Africa Climate Week to COP27; African Voices in The Climate Movement
African youth movements are growing and unified in their demands for climate justice. In the frontlines of their community actions, they are developing solutions to the climate crisis and raising their voices to be included in the global policy agenda. In preparation for COP 27, the recently concluded Africa Climate Week (ACW) in Gabon was a crucial time for governments, bilateral organizations, civil society, and corporate sector organizations to find common ground for African interests.
Africa produces less than 4% of the world’s historical emissions, yet it is one of the most vulnerable continents to the effects of climate change. From #ACW, the recurring message was that it is necessary to place more emphasis on adaptation and resilience in order to combat the climatic shocks that disrupt economies, communities, and supply chains.
“Due to the fact that countries are unable to meet their obligations for different climate finance pledges, it has left millions of people in my region to suffer from impacts of climate change,” said Adenike Oladosu, an eco-feminist and climate activist focussing on the Lake Chad region.
The majority of Africans depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. The United Nations estimates that roughly 80% of the Sahel’s farmland is degraded. As a result, the area experiences longer droughts, affecting food production and people’s livelihoods. This is just another example of why the voices of the most affected by this crisis are essential during the negotiations for climate finance.
Why is it important for youth voices to be heard and supported in the climate movement?
It is clear that #climatechange poses significant risks to the African continent. Many youths have seen these opportunities and have stepped forward to lead, and they require all the support including access to #climatefinance, enabling #policy environment, and #capacity development. Indeed they are reporting for duty, showcasing tangible projects in their communities, with a call for support to close gaps limiting their ability to scale up.
During #ACW, Martin Masiya, a young climate entrepreneur from Malawi, expressed optimism about the uptake of renewable energy projects by young people and highlighted that several international movements were working hard to develop more ways to assist young people in taking climate action.
“However, more needs to be done by all players, public and private, in ensuring that youth are involved and engaged at every step of the process from ideation to implementation on the local level,” Masiya explained.
He also mentioned the need for collaboration among youth at all levels to demand more ambition and action from the governments and other players in the climate space.
“There is so much more that we can achieve by working together as a collective than in isolation,” Martin Masiya.
Addressing inequalities
According to research by the Africa Development Bank, Africa will face annual adaptation costs of between US$20 and US$30 billion over the next 10 to 20 years. Africans’ top goals in the face of climate change include delivering on scaled-up climate finance for adaptation and a just energy transition.
Olumide Idowu, the Executive Coordinator of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), urged for a more detailed plan for sustainable development, stating that it was impossible to take action on climate change without also considering issues like poverty, hunger, employment, and women’s empowerment.
“The conclusion of Regional Climate Week 2022 in Gabon is a signal for us to start counting down to COP 27; we must proceed with aspiration, tenacity, and hope. Africa is a crucial component of this solution, which the world community must implement in order to address the climate catastrophe,” he concluded.
From Kenya, Elizabeth Wathuti — the founder of community organisation Green Generation Initiative (GGI), explains that this year’s COP 27 climate negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh in November and COP15 biodiversity negotiations in Montreal in December will be crucial moments for the protection of people and the planet.
“The international community cannot safeguard a liveable future — or secure a just development pathway for climate vulnerable countries — without addressing climate injustice and putting nature and ecosystems at the heart of climate decision-making.
“Ahead of COP 27, we must keep up the pressure on rich countries with historically greater emissions to deliver a financial facility for climate-related loss and damage,” she advocates.
Here are some African Youth Actions to look out for before COP 27:
Afrika Youth Caravan
#AfrikaYouthCaravan #AfrikaYouthCaravan_COP27
The Pan-Afrikan Youth caravan to COP 27, led by the Kenya Environmental Action Network (KEAN), is geared toward ensuring meaningful and active participation of African youth in this key climate event taking place on African soil.
The aim is to bring together youth leaders in the different African regions to dialogue, shape up the narratives and contribute to the solutions in the region.
The caravan will be characterised by its decentralised “movement,” from one region to the next, up until Egypt. Through the caravan period (that includes sub-regional workshops & in Egypt actions), activities will be geared towards bringing together youth, communities and leaders, in spaces that showcase and celebrate the local solutions being worked on, and record their stories/ solutions in video, visual and report formats, to be shared with delegates and parties at COP 27.
In the course of the caravan project, there will be key sub-regional workshops bringing together youth from all of Africa for dialogue, action and contribution to the climate agenda. There will be a Southern African, Eastern African, Western African and Northern African workshop.
Key Dates: All of the workshops take place between October 4–6 2022.
For more details check out their social media pages:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/afrika-youth-caravan/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfrikaYouthCaravan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfrikaY_Caravan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afrikay_caravan/
Climate Justice Torch
#ClimateJusticeTorch, #OneAfricaOneVoice
The Climate Justice torch campaign is aimed at mobilizing and amplifying the voices of communities at the frontline of the climate crisis to secure accountability for climate justice at COP 27.
Led by The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, the movement aims to also engage African youth climate activists and build sufficient political momentum within Africa for urgent action to mobilize voices from vulnerable communities.
Launched in Gabon during the Africa Climate Week (ACW), the torch inscribed with the demands of African youth will move through various countries, initiating dialogues and spotlighting climate injustice in the regions.
A key outcome of the campaign is to have inspired and empowered African communities, youth, women and vulnerable populations telling their stories. They also aim to s increase pressure on global leaders, from wealthy and industrialized countries, to adopt ambitious climate commitments, rooted in climate justice at COP27 and beyond.
Key Dates: August 29 — November 3 2022.
For more details check out their social media pages:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pan-african-climate-justice-alliance-pacja/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PACJA1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PACJA1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pacja_org/
RCOY in Africa
Regional Conference Of Youth (RCOY) is an event under the umbrella of YOUNGO. RCOY — Africa is a precursor to the Conference of Youth (COY 17) and COP 27 for youth around the world. RCOY hopes to unify the voice of youth from various countries in the African continent and also serve as a training and capacity-building space for African youth to participate in COY and COP.
Held jointly by the Africa Youth Mobilization For COP (AYM4COP), the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), and Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), the conference will bring together youth from different parts of the continent to galvanize the climate conversation and gather more inputs to develop respective outputs which feed into the regional climate policy-making and consequently into the climate negotiations.
Key Dates: RCOY — Africa 2022 will take place in South Africa from 14–16 October 2022.
For more details check out their social media pages:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/african-youth-initiative-on-climate-change-ayicc-/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayiccafrica
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aym4cop
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayiccafrica/
#ACWGabon2022 #RoadtoCOP27 #LossAndDamage #AfricanCop #Cop27 #Youth4Cop #Climatechange #climateaction #climatecrisis #AfricanSolutions #AfricanVoices #climateemergency
