SUAD Youth COP Registration

1. 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 Université Paris Cité (France), Universidade Federal do Ceará (Brazil) and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).

2. 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.

3. The outcome document developed by the competitors will be presented at COP29 in Baku (Azerbaijan).

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

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

1. 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.

2. A total of twenty-five teams will be chosen to attend the competition, each one of them composed of two students enrolled in higher education institutions located in the same country.

(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.

3. 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) is not older than 30 years old at the time of application.

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

2. The application form will be available from 6 June to 21 July 2024.

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

(a) A résumé for each team member, not exceeding two pages per member, including contact information, academic background and distinctions, professional or academic experience, language proficiency, and any publications ;
(b) A one-minute video per team answering the following question in English: ‘How will the Youth Cop improve your academic or professional path?’ All videos must be submitted via online platforms that allow access by link (e.g., Google Drive, YouTube). Note that video files sent for download will not be considered;
(c) Proof of enrollment in a university or higher education institution for each team member for the academic year 2024/2025, preferably in English or equivalent translated in English.

4. 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 in August 2024.

1. The twenty-five teams will be selected by the Organizing Committee. Additional replacement teams will be selected in case of the withdrawal of any of the twenty-five starting teams.

2. The following criteria will be considered to select the teams:

(a) the team’s representativeness per world region and country classification;
(b) the content, originality and motivation of the video sent via the application;
(c) gender diversity;
(d) the team’s academic background.

1. 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.

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

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

1. The competition includes participation in the mandatory training sessions and the three-day virtual negotiations, following the official schedule (see Article 7.1).

(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.

2. 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 September 2024 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).

(a) The guidelines for attending each one of these sessions will be provided by the Organizing Committee during the training sessions.

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

4. 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 9).

1. The schedule of Youth COP is as follows:

   (a) 10 June to 21 July 2024 Application period
   (b) 22 July to 5 August 2024 Teams’ selection
   (c) 6 August 2023 Application results notice
   (d) September 2024 Training Webinars
   (e) 27, 28 and 29 September 2024 Youth COP competition
   (f) November 2024 COP 29 Panel

2. 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.

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

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

1. The best-ranked team of the competition and the delegate awarded as best speaker will be sponsored to attend the COP29, due to happen in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024.

(a) Each awarded participant is responsible for acquiring a travel visa or any other document required to allow their entrance into Azerbaijan;
(b) Each awarded participant should be available to travel to Baku, Azerbaijan, for a period to be determined within the COP 29;
(c) The awarded participants will be invited to participate in a panel at the COY/UNFCCC (Conference of Youth) or the COP 29, depending on schedule availability.

2. The Organizing Committee will be responsible for providing the awarded participants:

(a) Flight tickets from and to their country of residence;
(b) Accommodation to attend COP29;
(c) A per diem for general expenses during the COP29.

3. Honorary awards will be given to the best individual competitors based on the evaluation of the Organizing Committee. Honorary awards will not grant sponsorship to attend COP29.

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

5. If the winning participant or team is unable to attend COP29, the award will not be converted into its equivalent monetary value or in any other form.

Article 10. Exemption clause

1. The 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 COP29, in Baku.

2. 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.

1. The 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 COP29, in Baku.

2. 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.

1. 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.

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

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

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

2. 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.

3. Eventual complaints regarding the Youth COP and related events should be addressed to the Organizing Committee through the official contact information or the assigned mentors.

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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Breaches of conduct lead to the application of penalties to the individual participants or the team (see Article 11).

1. By applying to Youth COP, each team member agrees to uphold the rules stated in this document and give permission to the Organizing Committee to process the personal data submitted in the application form for the following purposes:

(a) To communicate with each team member important information regarding the competition;
(b) For the Organizing Committee reporting purposes;
(c) As reasonable as possible for the organization of Youth COP;
(d) Each team member agrees to disclose their personal data 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 establishing confidentiality and security clauses;
(e) Throughout the competition (virtual participation and COP29 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.

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