Third annual Global Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate Change (GIYSCC) Convened in 2025 on August 9th
The annual Global Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate Change (GIYSCC) is accelerating as a “virtual dialogue by, for and among Indigenous youth with global inclusion”
The GIYSCC dialogue on August 9th – circling the Earth with the Sun across three 8-hour time zones in 24 hours (00:00-24:00 GMT) on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – is building a Global Partnership of Indigenous Youth in the spirt of SDG 17 among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
GIYSCC began in 2023 with Prof. Temitope Sogbanmu as the inaugural Global Lead, creating synergies with her mentee-mentor pairing, which involved Prof. Paul Arthur Berkman in the first cohort of the Science Advice Skills Development Program (SASDP) that was initiated by the Africa Chapter of the International Network for Governmental Science Advice (INGSA). There were nearly 3000 registrants with GIYSCC-2025, GIYSCC-2024 and GIYSCC-2023 from 140 nations representing 350+ languages, stimulating an inclusive global dialogue with more than 300 Indigenous youth presenters. The sustained vision and passion among GIYSCC Indigenous Youth Leaders is reflected by their 2023 invited Commentary in Nature that “Indigenous Youth Must Be at the Forefront of Climate Diplomacy”. As GIYSCC coordinator from the beginning , Prof. Berkman had opportunity with GIYSCC-2025 to contribute with Tan Sri Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid in Malaysia, visiting with Indigenous youth in Royal Belum, which is 130 million year-old rainforest and World Heritage site with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which convened the first Global Minesterial Dialogue on Science Diplomacy in March 2025. The GIYSCC history and its legacy outcomes with global inclusion are shared on the SDCI website, including the agendas, publications and zoom videos that were livestreamed on YouTube.
