The Balkan Youth Climate Movement (BYCM) is imagined as a decentralised and informal platform for education, capacity building, networking, inspiration and movement building. Its main focus is awareness raising on climate change and mobilisation for climate justice. The aim is that BYCM becomes a relevant and visible platform in South East Europe which young people identify with, and use for regional and national campaigning. 

So far there were two big climate camps organised in Croatia, and hopefully there will be more in the following years, not just in Croatia, but all over the Balkan countries. We aim to continue with these kind of educational and capacity building activities in order to grow and spread the youth climate justice movement all over South East Europe.

BYCM is not a formal organisation, but a decentralised and unbranded movement which brings together young people from South East Europe who are either individuals or members of national organisations. As BYCM has no formal structure and no employees but is volunteer based, it is loosely defined and anyone with a climate justice narrative can identify with it.

The Balkan Youth Climate Movement was initiated in 2014 when Zelena akcija/FoE Croatia organised a big youth climate camp in its „Solar Academy? on Šolta Island. That summer over 50 youth came together to learn and strategise for building a new and radical movement.

Next year, 10 young people from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, who attended the BYCM camp in 2014, organised a strategic regional meeting which took place in the Solar Academy on Šolta Island. The aim of the meeting was to follow up on the activities since the first big regional Balkan youth climate movement gathering on Šolta in July 2014, and to develop plans for the following year.

The outcomes of the meeting included: developing the new BYCM platform internally, connecting with other networks in the region, working on public awareness raising on climate change, mobilising more young people for this platform and using the UN climate talks in Paris in 2015 (COP21) as a focus for these activities in Western Balkans. We also discussed and panned the next big climate justice camp in summer 2016 on Šolta Island. As a concrete result of this planning, we sent a bus with activists from Western Balkans to attend the civil society mobilisations on the streets of Paris at the end of COP21.

3. What do you think are some of the most pressing issues in the context of social and environmental justice in SE Europe at the moment? 

South East Europe is facing many problems - from dirty coal fired projects, gas and oil drilling to climate change impacts like floods or drought. With the EU slowly moving away from fossil fuels, this region is becoming increasengly a 'dumpyard' for dirty energy projects. For example, the World Bank is supporting a new 600 MW lignite plant to be build in Kosovo, while at the same time it limited international finance for new coal power to exceptional circumstances – so rare that Kosovo?s is the only coal plant being considered for World Bank support anywhere on Earth.

Furthermore, we are witnessing a humanitarian crisis - people are fleeing to Europe because they are running from war, political persecution, economic distress, famine, environmental degradation, climate change. Migration is one of the most visible manifestations of environmental and climate injustice, because many people lost their homes due to the unwillingness of some rich countries to acknowledge and act according to their (historical) responsibilities. We could especially witness this crisis in South East Europe as over a million people have crossed this way in the past year searching for a safer and better life, while at the same time those countries most responsible for the crisis are not willing to open the borders and help people.

Thus, education and capacity building of young people is needed because in order to achieve climate and social justice, we must keep building this movement and pressure western developed governments, as well as our own, to act now. But not to act in a way that will reinforce the unjust system we live in, but in a way that will challenge the system and strive towards equity and justice.

Climate Change Programme Assistant and Coordinator of Digital Communications

Green Action/Friends of the Earth Croatia- Position in BYCM

Even though the camp lasted for only a week, it was well organized and the schedule was pretty tight to make sure many topics would be covered. Initially there was an introduction of the camp to later on continue talks on the ?Regional Networks: South East Europe Network for Energy and Transport ( SEE NET)?. Following that in the same day the participants had the first introduction to the ?Climate Justice? topic presented by Aneesa Khan (Earth in Brackets) and Silje Lundberg (Friends of the Earth Norway). During all the sessions participants had the right to fully contribute in the discussion and in some cases form small groups before the sessions so everyone would have a say in the presented topic.

After a ?warm up? in the first day on broader topics and a discussion on ?Global South perspectives? by Jagoda Munić (Chair of Friends of the Earth International) , the participants had a chance to hear and learn more on initiatives across Europe. Silje Lundberg (Friends of the Earth Norway) had a presentation on actions taken for protection of Fjords in Norway, Marcello Masciotta (No Ombrina, Italy) enthusiastically talked upon the success of their movement and the ?No Ombrina? campaign and following that Larba ( Ende Gelände, Germany) showed inspiring videos of their actions and talked on the challenges of mobilizing a large number of people.

After the inspiring stories across Europe, the participants had a introduction to UN climate talks and reflection on COP21 as well as what comes next.

In the third day it was the time to concentrate more on the region we represented, thus the first session was about ?Bad Energy: Dirty energy in South-East Europe?. The session was presented by Pippa Gallop (Bankwatch), Igor Kalaba (Center for Environment, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Luka Tomac ( Zelena akcija/FoE Croatia). A reflection on what is considered as ?Bad energy? followed with listing of ?Good energy? and a session presented by Molly Walsh (Friends of the Earth Europe, Belgium). The participants were presented with such a schedule that would provide enough time to present their stories and actions to each other. During the evenings there would be open active discussions and storytelling on national fights and campaigns. 

Terms that are unfamiliar to many but essential to be known when taking actions or studying the grassroots problems on the presented topics are ?Equality, Interculturalism and Intersectionism?. There terms were discussed and were useful to later on help in setting the aims of the movement. 

As mentioned before the schedule provided enough time to allow full participation of everyone. Such opportunity was through many sessions at the Open Space. The sessions were: ?Plitvice Lakes?- Marita Cvitanovič ?Ecosystem Service Valuation (Open discussion?- Maja Bradarič ?System Change (Open discussion)?- Simona Gretova ?Green Politics, Be the system don?t change the climate and Awareness through documentary? – Agim Mazreku ?Banner Making?- Marija Mileta ?Reducing hierarchy in group discussion and decision making? – Luna ?Solar workshop?-Ivan Zakovič ?Theater of oppressed?- Jelena Mandič ?How we organized Ende Gelände?- Luna and ?Art & Activism? – Luka Tomac.

Following the discussion and studying of the grassroots problems that lead to a need for a climate justice, another interconnected current topics was presented. That is ?Climate change and migration? and a session ?There is no ?refugee crisis?- it?s a crisis of humanity? held by Emina Bužinkić (Center for Peace Studies, Zagreb). 

The outcomes of the camp varied from a deeper understanding of the presented topics by the participants to the mobilization and setting of a network or movement that would share resources, ideas and be active on local environmental struggles. A full wrap up session was held to discussion the next steps, action points and ways forward as well as building leadership for Balkan Youth Climate Movement. Its participants are already full active members of different environmental organization and some of them individually active, that constantly study the grassroots of many environmental struggles, science and laws behind the presented topics, advocate for climate justice and take on proper actions such as raising awareness and protests against the injustice with the motto ?System change not Climate change?.

The climate movement all across the nations advocates for a climate justice. In order to understand why it is important aiming both at dealing with social and environmental injustice at the same time, one must be familiar with what is actually climate justice. Explaining or putting a definition on climate justice has always been a struggle and it is not actually a recognized term in many institutions.

If you look upon the definition of Climate Justice online, then you would find compacted versions that would define it in one sentence.

?Climate Justice is working at the intersections of environmental degradation and the racial, social, and economic inequities it perpetuates?. In order to understand it better you can relate that to many local environmental struggles and since the audience of the portal is more Kosovan I will try using a well-known case in Kosovo. The giant air polluter Kosovo B, is situation just kilometers away from Plementina, a village north west the capital Pristina. The environmental degradation here can be put as the air pollution and water pollution caused by the Kosovo B coal power plant, the racial inequity stands with the fact that RAE (Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian) community were located there, social and economic inequity with the lack of investments to provide all the public services to the community. The crime here is done to both environment and the human society. The environment goes through degradation and its impact is also upon human society by the serious health issues that they experience from the 25 tons of dust and smoke (that consists of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and other toxics) that are released every hour. If a justice would be achieved directly both the environment and the human society would be the winners. Similarly in a global scale everyone depends on the environment and the current wealth is in the hands of the small percentage of people. It is the least privileged and most vulnerable citizens that feel the effects of these environmental struggles or climate crisis caused by that corporate minority. An interconnected movement is needed in order to fix the problems of the interconnected world and anyone who seeks basic human and civil rights should see that climate crisis is the top current threat. 

Agim Mazreku

Founder of Creative Youth of Kosovo

17th Tunza Eco Generation Ambassador

UWC Adriatic alumni/ College of the Atlantic