Submission ID 129939
| Issue/Objective | Policy decisions on climate change made today will have lasting consequences for vulnerable populations, particularly children and youth who will experience their impacts the most. While global frameworks recognize children's right to participate in decisions that affect them, opportunities for meaningful engagement in climate change governance remain inconsistent. Understanding how youth participation is structured and experienced is therefore critical to advancing equity, rights-based approaches, and youth leadership in climate change and health governance. |
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| Methodology/Approach | This scoping review maps the literature on how children and youth (aged <25) have participated in invited climate change governance processes globally. Specifically, it examines what motivates youth involvement, how they are recruited into these spaces, what forms participation takes during engagement, and what occurs following participation, including impacts on policy influence and mental health and well-being. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, six databases were searched, with 46 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. |
| Results | Findings reveal that invited climate change governance spaces frequently provide visibility for youth while offering limited influence over decision-making processes. Access to these spaces is often mediated through youth organizations, networks, or institutional programs, meaning that only select children and youth, typically those with greater social, institutional, or financial resources, can participate. As a result, these participatory settings are frequently structured and controlled, with dynamics that often produce tokenistic forms of engagement. This shapes not only the inclusivity of participation but also its effects on young people themselves. Reported outcomes range from empowerment, leadership development, and resilience to experiences of frustration, burnout, and eco-anxiety. Few initiatives explicitly integrate mental health supports into engagement design, highlighting a critical gap in current approaches to youth climate governance. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | Overall, the review suggests that current invited climate change governance spaces often fall short of equity-oriented and rights-based participation. Participation opportunities tend to favour youth with greater institutional access and resources, while marginalized youth-who are often most affected by climate change-related health risks-remain underrepresented. Strengthening equitable youth participation requires community-driven and youth-led approaches that shift decision-making power and support meaningful engagement, rather than symbolic inclusion. |
| Presenters and Affiliations | Chelsea Williams Cleary York University and Heidelberg Institute of Global Health Danielle Denwood York University Kate Tilleczek York University Kathi Zangerl Heidelberg Institute of Global Health Kerry Scott York University |
