Mumbai Climate Week 2026: UNICEF and YuWaah to Amplify Voices of Children and Youth
Mumbai: UNICEF YuWaah (Generation Unlimited India) has been appointed as the official Youth Engagement Partner for Mumbai Climate Week (MCW) 2026, scheduled to be held from 17 to 19 February 2026 in Mumbai. In collaboration with UNICEF India and Project Mumbai, YuWaah will begin a series of youth-focused activities from January, aimed at ensuring that children and young people actively participate in climate discussions and decision-making processes.
Mumbai Climate Week is India’s first citizen-led climate platform that seeks to translate large-scale climate commitments into on-ground action. Recognising that the climate crisis is closely linked to children’s rights, UNICEF India, YuWaah and Project Mumbai will work together to ensure that the lived experiences, ideas and solutions of children and youth are heard and integrated throughout the week-long event.
Speaking about the initiative, Cynthia McCaffrey, Representative of UNICEF India, said, “Children and young people are powerful agents of change. By placing them at the centre of climate solutions, we are working with governments to protect their rights and build a safer, more sustainable future. Mumbai Climate Week provides young people a platform to address challenges such as e-waste and demonstrates the critical role youth can play in climate action.”
As part of the build-up to Mumbai Climate Week, UNICEF YuWaah will organise a ‘Campus Climate Roadshow’ from 9 to 16 February 2026 across select colleges in Mumbai. A key attraction of the roadshow will be a unique e-waste installation, developed under Mission LiFE through Special Campaign 5.0 by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The installation highlights youth-led efforts on responsible consumption and scientific disposal of e-waste.
By bringing these installations to college campuses, the roadshow aims to deepen student participation in climate action during Mumbai Climate Week and connect campus-level engagement with broader civic and policy dialogues.
To further promote youth-driven climate solutions, UNICEF YuWaah is supporting the ‘Youth Green Innovation Challenge’ as part of MCW 2026. This national platform invites changemakers aged 16 to 24 years to present innovative ideas across three themes—food systems, sustainable cities, and renewable energy. Selected youth innovators will showcase their solutions at Mumbai Climate Week, engage with experts and policymakers, and explore opportunities to scale their ideas through partnerships and mentorship.
Shishir Joshi, Founder and CEO of Project Mumbai, said, “The Campus Roadshow and Youth Green Innovation Challenge reflect what Mumbai Climate Week truly stands for—turning conversations into action. By taking these initiatives to college students, we are building a network of young climate champions who will continue this momentum well beyond February, taking climate action back to their communities.”
UNICEF India continues to mainstream climate action across all its programmes in health, nutrition, education, WASH and child protection. These efforts include climate-resilient hospitals, strategies to address extreme heat and air pollution, climate-smart schools, and water and sanitation systems designed to withstand floods and droughts. UNICEF also supports Mission LiFE and youth-led environmental action. Through the Meri LiFE platform, over 31.9 million climate-positive actions have been recorded so far, while more than one million young people in Maharashtra have been engaged through youth participation and water conservation initiatives.