The Canadian Youth Climate Assembly has released its final report, following its meeting in Ottawa in September, with a list of 23 recommendations focused on climate risks, accountability, and cutting oil and gas emissions.

All recommendations were responses to a central question, according to the website where the report can be downloaded: “What do young Canadians want Parliament to do to meet Canada’s climate commitments in a way that reflects their values and priorities?”

Key recommendations include:

• Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies;

• Investing in resilient, interprovincial/interterritorial clean electricity infrastructure;

• Working across party lines to accelerate the transition to clean energy;

• Embedding youth perspectives in climate decision-making; and

• Respecting Indigenous sovereignty, ensuring that First Nations have leadership and ownership in land stewardship and the clean energy transition.

The report [pdf] also outlines seven principles and six priorities the 36 youth assembly members from across the country believe represent the views of their generation about how Canada should deal with climate change.

Though the assembly’s final report is the headline-making outcome, participants told The Energy Mix their work with the assembly also fostered connections that are helping them continue pushing for more effective and open climate policy.

Hallie Robinson, engagement and communications coordinator for the Alliance of Canadian Land Trusts, was one of 36 youth between 18 and 25 who were selected by lottery to take part in the Canadian Youth Climate Assembly (CYCA). After a series of meetings to discuss and learn about climate policy, they travelled to Ottawa for several days in September to meet with parliamentarians. The assembly just recently released a report with recommendations for the federal government.

Even with that done, Robinson told The Mix that she is “still talking with and collaborating with senators to keep the momentum going.” And while she wants to keep pushing climate policy forward in formalized spaces with allies in Parliament, Robinson also wants to see that kind of movement “in youth-led spaces and less formalized contexts as well, to have more community building, and a bottom-up approach as well.”

The report’s 23 recommendations are grouped into three categories:  climate risks, accountability, and cutting oil and gas emissions. During the assembly, the CYCA youths were separated into groups to work on the different categories, and Robinson was part of the group focusing on climate accountability.

“We had a number of tables and groups working on each section, and you would kind of float between groups,” she explained. This allowed members to see how other groups’ thoughts might apply to their own priorities and principal sections as well, allowing them to bring in different perspectives.

Hargun Rekhi, a 22-year-old environmental studies student at York University, participated primarily in the oil and gas emissions group, to which she was able to contribute some expertise from her current work as a master’s student focusing on extractive industries. But she highlighted that the cross-discussions between group members meant that everyone was able to contribute to each individual section, “at least a little bit.”

Some participants—including both Robinson and Rekhi—also wrote minority reports to address ideas that aren’t covered elsewhere in the report. For example, Robinson’s addition emphasizes how climate justice considerations need to extend beyond Canada’s domestic borders, and should be crafted to not deepen inequities.

“I really want Canadian industries to be accountable for extracting disproportionately from the Global South” while contributing to ongoing environmental and social harm,” she told The Mix.

Meanwhile, Rekhi’s minority report suggests that the federal government take an inventory of Canada’s existing oil and gas policies and assess which are working, before implementing new ones. She explained that because Canada’s legislature broadly operates in four-year cycles, it ends up “getting all of these new policy instruments without knowing what actually is effective.”

Rekhi and Robinson are not alone among the participants in having more ideas about how to make better climate policy. And while the report marks the CYCA’s resolution, connections made during September’s  assembly are allowing them to stay engaged, whether through opportunities to work with politicians or through networks with other assembly members.

“Even after the assembly has ended, we have this space where we can talk to each other about possible opportunities and really celebrate successes of other people together,” Rekhi said about an online group chat of CYCA participants. She added that this kind of connection is really important and demonstrates the value of participatory democracy, giving people a chance to discuss important issues outside of algorithm-generated narratives, like those promoted through social media.

With access to non-partisan information from respectful discussion with other members of society, Rekhi said, “You can make your own opinions, or possibly be more open minded about other people’s opinions,” said Rekhi.