2nd Edition “YSI COP for the UN Rio Conventions”

Since 1992, the World Community, served by the United Nations System, is fully committed to addressing three key environmental challenges: climate change, desertification, and biodiversity loss. Served by the Three Rio Conventions, as they are now known, with their respective Secretariats:

1. UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
2. UNCCD: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification,
3. UNCBD: Convention on Biological Diversity.

The purpose of the Conference of the Parties (COPs) is to accelerate, operationalize, and advance the implementation of the Conventions. YSI strongly supports the success of the Rio Conventions and actively engages in this process.

We continue to be actively involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. The 21st COP (COP21) led to the Paris Agreement, which mobilised global collective action to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050 and to take action to adapt to the impacts of climate change already occurring. As each year, the UNFCCC mid-year meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies 62 (SB62) will take place in Bonn, and this year, COP30 [Brazilian Government website] will be held in Belem, Brazil, from 10 November to 21 November 2025.  

As a YSI Community, we believe in the importance of this process and that we can contribute from our experiences and studies. Last year, we launched the first edition of the YSI COP for the UNFCCC COP workshop, which took place in Warsaw, Poland, from 4 to 7 November in the run-up to COP29. The workshop had the participation of fifteen scholars and practitioners in a two-day of negotiation simulation, a farm visit, and the preparation of a final YSI message that members of the Community brought to the grounds of COP29 in Azerbaijan.

Following the high success and participation of the YSI Community, we are launching the 2nd Edition of the YSI COP for the UN Rio Conventions in the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany, from October 13th to October 16th, 2025.

This Project is a collaboration between the Finance, Law and Economics Working Group, the Sustainability Working Group and the Philosophy of Economics Working Group, and the UN Bonn Campus. By participating in this Workshop, selected scholars will come to the UN Campus in Bonn, after all crucial decisions ensuring the success of COP30 were made during SB62 and several weeks before COP30 starts.

During the two-day Workshop, Participants will deepen their knowledge of the UN Rio Conventions process, have the opportunity to participate in a simulation of negotiations at the UN Campus, and meet peer-leading researchers and practitioners in an interdisciplinary environment together with UN Staff. As part of the Workshop, we will learn from negotiators and talk to experts as we visit several sections of the UN Headquarters.

This project is Co-funded by European Carbon Farmers.

[EXTENDED DEADLINE] to submit application by July 4th!!

Application and Funding Details:

• Accommodation: All participants will receive shared accommodation provided for three (3) days – from 13 October to 16 October (We expect participants to arrive on 13 October and depart on 16 October).
• Meals: We will provide lunch on 14 and 15 October.
• Partial travel stipends: Available based on distance and need of the selected participants.
• Accepted participants will be informed within two weeks after the application extended deadline on July 4th, 2025.

For more information contact: fle@youngscholarsinitiative.org and sustainability@youngscholarsinitiative.org.