Australian Youth Climate Coalition

$40,000 | August 2023

What do AYCC do?

We need a strong, diverse community movement to raise Australia’s climate ambition and leave fossil fuels in the ground. Young people have a critical leadership role to play in this movement; this generation will inherit the consequences of decisions made today. AYCC’s mission is building a generation-wide movement of young people for climate justice.

Why is this work important?

In recent years, we have witnessed an explosion in the number of young people stepping up to protect our future and build the political power of our generation: from the student climate strikes, to record voter enrolment, online activism, and so much more. There’s a critical need to translate this appetite for change into strategic collective action, through community organising, leadership development and youth-led campaigns.

The current landscape also presents huge opportunities - and urgency - to shift the politics on fossil fuels and stop dangerous gas expansion. Following the 2022 Federal election, we have a powerful crossbench pushing for more ambitious climate action, coupled with a strong mandate from voters across the country on this issue. The past year has seen significant strides forward on the clean energy transition and emissions reduction policy at a Federal level, including recent reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism. However, much more work is required to ensure new fossil fuel developments are stopped in their tracks, in line with the best climate science and community demands.

A review of Federal environment laws is slated for late 2023. Meanwhile, many companies pushing to open up new gas basins have not received the environmental approvals they require for full-scale drilling and production (e.g. Tamboran in the Northern Territory), yet are pushing to receive these as soon as possible. This makes the next 12 months a critical window of opportunity to build and demonstrate electoral pressure for brave political leadership to leave fossil fuels in the ground.

How is Groundswell supporting this work?

With Groundswell’s support, AYCC focus over the next 12 months includes:

1. Training hundreds of young people to organise their communities and make their voices heard in politics

AYCC’s unique training curriculum supports young leaders to develop skills and confidence in a range of areas, such as: understanding social movements and how we win; understanding climate justice and solutions; having persuasive community conversations; meeting with your MP; facilitation skills; and much more. Over 2,000 young people participate in our face-to-face, online and school-based training programs annually.

In September-October 2023, we’ll host six two-day training summits across the country, empowering 300 young people with the skills and connections to take climate action. In early 2024, we’ll hold a national Climate Leaders residential retreat for 50+ young people to grow their leadership skills even further and connect with like-minded peers from across the continent. These larger events will be complemented by ongoing training opportunities including webinars, 1-1 mentoring and in-school workshops. For example, we will run monthly online workshops for AYCC’s People of Colour Climate Network: a dedicated space for young people of colour to build their skills and confidence to be leaders in the climate justice movement.

2. Mobilising our youth movement in solidarity with communities fighting climate-wrecking gas projects in the NT and WA, through strategic political campaigns

AYCC is campaigning to stop the flow of public subsidies and political support for climate-wrecking gas expansion. Our urgent priority is building pressure on Federal political decision-makers to stop fracking in the NT’s Beetaloo basin. This long-standing campaign is led by Traditional Owners, NT locals and First Nations groups; AYCC’s role is amplifying their fight to a national audience and holding our Federal government accountable to their mandate for climate action. Our campaign goals for 2023 and beyond are:

a) No more public funding is used to support fracking in the Beetaloo or associated infrastructure

b) Any environmental approvals for shale gas fracking are assessed against strengthened Federal environment laws and rejected due to their impacts on water and the climate

c) The Ministerial Energy Council determines that corporations are financially responsible for scope 3 emissions, shifting the cost-benefit equation for fracking companies

Tactically, we’ll prioritise creative actions to bring public and media attention to the Beetaloo campaign, complementing the lobbying efforts of alliance partners. Alongside this work, we’re exploring opportunities to add power to the fight against gas in WA, and build a broader narrative uplifting frontline gas fights across the continent.

3. Building a strong, diverse national network of youth-led local action groups

Our network of volunteer action groups is at the heart of AYCC’s power. From doorknocking their communities to meeting their MPs, these local groups play a critical role in building and demonstrating community opposition to fossil fuel expansion. Our team of community organisers are responsible for building and supporting the network, by providing ongoing mentoring and training for local group leaders. Priority areas for growth in 2023 include the NT, regional NSW, regional Queensland, and strengthening existing capital city groups.