LCOY Bahrain - Manama

This project aims to enhance and facilitate youth’s participation in COP processes and cultivating a localized understanding of climate in Bahrain. Little data is available on the progress in mainstreaming of climate in education, and while initiatives exist to gather voices around climate, formalized initiatives remain limited.

This project is part of YOUNGO’s wider initiative of hosting LCOYs (Local Conferences of Youth) as input for RCOYs (Regional Conferences of Youth), which in turn inform a youth statement at COP28. 

LCOY Bahrain consisted of a series of exercises and expert talks. 27 youth participants from different educational and industry backgrounds attended, this included students, young professionals, activists, and young leaders interested in environmental and climate issues. The event consisted of a policy discussion exercise to arrive at common themes and expressions around climate in Bahrain, followed by two talks by Dr. Reem Almealla and Dr. Fernanda Lonardoni. They spoke from their expertise on climate activism and the role of urban development in climate, respectively. The event concluded with facilitated statement writing in groups.

The event culminated in the creation of Bahrain’s first Local Youth Statement, reflecting the climate aspirations of  youth in Bahrain and was successfully integrated into the Global Youth Statement for COP28. The youth expressed areas of opportunity and aspirations for climate mitigation and adaptation in Bahrain, grouped into 5 scopes representing cross-cutting opportunity areas: elevating expertise and cross-discipline knowledge for climate innovation, fostering climate education and public awareness, expanding green finance for economic transitions, promoting nature-based solutions for thriving natural and built environments, and enhancing performance monitoring for manufacturing industries.

Beyond the RCOY, the aim is to have output from LCOY Bahrain feed into national decision making processes. The long term expected outcomes are to gather insights on climate from participants of diverse backgrounds to contribute to a localized understanding of climate change specific to Bahrain and its challenges.

Collaborators:

LCOY Bahrain was co-organized by Manama Hub and Budaiya Hub, in partnership with the Bahrain Science Center for SDGs - Ministry of Youth Affairs, YOUNGO, UN-Habitat, Dr. Reem Almealla