Sep 11, 2020
#KnowYourNDCs: Understanding the #NDCs: The Role of Young People in Achieving the #NDCs — By Prof. @Chuks_Okereke
As the lead author of the recent IPCC AR5 Assessment report, how well do you think the science of Climate Change is communicated to young people?
I must say that communication has been poor. The IPCC sees national governments as the primacy audience of its work. This is understandable since it is an intergovernmental panel. And of course, national governments are key players in climate action. However, I think it has to be accepted that there are a number of other key players such as NGOs, businesses, and increasingly young people who need to be centrally involved in the fight against climate change. For example, we are all aware of the incredible influence that Greta Thunberg and a host of young people around the world have done to encourage climate awareness and action in the last few years. At the same time, it should be stressed that climate change is an issue of intergenerational justice because it is the young and future generations that will bear the greatest impact of climate change. For these reasons I think it is vital that the IPCCC as well as national governments ensure that young people are well informed about the threats and risks as well as the opportunities linked to global climate change. For these reasons I think it is vital that the IPCCC as well as national governments to ensure that young people are well informed about the threats and risks as well as the opportunities linked to global climate change.
Do you think young people have been effectively engaged in ensuring the successful implementation of the NDCs?
No, not at all. The general lack of engagement of the public including young people in the crafting and implementation of NDC is the key motivation why I approached WRI to fund the project on increasing public participation in Nigeria’s NDC. Of course, it has to be said that this is not a Nigerian problem. All over the world, there is plenty of space to more systematically engage the youth, the leaders of tomorrow, and the future generation who are likely to suffer the most from inaction on climate change in the critical decisions on how climate change policies should be designed and implemented.
What does meaningful youth participation means in achieving climate action and building climate-resilience?
Meaningful youth participation means that youth involvement is not used as superficial, cosmetic, powerless, yes-men, and yes-women to merely legitimize a predetermined climate governance process, policy, or action. Rather, meaningful youth participation entails that the youth have real power, real say, in what should be done, how it should be done, and when it is done. Meaningful youth participation means that the youth has the right to question, interrogate, and shape the direction of climate policy in all its facets and ramifications. Unfortunately, this is not the case in any country in the world at present. I think it should change.
What would be your top 3 recommendations for young people to be better integrated into Nigeria’s current NDCs revision process at the national level?
- Government should make a genuine concerted effort to reach out to the youth, invite and facilitate their meaningful participation in all the NDC meetings, workshops, dialogues and related events.
- The youth should be adequately represented and actively involved in the data collection, analysis, and drafting of the report.
- The youth or the government can form a national youth council on climate change as a pressure group to articulate their positions on key issues for the NDC and lobby to see their position incorporated in the NDC.
Those would be my three top recommendations.
Beyond the advocacy & activism scope, how tangible would you regard the role of young people in the science & negotiation scope of the NDCs & other climate change conversation on the international scene?
I will say that there is NOT a single scope or aspect of climate science and governance where the voice and influence of young people are not needed or possible. Young people can serve as the engine for climate innovation. Young people are doing incredible things to address climate change from promoting climate education in schools, planting trees, transforming waste to wealth, designing and manufacturing solar panels, improved cooking stoves. Young people MUST not wait for encouragement from anybody and they should not accept intimidation from anyone. They have the same right as anyone else to have a say on the way climate change should be addressed in their countries. Often it young people that better understand the need for urgent action on climate change. They also have the energy and drive to take action. Also young people are the ones that often come up with novel solutions where the older generations are detained or bound by unselfish interests, inertia, or the system with which they have been aquatinted for long.
What’s the progress & tracking mechanics for the Nationally Determined Contributions NDCs, particularly in Nigeria?
I think it has so far been more or less left for the Department for Climate Change (DCC) of the Federal Ministry of Environment, but this in my view is not good enough. The Department for Climate Change has done incredibly well in championing climate action and the NDC in Nigeria, especially under the leadership of Dr Peter Tarfa. But they can’t do everything especially given limited capacity. The Hon Minister and the Hon Minister for State have also been great advocates and champions of the NDC. But again, they can’t do everything especially given the complex nature of the government. However, it would be much better to have a statutory body comprising of eminent national climate scientists including youth representatives, that is saddled with the role of monitoring the implementation of the NDC. This is one major area of change that I would like to see with regards to NDC implementation in Nigeria.
What advice or recommendation will you give to the government in involving young people in the ongoing NDCs revision?
The government should make take the role of youth in the ongoing NDC revision very seriously. I believe that meaningful youth involvement will help to make the NDC more robust, visionary, and better positioned to facilitate green growth and low carbon transition in Nigeria.
This is a tweet-chat series on #ClimateWednesday — #KnowYourNDCs
