We are organising and supporting a range of events, exhibitions, performances and interactive speaker session at COY20 and COP30, in Belém, Brazil, to advocate for the role of education, arts and culture in climate change. See highlights below, with our full COP30 programme to be available at the end of October.
Through our focused programme, we will collaborate with our strategic partners and young people to highlight the role of education and arts and culture in addressing climate change and to share learning from global best practice.
COP is also a catalyst to climate-themed projects and partnerships all year round, so we will also be delivering key events and activity with partners in the lead-up to and following COY20 and COP30 in Brazil, the UK and worldwide.
Our areas of focus
Within education, our focus is on supporting policy and research, highlighting the importance of climate education in schools and green skills, showcasing learning from universities and early-career researchers in tackling climate change, and advocating for the role of youth in tackling climate change.
Within arts and culture, our focus is on supporting the policy work by strategic UK and global partners, platforming diverse voices, stories and responses that reflect cultural diversity and multi-disciplinary approaches to tackle climate change, and contributing to research and evidence.
COY20: 6 to 8 November 2025
We are a Silver Sponsor for COY20, the world’s largest youth-led climate conference organised by YOUNGO, the youth constituency of the UNFCCC.
During the conference, we will lead a session highlighting the critical role of young people in driving a just transition to a sustainable future. We will explore the essential skills young people need to contribute to a green transition and how knowledge gaps can be addressed.
We are supporting young people to participate at both COY20 and COP30, including Global Youth Climate Connection Network participants from Brazil. This network brings together young climate leaders globally to build core skills, explore a cultural relations approach to climate action and to lead on a new research campaign and advocate for skills provision to achieve a just transition.
COP30: 11 to 22 November 2025
We are leading and supporting a range of activities across the COP30 conference Blue Zone and Green Zone. A detailed programme of our COP30 activities will be available at the end of October.
Blue Zone
We are running a week-long exhibition in partnership with INTO to showcase the diverse ways we support solutions to climate change through arts, culture and education.
With our partners, we will be showcasing content and delivering sessions throughout the Blue Zone with a focus the role of young people in tackling climate change, culture-based climate action and climate education.
We will also be sharing research and engaging in high-level discussions to promote the role of education and arts and culture in addressing climate change.
Green Zone
In the Green Zone and throughout Belém, we will be delivering a range of interactive sessions and performances with our partners.
Around the conference
We are supporting the Youth Negotiators Academy to deliver in-person climate negotiation training for a cohort of young climate negotiators attending COP30, where they will negotiate as part of their country delegations. In 2024, we supported the Youth Negotiators Academy to deliver Climate Youth Negotiator training to 257 young people from 63 countries and are providing funding for members of the trained cohort to attend COP30.
We are running Climate Negotiation Simulation Events at schools in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and London, in October and November, as well as in Belém during COP30. These events, based on a role-playing game, let students experience what it’s like to be part of UN climate negotiations, by each playing the role of a different nation. We will share highlights from the events to inspire students around the world.
Our two-week Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP30 online course will share insights into the issues being discussed at the conference, as well as responses to the conference themes from children and young people, community groups and ministerial bodies, both nationally and internationally.
In partnership with the University of Exeter and the Blue Schools Network in Brazil, the Schools Across the Ocean global education programme will empower teachers and children to explore climate and ocean literacy. 50 schools from across the UK and Brazil will work together with the support from leading climate scientists and education experts to explore ocean literacy and climate change through a series of joint workshops and projects.
With the Met Office, we are co-funding a new poetry collection for COP30, working with We Are the Possible programme at the University of Exeter. The anthology draws on a collaborative process of conversation and storytelling between scientists, health experts, educators, youth leaders, students, writers and artists from around – all shaped into 12 poems on the theme of forests and extinct and disappearing species. The anthology will also be published as an e-book on the University of Exeter’s Green Futures website at the start of the conference.