SUAD Youth COP Registration

The Youth COP is a mock negotiation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (hereinafter COP) organized by Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi in partnership with Université Paris Cité and Universidade Federal do Ceará.

The competition aims to provide an opportunity for worldwide students to experience climate negotiations through a simulation of the UNFCCC COP whilst fostering their critical thinking and interpersonal skills, such as teamwork, compromise, and conflict resolution applied to climate change agreements.

The outcome document developed by the competitors will become a “Call to Action from the Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University to future generations”, due to be presented at COP28

The competition is free of charge and will be held remotely, using a platform chosen by the Organizing Committee.

The official language of Youth COP is English; thus, all the documents and oral arguments must be done in this language.

All higher education institutions offering a degree in fields related to international relations, international law, climate change, public policy, and any other bachelor’s degree, are eligible to participate in Youth COP.

A total of twenty-five teams will be chosen to attend the competition, each one of them composed of three students registered within the same higher education institution.

(a) All team members must comply with the application requirements (see Article 3).
(b) Participating institutions and individuals are not allowed to use the documents and guidelines provided by the organization for any purpose besides attending Youth COP.
(c) Participants are not allowed to share the Youth COP documents without prior authorization from the Organizing Committee.

An individual may be eligible to be a team member if he/she/they:

(a) is enrolled in a higher institution education;
(b) is currently registered in a bachelor’s (higher or equal to the second year of study), master or PhD degree;
(c) possess a passport valid for a minimum of six months after the expected return date from COP 28 (see Article 7.1.b);
(d) Should not be more than 30 years old at the time of application.

Those eligible to participate in the Youth COP must fill out the application form and provide the personal information required of all three members.

(a) After the application submission, the team members are not allowed to change their personal information unless the error was due to technical issues, which should be informed to the Organizing Committee.

The application form will be available from 8 May 2023 to 18 June 2023.

Each team must send the following documents through the application form:

(a) Resume of each team member (no more than two pages per member, containing contact information, academic background and distinctions, any professional or academic experience, language proficiency, and eventually publications);
(b) A two-page essay containing the following analysis:
“Please provide a comparative analysis of your country’s first and second Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and explain the extent to which the second NDC represents, in accordance with Article 4.3 of the Paris Agreement, “progress in relation to the previous nationally determined contribution and shall be at the highest possible level of ambition, taking into account its common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and respective national circumstances””
(c) Proof of enrollment in a university or higher education institution for each team member for the academic year 2022/2023;
(d) Copy of each member’s scanned passport valid for six months after the expected date to attend COP28 (see Article 7.1.b).

After the team’s application results notice, each team will be assigned a country to represent in the negotiations and be asked to draft a position paper. The guidelines to draft the position paper will be available to all teams at a later date.

The twenty-five teams will be selected by the Organizing Committee. Five additional replacement teams will be selected in case of the withdrawal of the twenty-five starting teams.

The following criteria will be considered to select the teams:
(a) the team’s representativeness per world region and country classification;
(b) the quality of the NDC’s comparative analysis sent via the application;
(c) gender diversity;
(d) the team’s academic background.

All teams will be assigned a specific mentor chosen by the Organizing Committee to assist them with the preparation of documents for the Youth COP and other duties related to the simulation.

The mentor is restricted to guidance purposes, not being allowed to do research or draft documents for the team.

Any incompatibilities with the chosen mentor must be reported to the Organizing Committee.

The competition includes participation in the mandatory training sessions and the three-day virtual negotiations, following the official schedule (see Article 5.1).
(a) All team members must attend the training sessions in September. If there is a missing member without a plausible and proven excuse, the penalty described in Article 10.3 will be applied. The proof of absence must be sent before the beginning of the training session.

The three-day virtual negotiations of the Youth COP will be divided into opening and final general plenary, thematic committee, regional and interest groups meetings. The virtual negotiations will take place on 27, 28 and 29 October 2023 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).
(a) The guidelines to attend each one of these sessions will be provided by the Organizing Committee during the training sessions.
(b) Slots from different time zones will be used for regional meetings.

Each team will be asked to actively participate in the competition and prepare a draft document about the main negotiation subjects (loss and damages, energy transition and oceans), to be presented at the final general plenary seeking to reach a common agreement.

After the final plenary, the Youth COP results will be announced by the Organizing Committee. The best teams and competitors will be given their appropriate awards (see Article 7).

The schedule of Youth COP is as follows:

(a) 8 May 2023 Launch webinar with key public figures;
(b) 8 May to 18 June 2023 Application period;
(c) 18 June to 15 August 2023 Teams’ selection;
(d) 16 August 2023 Application results notice;
(e) 9, 16 and 23 September 2023 Training Webinars
(f) 27, 28 and 29 October 2023 Youth COP competition
(d) 3 to 7 December 2023 COP 28 and Winning Teams Panel

Any modification to the abovementioned schedule will be informed to the participants by the official communication channels of Youth COP, such as e-mail and social media.

The team assessment will be done by climate change experts chosen by the Organizing Committee.

The criteria to grade the best teams and individuals will be available at a later date, prior to the Youth COP negotiations.

The first and second best-ranked teams of the competition will be sponsored to attend five days of the COP28, due to happen in Dubai from 30/11/2023 to 12/12/2023.
(a) Each member of the winning team is responsible for acquiring a travel visa or any other document required to allow their entrance into the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
(b) Each member of the winning teams should be available to travel to Dubai from 04/12/2023 to 09/12/2023.
(c) The winning teams will be invited to present at COP 28 the “Call to Action from the Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University to future generations” alongside other key public figures.

The Organizing Committee will be responsible for providing the winning team members:
(a) Flight tickets from and to their country of residence;
(b) Accommodation for four nights to attend COP28;
(c) A per diem for general expenses during the COP28;
(d) A specific schedule while attending COP28.

Honorary awards will be given to the best individual competitors based on the evaluation of the Organizing Committee. Individual awards will not grant the winner sponsorship to attend COP28.

All competitors will receive a certificate as proof of their participation in the Youth COP.

If the winning participant or team is unable to attend COP28, the award will not be converted into its equivalent monetary value or in any other form.

Youth COP Organizing Committee, which also includes the higher education institutions promoting the competition, shall not be held legally liable due to the actions of any competitors throughout the period of the simulation and attendance to the COP28, in Dubai.

Other issues that may arise during the competition but are not within the Organization Committee’s responsibility shall not be a reason for any legal liability.

Any manifest violation of the rules stated in the present guidelines or of other instructions announced by the Organizing Committee may result in a penalty for the team.

A penalty will influence the assessment of the results and selection of teams and individual participants for the awards.

The highest form of penalty applied by the Organizing Committee is the exclusion of the team from the competition.

Eventual omissions of the present guidelines shall be supplemented by the Organizing Committee.

The circumstances may demand diversions from the provisions stated in the present guidelines but are not allowed to disturb the conditions of equity guaranteed to the teams.

All chosen participants are expected to maintain proper decorum throughout the competition, including the training sessions, the simulations and any meetings with mentors, team members and Organizing Committee.

The proper conduct includes being respectful, refraining from using offensive or excluding language, respecting different sexual orientations, gender identities and ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, as well as reflecting the values of cooperation, mutual support, harmony and diversity of international relations.

The expected conduct must be extended to the social media platforms of the participants. Any reported misbehavior regarding the Youth COP events, the mentors, the Organizing Committee, the partnering institutions, or the fellow participants will be treated equally to other misdemeanors.

Breaches of conduct lead to the application of penalties to the individual participants or the team (see Article 10).

By applying to Youth COP, each team member agrees to uphold the rules stated in this document and understand that his personal data will be processed by the Organizing Committee, in accordance with applicable data protection laws, to the purposes of the performance of the present negotiation implying the following purposes:
(a) The organization of the Youth Cop
(b) For the organizing Committee reporting purposes
(c) To communicate with each team member important information regarding the competition;
(d) To transfer to co-organizers of Youth COP for management and organization purposes; as well as third-party service providers which may be assisting the Organizing Committee with the competition under a contractual agreement, in accordance with applicable data protection laws, establishing confidentiality and security clauses;

By applying to Youth COP, each team member gives his consent to the Organizing Committee to process, in accordance with applicable data protection laws, the personal data submitted in the application form for the following purposes:
(a) Throughout the competition (virtual participation and COP28 in-person attendance), photographs and/or audio-visual footage may be taken and published on the official social media accounts of Youth COP, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Université Paris Cité and Universidade Federal do Ceará. Hence, each team member agrees to appear in published photos and/or videos as stated above.

After the competition, the personal data and information of each participant will be deleted after six months of the Youth COP, in accordance with applicable data protection laws. The data will be securely kept during this period for reporting and post-competition administrative tasks.

Applicants voluntarily waive any provision of any local, national, or supranational law (such as, without limitation, the European Union’s Data Protection Directive and national laws or laws of similar effect in other jurisdictions) which would prohibit or otherwise regulate the transfer, access, and processing of their personal data.