gylc

GYLC is an international nonprofit that expands youth’s knowledge about climate science, builds their leadership skills, and engages them in climate action. We do this through a range of programs in climate vulnerable countries in the Global South.

Our approach

GYLC has been established to build the leadership capacity of youth in climate vulnerable countries to take climate action at the local and global levels. GYLC has a three-pronged strategy to:

Deepen knowledge

GYLC helps bridge the information gap by educating the next generation on the science of climate change, to better understand the drivers of global warming and the levers by which each individual can affect change.

Enhance skills

GYLC provides leadership training for youth to build the soft skills needed for both individual and collective action. We empower youth to make mindful and informed decisions about their own lives, ranging from diet to energy use and housing choices. At the same time, we support youth to build their skills and confidence to act collectively, through community mobilization and political action.

Invest in the future 

GYLC invests in youth as entrepreneurs of climate-conscious businesses and in careers in green jobs in the Global South. Using a well-established accelerator model, from 2024, GYLC will support young entrepreneurs who are tackling climate mitigation and adaptation through their businesses.

What problems are we trying to address?

The earth’s atmosphere contains an excess one trillion tonnes of Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs), with an additional 51 billion tonnes emitted every year. The result is a more rapidly warming atmosphere, with devastating consequences for our planet and its people.

Today we are seeing dangerous heat waves, droughts, flooding, rising food insecurity and increased displacement of populations, especially in the most climate vulnerable countries in the Global South.

These countries will need effective leadership to mitigate climate change and adapt to changing climate realities in coming decades. Supporting today’s youth to become tomorrow’s leaders will require deepening their knowledge of climate science, equipping them with the leadership skills to act at global and local levels, and investing in a climate conscious future for them and their children.

Global Youth Climate Summit 2023 at a glance

500

DELEGATES

40+

COUNTRIES

20

SESSIONS

Meet our champions

Jonah Kirabo
Young professional | Kampala, Uganda

Jonah Kirabo, a 2022 GYLC Youth Climate Champion from Uganda, has set a goal of planting 5 million trees by 2025 as part of his climate action initiative. The project has already completed a baseline survey, and nursery beds have been prepared and stocked with seedlings. Local partners have been identified to help implement the project, and the mobilization and sensitization phases have commenced. To increase awareness of the need for climate action and tree planting, a social media campaign has been launched, and plans are underway to engage an online community.

Our Climate Champions come from 18 different countries in the Global South and are actively working to mobilize others to improve the human condition and tackle the climate crisis.

30

CLIMATE CHAMPIONS

18

COUNTRIES

$30,000

PRIZE MONEY

Why us

GYLC is built on the 15-year track record of the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) in providing adaptive leadership training to youth in the Global South and empowering youth to lead social change. We also bring experience of working with the private sector, co-creating curriculum and placing youth in jobs, and a track record of investing in youth-led businesses and running an accelerator.

Our supporters

Contact Us

2880 Zanker Road, Suite 203
San Jose, California 95134

Email: info@gylc.org
Phone: +1 408 954 7372

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