Youths protesting in the streets (photo credit: Fridays For Future)
Despite climate change developing slowly since the industrial revolution, it has become a point of contention in recent decades. Climate change is recognised by professionals worldwide as a serious threat to humanity and ecosystems.
Excessive outputs of greenhouse gases and other pollutants are set to continue raising global temperatures, resulting in dramatic weather patterns, rising sea levels, and changes in precipitation worldwide. Concurrently, countries with widespread poverty will be limited in their ability to adapt (Beukes, 2021).
Youth and children, in particular, are among the population that will be most affected by climate change due to health complications that may arise from lack of safe drinking water, increased frequency of floods and droughts, extreme heat, and infections that originate from bacteria. On top of these direct effects, there is also the risk of social problems that may arise during the resulting unrest and conflict over remaining natural resources, such as water and arable land.
Climate change is the most significant concern for youth since it is their future at risk, but some experts argue that the youth are also “crucial stakeholders” in the movement for climate change action (Beukes, 2021). This is because young people are well-positioned to build support for the health and well-being of current and future generations.
At COP26, thousands of young people from all over the world submitted The Global Youth Statement- an open letter to world leaders calling for action. The Youth Policy Teams pooled young people’s and professionals’ knowledge of environmentalism and education to identify the most urgent steps needed to address the global climate issue. The youth called on world leaders in 15 different subject areas to give the essential policy framework at COP26 to ensure we win the fight for 1.5°C. The Youth Cafe is honoured to have contributed to the Global Youth Statement released at COP26.
Even though climate change and its effects on humanity and ecology already have serious consequences, many decision-makers need to do more to address the issue. The recent IPCC report on “Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability” shows that the climate catastrophe has already resulted in significant damages and permanent losses to both people and the earth.
Between 3.3 to 3.6 billion people currently reside in locations highly affected by climate change, thwarting attempts to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience. Furthermore, climate change has caused humanitarian situations to worsen, especially in the developing nations of the Global South.
Hence, without immediate action to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, adaptation would be impossible in many parts of the world, and both economic and non-economic losses and damages will increase dramatically, especially for the most vulnerable people living on the frontlines of climate change.
Our generation of young people is greatly concerned about the planet's future in light of these gloomy forecasts. Therefore, this policy brief was made in light of the upcoming COP27 to address significant themes concerning climate change and African youth engagement. Several pieces of research indicate that climate change severely threatens African youth’s health and livelihoods.
We find that despite the urgency of including youth in climate discussions, there are several difficulties that African youth face in getting involved. Five focus areas concerning youth engagement in climate change decision-making were identified: loss and damage finance, gender, adaptation and agriculture, biodiversity, and renewable energy. Reasons why these focus areas are of concern for African youths, are elaborated, followed by recommendations concerning these issues.
The latter portion of the policy brief summarises four challenges that African youths face regarding participation in climate matters: Political inclusion on the local and global stage, access to training opportunities, deterrents to participation in strikes and protests, and integration of climate change education. Details on these challenges and why they exist are given, followed by recommendations concerning these problems.