Chief Advancement Officer
SARTHAK OJHA
The Youth Climate Report is pleased to welcome Sarthak Ojha to our team as our Chief Advancement Officer. In this capacity, Sarthak will be facilitating sponsorships, philanthropic support, and private donations made to YCR to help us continue our important work of amplifying the voice of youth at the UN’s annual climate summits. He will also oversee global fundraising initiatives and manage strategic partnerships to expand our program’s reach. He previously worked with WFUNA, leading institutional outreach across South Asia for WIMUN and UN training programs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. With a background in diplomacy and economics, he brings experience in donor relations, program strategy, and cross-border collaboration to the YCR team. He can be reached at advancementYCR@gmail.com.
YCR Program Director, Europe:
JULIA KORTEN
The Youth Climate Report is pleased to welcome Julia Korten to our team. As our new Program Director for Europe, she will be recruiting youth filmmakers, conducting training workshops, and fundraising. Julia is holding dual Master’s degrees in Environmental Sciences and Sustainable Development, and spent her early career working across the globe for NGOs and companies. She was a Lead Counsellor for UNITE2030´s innovation lab, mentoring young people developing solutions in achieving the SDGs and has been involved in the Erasmus+ programme „We Grow Together for Climate Education and Entrepreneurship“. Other roles involve a position as a research associate at the Fraunhofer Institute in bioprocess engineering, a sustainability specialist at The Peninsula Hong Kong and contributions to research and education projects at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Earlier fieldwork includes engagements in Kenya with Shangilia and research in the Norwegian Arctic Sea on climate change and the impact on marine wildlife. Concurrently, she engaged in global climate diplomacy, participating as part of the Swedish delegation at both COP28 in Dubai and COP29 in Baku.
Should you be based in Europe and would like more information on our programs, workshops, and donation portal, please contact Julie at unfcccyouth@gmail.com.
Program: NEW Certificate Program for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Aimed at students to introduce the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, this 90-minute in-class or remote educational program includes a lecture and a workshop in which participants come up with three ways to commit to each of the 17 goals. Those students who complete both the lecture and this assignment earn a certificate of compliance from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Youth Climate Report. To register your class for this UN program, please email us ycrtv1@gmail.com.
Competition: One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest (One Earth Collective)
Please click on the link above for details on entering the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest. The competition is open for submissions from students from grade 3 up through age 25. They are due by 11:59 p.m. CDT USA on May 25, 2025. There are no submission fees. All winning films will premiere on September 21, 2025, and some will be selected for the One Earth Film Festival in April 2026. Questions? Please contact Lisa Files at lisa@oneearthfilmfest.org.
One Earth Film Festival is an American film festival based in the Chicago area that creates opportunities for understanding climate change, sustainability, and the power of human involvement through sustainability-themed films and facilitated discussion. The festival engages private, public, and non-profit sector community partners in the sponsorship and production of the film festival.
Mission:
Through sustainability-themed films and facilitated discussion — educate, raise awareness, and inspire the adoption of solution-oriented sustainable actions.
Vision:
Stimulate, energize, and activate communities through deep involvement in the One Earth Film Festival, maximizing citizen reach and expanding the movement.
Goals:
1) Create thought-provoking, transformative opportunities for understanding climate change, sustainability, and the power of human involvement.
2) Pack an intensive education & awareness punch through rich film stories, interactive discussions, and experiences.
3) “Expand the movement” by attracting people not generally involved in or already committed to “green” activities.
Link: https://www.oneearthfilmfest.org
Workshop: Young Lives Research Lab (York University, Canada)
Founded in 2009 by Kate Tilleczek, Young Lives Research Lab is dedicated to developing culturally and youth-attuned research, education & dialogue across countries, ages, communities, and sectors to explore 3 integrated areas of research. 1. Youth & the Digital Age 2. Education with/for Youth Wellbeing 3. Youth & Planetary Wellbeing
The Lab works with partners and collaborators all around the world in community-initiated/led research alongside young people and their community members. The hybrid approach to this work ensures researchers only travel when necessary for relationship building, fieldwork, and knowledge sharing. The Lab has co-developed tools and methods of remote working that engage and uplift partners and participants and ensure that the results of this work are accessible in multiple languages and through various forms of print, digital, and social media so that knowledge is returned to communities and young people’s voices are heard at local, national and international levels.
Link: https://www.younglivesresearch.org
Workshop: The Student Life Levy Program (Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada)
The Student Life Levy Program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada makes available a two-month workshop for students to learn how to make environmental documentaries for the United Nations. Each year, short documentary films about climate change created by Wilfrid Laurier University students are featured as part of a presentation at the United Nations annual climate summits, the COP conferences.
The Laurier films are also included in the Youth Climate Report, an interactive map featuring hundreds of films about climate research, impacts and solutions produced by youth from around the world. The report, which uses geographic information systems technology to display the short videos along with scientific reports and other information, recently won a United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals Action Award – the only Canadian initiative to win out of more than 1,000 nominated entries worldwide.
Link: https://tinyurl.com/student-life-levy
Workshop: The Ghana Youth Videography Programme (GIMPA University, Ghana)
This annual workshop in Ghana works with 12 young climate activists to produce a dozen short documentary films on climate research, impacts, and solutions in their African communities. The films are added to the UNFCCC’s Youth Climate Report and presented at that year’s annual climate summit, the COP conference. As well, all 12 films are compiled into a feature-length anthology documentary and entered into competitive film festivals around the world.
Link: https://ghanafilm.org
Competition: Young Reporters for the Environment (Foundation for Environmental Education, University of Copenhagen)
This competition gives young people aged 11-25 a platform to research environmental issues and promote solutions through investigative reporting, photography, and video journalism. The Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) programme is run by National Operators in more than 40 countries around the world and they are the ones implementing the programme on a national level. Youth between the age of 11-25 can join the programme in these countries through their school, youth group or as individuals by contacting the relevant National Operator.
The annual YRE International Competition is without a doubt one of the highlights of the YRE programme! Every year, the most inspiring and creative entries from the National Competitions are assessed by an International Jury and have the chance of being recognized on a global scale.
Link: https://www.yre.global
The Youth Climate Report 