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Description
The legal responsibility of states regarding climate change is still unclear. We want the Czech republic to support a
campaign seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, and take an active stance towards the
human rights threat that climate change represents.
We will support Czech student movements in leading an advocacy campaign and join the international campaign
WY4CJ. The project seeks to encourage young people in the monitoring of public institutions, to strenghten the role of
local communities in climate activism and to influence the Czech republic`s position on the proposed resolution in the
UN.
Summary of project results
The project integrated the theme of a Climate Advisory Opinion into the awareness of advocacy groups in the Czech Republic. Simultaneously, we created an active Czech
group for the international campaign World Youth For Climate Justice. We introduced a new aspect of addressing the climate crisis to the young, active population in
the Czech space, which was previously lacking.
The project smoothly followed the #ruzovyholub campaign, through which YSU has been trying to get more young people into politics since 2021.
One of the main goals of the project was Czech support for the resolution on a climate advisory opinion in the United Nations General Assembly. Communication with
The Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the UN began in January 2023 (within the project from March 2023). In a subsequent email contact, we were informed that our country would likely not lean towards supporting it. However, the Czech Republic not only ended up supporting the resolution but co-presented it. This result is a crucial outcome for the project, enabling its further development. Because the project''s influence on the decision cannot be directly proven, we consider the most tangible contribution to be the education of young people through online workshops and their involvement in the project''s future functioning.
This primarily involved high school students who, through workshops on responsible climate governance and climate justice, were introduced to these topics for the first time.
Students often had basic knowledge of climate litigation (legal processes related to climate change). All participants evaluated this experience as positive and beneficial,
expressing interest in further involvement. Although participation was lower than hoped, this fact ultimately allowed for higher quality outcomes:
a more personal approach and more time for feedback to participants. A strategic document with proposals for the campaign''s further steps was drafted based on a shared
discussion.