Session 12.1

Abstract

Advocacy around climate mobility has traditionally been dominated by states and international organisations, yet young leaders from climate-affected regions are increasingly emerging as powerful actors shaping the debate. This paper uses the Climate Youth Mobility Academy as a case study to explore how advocacy for climate mobility can be reimagined and strengthened when led by young people themselves. The guiding research question is: how do young people transform their lived experiences into effective advocacy for communities facing climate mobility, and what challenges and opportunities do they encounter in this process? The research draws on qualitative methods, utilizing semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with young Fellows from Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands, in combination with a review of the Academy’s activities, outputs, and existing literature in this field. Three themes guide the analysis. First, how Fellows connect global discourses on climate migration with the daily realities they see in their home communities. Second, the tools and strategies they use to advocate, whether through storytelling, social media, public campaigns, or policy engagement. Third, the practical challenges they face, whether in accessing decision-making spaces and sustaining long-term influence. The paper argues that Youth Academies both reveal the strengths of youth advocacy, bringing fresh perspectives, networks, and lived experiences into international debates, while at the same time exposing the structural constraints that limit their influence. Drawing on Framing Theory from social movement studies, which examines how advocates frame problems, propose solutions, and inspire action through narrative and discourse, together with the concept of epistemic justice, the study highlights youth not only as communicators of lived experience but as knowledge producers with the capacity to shape the norms of climate governance. Ultimately, the research emphasises the need for sustainable, inclusive, and decolonial advocacy infrastructures that enable young climate leaders to not merely participate, but to set the agenda. It suggests that effective advocacy for climate mobility requires long-term investment in youth-led networks that connect local realities with global policy. The Youth Academy provides a replicable model for such practices, while also challenging us to rethink advocacy as transformation led by those directly affected by climate mobility.