“Our Future Is Not Negotiable”: Sri Lanka Youth Statement on Climate Ahead of the Global Climate Summit, COP30.

For years, young people in Sri Lanka have worked to ensure that both children and youth aren't just included in climate conversations but are leading them, because they are the ones most affected. 

In August this year, four youth-led organizations, with the support of UNICEF and IOM, hosted Sri Lanka's Local Conference of Youth (LCOY), bringing together young people from across the country. They shared how the climate crisis is impacting their lives, families, and communities, what needs to change, and the solutions they’re already driving.

The statement that follows is their call to action, a powerful reminder that protecting children and young people from the climate crisis requires bold action at both national and global level. Everyone has a role to play.

This document sets out ten key demands from Sri Lanka’s youth, that reflect lived experience, urgency, and vision. They cover the full spectrum of the climate crisis: from justice, finance, and resilience, to health, food security, water, ecosystems, energy transition, and innovation. At their heart is a call for children and young people to be recognized not just as those most affected, but as leaders and equal partners in shaping solutions.

Our Urgent Calls to Action:

• Establish a national grant mechanism that provides sustainable funding for youth-led climate initiatives.
• Institutionalise youth participation in decision-making, including through a National Youth Climate Sounding Board and a Sri Lankan Youth Delegation to COP30.
• Adopt a new Climate Change Act grounded in a rights-based approach, to safeguard communities and embed accountability.
• Ensure direct access to climate finance for local communities and youth-led initiatives
• Deliver timely support for loss and damage to frontline communities for both economic and non-economic losses.
• Integrate mental health and psychosocial support into climate response plans and strengthen climate-resilient health and food systems.
• Halt new fossil fuel exploration, modernize the national grid, and finance the early retirement of coal power plants.
• Establish Green Skills Bootcamps and youth-led climate enterprise incubators to drive a just transition and green economy.

Mainstream youth innovation and climate technologies within the national digital economy to build a future-ready, inclusive, climate-resilient nation. Alongside these demands, Sri Lankan youth make their own commitments: to engage fully in decision-making, to lead climate initiatives, to strengthen literacy and skills among peers, and to hold institutions accountable.

Together, these demands and commitments form a roadmap that includes urgent, fair and inclusive climate action that centres on the rights and leadership of children and young people.

Our Urgent Calls to Action

1. Youth, Children, and Intergenerational Climate Action

Youth demand the establishment of a national grant mechanism that provides sustainable and predictable funding for youth-led climate initiatives. Structured and institutionalized youth participation must be guaranteed in the implementation of Sri Lanka’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) through a National Youth Climate Sounding Board and the inclusion of a Youth Delegation to COP30. Climate education must go further with Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) fully integrated into national curricula, combining climate literacy with practical green skills at schools, universities, and vocational institutions. Finally, equal opportunities must be ensured by dismantling systemic barriers that exclude women, indigenous youth, persons with disabilities, and marginalized communities, so that no one is left behind.

2. Climate Justice and Human Rights

A new Climate Change Act grounded in a rights-based approach must be adopted to safeguard communities and embed accountability. A formal grievance mechanism must be developed to address human rights violations arising from mitigation, adaptation, and carbon market projects. Corporate accountability must be strengthened in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, requiring companies to assess, disclose, and mitigate environmental and social impacts. In addition, targeted programs must empower women as climate leaders through access to finance, training, and policy platforms.

3. Climate Finance and Local Access

Sri Lanka must finalize and implement its Carbon Market Strategy to enable Article 6 is carried out with equitable international partnerships. Innovative financing mechanisms, including debt-for-climate swaps, should be pursued within the sovereign debt restructuring process. Domestic revenue sources for climate action, including a tourism green fee, levies on high-emitting industries, and carbon taxes, must be developed. Most importantly, communities and youth-led initiatives must have direct access to climate finance, with priority given to local community-driven adaptation enterprises.

4. Loss and Damage, Climate Mobility, and Resilience

The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage must deliver direct and timely support to frontline communities in Sri Lanka. Robust methodologies are needed to measure both economic and non-economic losses, including impacts on culture, health, and mental well-being. A National Youth Climate Mobility Framework should be created to protect young people displaced by climate impacts, supported by an Inter-Ministerial Task Force to coordinate response and resettlement. Youth must also be included in disaster management committees and resilience programs at local, provincial, and national levels.

5. Health, Food Security, Agriculture, and Fisheries

Mental health and psychosocial support must be integrated into national climate response plans to address trauma and eco-anxiety among youth. Climate-resilient health infrastructure should be strengthened so hospitals and clinics remain functional during shocks. Climate-smart agriculture and sustainable fisheries must be advanced through research, farmer training, and investment in resilient technologies. Families in rural and coastal areas should be supported with livelihood diversification and stronger value chains, reducing reliance on climate-sensitive incomes.

6. Water and Resource Management

A National Youth Water Task Force should be established to ensure young people are actively involved in water governance, budget allocation, and decision-making. Traditional irrigation systems should be restored and modernized, combining indigenous knowledge with contemporary sustainable practices. Youth innovators must be empowered to design digital, community-based water monitoring systems that enhance local stewardship and accountability.

7. Nature-Based Solutions and Ecosystem Protection

Sri Lanka’s national target of 32 per cent forest cover must achieve real ecological benefits, rather than harmful monocultures. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should be strengthened to integrate climate risk and resilience analysis. Legislation must also enforce mandatory remediation, holding polluters accountable for rehabilitating degraded and post-industrial sites.

8. Mitigation, Energy Transition, and Fossil Fuel Phase-Out

The renewable energy transition must be accelerated by modernizing the national grid and halting new fossil fuel exploration. Financing mechanisms should support the early retirement of coal plants, with investments redirected to clean energy. A sustainable public transportation system must be developed to phase out fossil fuels, prioritizing electrification. At the same time, a national program for recycling and safe disposal of renewable energy components should be established to embed circular economy principles in the energy transition.

9. Green Economy and Just Transition

Just Transition principles must be integrated across climate, labor, and development policies to ensure that no worker or community is left behind. Green Skills Bootcamps and vocational training programs should prepare youth for opportunities in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and circular economy industries. Climate finance should be channeled directly to youth-led green enterprises through incubation hubs, mentorship, and blended finance models. Corporate sustainability and accountability should also be mandated across supply chains, with transparent disclosure of climate risks and impacts.

10. Innovation, Technology, and Climate Solutions

Youth-driven innovation and climate technologies must be mainstreamed within Sri Lanka’s national digital economy strategy. All climate-related digital tools and platforms should be universally accessible, including for persons with disabilities and underserved communities. Placing innovation and technology at the heart of climate action will help Sri Lanka to build a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready digital climate eco

Youth Commitment

Transforming our future requires shared responsibility and intergenerational action. Therefore, as young people on our part, we pledge to:

1. Actively engage in national and international climate processes, including the implementation of NDC 3.0, COP negotiations, and local adaptation planning, ensuring that the voices of youth, children, marginalized groups, and frontline communities are fully represented in decision-making.
2. Lead youth-driven climate initiatives, integrating science, technology, and traditional knowledge to achieve measurable outcomes in mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity protection, and climate-resilient livelihoods. Support community initiatives, sustainable enterprises, and innovation labs as essential contributions to national and global climate ambition.
3. Strengthen climate literacy, green skills, and advocacy capacities among peers, build collaborative networks, and promote intergenerational equity, enabling youth across Sri Lanka to participate meaningfully in climate governance and community resilience initiatives.
4. Track the implementation of national climate policies and youth-led initiatives, evaluate outcomes, and report publicly. Hold governments, institutions, and corporations accountable for climate commitments, promoting transparency, inclusivity, and equitable access to resources while reinforcing the role of youth as active agents in sustainable development.

Acknowledgements

The Sri Lanka Youth Statement to COP30 was developed through a series of four Pre-LCOY Hackathons that brought together over 400 young people from across Sri Lanka in virtual consultations. In addition, in-person youth-led focus group discussions were held in Gampaha, Jaffna, Ampara, and Trincomalee, as well as at the University of Jaffna, University of Uva Wellassa, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Moratuwa, and Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine to capture the diverse challenges and lived experiences of young people affected by the climate crisis across different regions. The process culminated at the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) Sri Lanka 2025, a two-day, in-person gathering that convened over 150 youth representatives from all 25 districts of the island. The conference held a dedicated discussion on the statement facilitated by trilingual translations, whereby delegates added comments, clauses, and made amendments to the document. The recommendations and inputs gathered through these consultations were compiled by a drafting committee comprising Bodh Maathura, Tharushi Weerasinghe, Sajini Wickramasinghe, Simra Riyaz, Dilakshi Nanayakkara, Sandev Ferdinando, Fathima Shamla, Chamindri Umesha, Amasha Yatagama, Sara Shibly, Sadiya Reyal, Hamdhan Munawwar, Ishan Jalill, Kanishka Rambukwella, and Tharushalini Sivathurai.

LCOY Sri Lanka 2025 was hosted by the Commonwealth Asia Youth Alliance, Climate Intelligence Network, World Youth for Climate Justice, and The Road to Rights, with the support of UNICEF Sri Lanka and IOM Sri Lanka & Maldives, and endorsed by YOUNGO, the Official Children and Youth Constituency to the UNFCCC.