On the Sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit: Youth Advocate Gloria Agyare Shares Her Experience and Hope for the Continent
Our new interview series “On the Sidelines”, spotlights the experiences and ideas of participants at some of the key conferences and forums on climate change. In this first of the series, our co-founder Jennifer Kwao interviewed Gloria Agyare, a sustainable food systems advocate working with farming communities in Ghana, about the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
Jennifer Kwao: To start off, can you tell us what you do and who you are representing here at the Africa Climate Summit?
Gloria Agyare: I’m here at the Africa Climate Summit as a representative of Ghana Youth Environmental Movement, a youth-led environmental movement that is influencing policy and advocacy on the environment. Our three focal areas are: food, climate, and nature.
Jennifer Kwao: Why was it important for you to engage in this Africa Climate Summit and African Climate Week?
Gloria Agyare: I have spent a lot of years working with the grassroots and I feel they are not well represented in global and regional conversations such as this summit. Our work as an environmental movement tries to bring grassroots voices to this stage. That is one reason why I came here. Another is bringing some of our challenges to the forefront so that they can be considered in decisions by our leaders. We also use this meeting as an opportunity to explore partnerships for projects and our thematic priorities so that we can propel action at the grassroots.
Jennifer Kwao: And have you had the opportunity to influence the discussion?
Gloria Agyare: Yes, I’ve had the opportunity to engage in some significant discussions. I’ve been able to voice out opinions at the UNFPA session on engaging youth in climate policymaking. I’ve also attended side events on food security, where I’ve raised questions about finance for food or agriculture at the grassroots. I also followed a high-level discussion with the presidents of Tanzania and Ethiopia, and the vice president of Angola, where they shared initiatives they have implemented for food insecurity in their countries. I raised some critical things that we need to look at if we want to transition to sustainable food systems like having sustainable finance systems for our local farmers.
Jennifer Kwao: What is your assessment of the summit so far?
Gloria Agyare: I’m very happy to see our leaders here trying to create that equal front to push an African climate agenda. I love that young people have been included in various aspects of the summit.
However, access to some parts of this conference has been difficult. Not everyone has access to certain discussions that have been going on so far and that’s of major concern to me. I really don’t know why this is the case. I also think that the level of representation of countries on the continent is limited. At side events, I had the impression that East Africa had more representatives on the panels.
Jennifer Kwao: What is your number one wish for the Africa Climate Summit?
Gloria Agyare: My number one wish for this Africa Climate Summit is for our leaders to realize the potential of this continent. They should focus on building the continent and not look too far for solutions. I feel we are capable of standing alone as a continent and forging that growth we look forward to — if we work together.
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Gloria Equiyah Agyare: Gloria Agyare is an environmentalist and aspiring Agri-food system policy expert. She has experience in youth education and engagement and is well-versed in cross-sectoral community-based project management, particularly in the areas of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Climate Change. Gloria is a prominent speaker on agriculture and climate change issues, advocating for women and youth inclusion in environmental decision-making and food systems. At COP27 in Egypt, she passionately engaged in discussions on gender and youth empowerment, aiming to drive climate action at the grassroots level. Gloria is an active member of the Food and Agriculture working group under YOUNGO.
Jennifer Kwao is co-founder of 1.2 Diaries — Diaspora Climate Platform. She is an editor by day and a consultant working at the EU-AU level on climate justice, racial justice, diaspora youth mobilisation, and EU policy analysis.
