advocacy, the report will identify priorities for future climate action and provide practical guidance for student environmental organizations seeking to translate international commitments into local change.
University Environmental Leadership and Strategy Workshop
What does it mean to be a student environmentalist? This interactive workshop at COP31 will bring together university environmental leaders from around the world to reimagine the future of campus environmentalism, develop shared priorities, and build an international network for sustained collaboration beyond the conference.
Biodiversity Practical Safeguards Brief
As biodiversity credits emerge as a new mechanism for financing conservation, how can we ensure they protect the communities and ecosystems they are intended to support? This project will examine the intersection of biodiversity finance, customary land rights, and local governance, developing a practical safeguards framework to promote equitable and community-centered conservation.
Energy Infrastructure Mapping
Decarbonizing buildings requires looking beyond the buildings themselves. Through GIS mapping and comparative case studies, this project will explore how buildings interact with surrounding energy and transportation infrastructure, identifying systemic barriers and opportunities for more integrated approaches to urban decarbonization.
Financial and Climate Literacy Gaps Research Brief
How can financial tools help communities navigate the growing economic risks of climate change? This project will investigate gaps in financial and climate literacy, examining how access to credit, savings, and insurance shapes the resilience of lower-income households and identifying opportunities for more inclusive climate finance.
Critical Materials Supply Chain Resilience Policy Brief
The technologies driving the clean energy transition and artificial intelligence depend on complex, globally interconnected supply chains. Focusing on critical materials such as helium, gallium, and polysilicon, this project will investigate the relationship between carbon emissions, geopolitical vulnerabilities, and supply chain resilience, exploring innovative policy and modeling approaches to building more secure and sustainable systems.
Biomimicry Design Laboratory
What can nature teach us about addressing water scarcity? In collaboration with the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC) and local partners, this interactive design laboratory at COP31 will explore nature-inspired solutions to tourism-related water challenges in Antalya, Türkiye, combining engineering, participatory design, and community perspectives to imagine more resilient water systems.
Cascade! An Art and Photography Exhibition
A cascade begins with the transfer of energy. An idea becomes inspiration, inspiration becomes action, and action creates the conditions for further change. At a time of declining political will and ambition, Cascade reminds us that change does not occur in isolation. We are individual water droplets, each carrying the potential to contribute to a much larger stream of collective action.
2026 Partners
Learn more about who we are working with.
Yale School of the Environment
Oxford Climate Society
Union of the Mediterranean
Monash University
SEKEM Development Foundation
Société Météorologique de France
Green Economics Institute
Bring Back Green Foundation
Global Law Thinkers Society
Universal Versatile Society
Non-Timber Forest Products-Exchange Programme Incorporated
Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC)
And more!
