Empowering Youth and Shaping Climate Policy Through Technology in Asia-Pacific

2025 marks a milestone year for climate governance, with most countries submitting their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) under the Paris Agreement. In this crucial moment, Ekota, co-developed by UNDP and Cogco, serves as a digital platform that uses deliberative technology to make climate planning more inclusive, participatory, and future-ready.

This year, 15 online youth conversations were hosted on Ekota, spanning global, regional, subregional, and national dialogues. These discussions explored themes such as inclusive climate policy making, Indigenous issues, climate justice, and green jobs. Among these, nine national consultations were often aligned with the Local Conferences of Youth (LCOYs), feeding into the Global Conference of Youth Statement for COP30. Several of these conversations provided actionable steps for countries’ NDC processes and informed key national climate policy frameworks.

These conversations reached more than 15,000 individuals and engaged over 5,000 participants across Asia and the Pacific, proving how youth-driven data can translate into concrete contributions to NDC processes and national climate policies.

Why Deliberative Technology?

Unlike in traditional consultations or one-way surveys, participants can share ideas, debate priorities, and vote through deliberative technology, creating consensus-driven insights that policymakers can use directly.

This approach removes barriers of geography, time, and resources, allowing youth from rural communities and urban centres to interact with each other’s opinions. In doing so, it strengthens the democratic foundation of climate governance and ensures young people are equally and meaningfully engaged.

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Reimagining Youth Engagement for NDC 3.0

Youth engagement is becoming systematic rather than symbolic. Thousands of young people are joining discussions that inform their countries’ NDC 3.0 pathways. Interactive voting mechanisms help identify shared priorities, giving governments actionable guidance supported by consensus data.

This model elevates youth participation from a checkbox exercise to evidence-based policy input, ensuring that national climate commitments reflect lived experiences, innovation, and the realities young people face on the ground.

Knowledge and Resilience in East Asia

In East Asia, young people raised concerns about desertification, dzud (harsh winters), and water scarcity, urging formal roles for youth in climate governance. They called for dedicated climate finance for youth-led work and for integrating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into national strategies. Mongolian youth weighed in on combining TEK with modern technology to reduce climate-induced livestock losses.

Credit: UNDP Mongolia

Climate Justice in South Asia

Youth across South Asia emphasized the need for climate justice and stronger legal frameworks to enforce environmental protection. They highlighted disaster risks facing mountain and coastal communities and called for regional cooperation over shared rivers and glaciers. There was strong demand for grant-based climate finance and climate education, with Nepali youth advocating for climate literacy in national curricula and institutionalized youth roles in NDC implementation.

Credit: UNICEF Nepal

Integration in Southeast Asia

For young people in Southeast Asia, building resilience starts with integrating climate education into school systems. They also spotlighted the need for investment in renewable energy, irrigation systems, and climate-smart agriculture, and called for stronger youth advocacy in policymaking. Cambodian youth proposed clear investment pathways for clean energy and drought-resistant crops to protect food systems.

Credit: UNDP Cambodia

Transparency in the Pacific

Pacific youth focused on transparency in climate finance, calling for clear reporting to ensure resources reach vulnerable communities. They also highlighted the need for technical capacity-building for green jobs and greater access to mentorship and education opportunities. Papua New Guinean youth emphasized strengthening community resilience as a core pillar of climate adaptation.

Credit: UNDP YECAP

From Insights to NDC Action

Youth voices on Ekota consistently align with the core elements of effective NDC architecture. Many participants stressed that inclusive governance, built on transparency, participation, and accountability, is crucial to ensuring that climate commitments are both credible and community-driven. Equally important are the calls for climate finance that enable equitable, youth-led solutions for adaptation and mitigation.

These insights show how CivicTech platforms can help countries design NDC 3.0 processes that are more inclusive, equitable, and true to the lived realities of young people. This approach is a new way forward for climate governance, one where youth can meaningfully shape the policies that will define their future.

This article was originally published on CogCo here.