The Rio G20 Committee of the Rio de Janeiro City Hall and the Municipal Secretariat for Environment and Climate (SMAC) have established a partnership for graduates of the Climate Young Negotiators program to participate in a residency program with the Committee. The goal is to utilize the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired by these young people throughout 2023 in the preparation and execution of activities in the city while Rio de Janeiro hosts the G20 Summit, the group of the world's largest economies.
“The G20, presided over by Brazil, will leave a legacy of a generation of people prepared to participate in and influence decisions on a global scale. The climate young negotiators reinforce Rio's role as a global city that does not hide its challenges. By organizing parallel events and participating in official agenda settings, young people from various areas will leave their collective mark at an important moment for Brazilian diplomacy. With this partnership, the Rio G20 Committee expands its capacity and vision by bringing representatives of civil society to the forefront of the effort to build the G20 Capital throughout the year,” celebrated the president of the Rio G20 Committee, Lucas Padilha.
The Climate Young Negotiators program is an initiative of SMAC, PerifaLab, and the International Youth Observatory (OIJ) aimed at training young leaders from Rio, especially from marginalized communities, including Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ individuals, to become effective climate negotiators and represent the perspectives and urgencies of Brazilian youth in Brazil’s Climate Agenda, the UN, and other national and international organizations.
“I followed all stages of the Climate Young Negotiators in 2023 and witnessed the professional growth of these young people at each meeting and every program session. I am very proud to have the opportunity to see this vibrant youth working together with the Rio City Hall, bringing their voices to G20 spaces,” said the Municipal Secretary for Environment and Climate, Tainá de Paula.
This residency will allow young people from marginalized communities to occupy decision-making spaces, thereby contributing to the development of state policies and public policies that promote social transformation and reduce inequalities, in alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. During the eight-month experience, the selected group of young people will receive residency scholarships.
Rio is the G20 capital and will host various G20-related events throughout 2024, including engagement group meetings, parallel events, meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors, the Social G20 Summit, and the G20 Summit of heads of state from the world's largest economies. The preparation work for these events will ensure complementary training for these young people in working with some of the largest international organizations on the planet.
