African Youth climate change

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The Paris Agreement lays out long-term ambitions for climate change response and urges the engagement of non-State actors, especially young people, in the solution space. This development is a significant shift in promoting equity and intergenerational participation that necessitates a framework for enhancing youth preparedness for national climate response actions. Article 12 of the Paris Agreement states that “Parties shall cooperate in taking measures, as appropriate, to enhance climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information, recognizing the importance of these steps with respect to enhancing actions under this Agreement”. Thus, engaging and supporting African youth on all fronts of climate change leadership and action is crucial for speeding up the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

In response to the call for the engagement of young people in climate change actions by African Heads of State and Government in the Malabo Declaration of 2014, the Climate for Development Programme (ClimDev-Africa) set up the ClimDev-Africa Youth Platform in 2015 as a regional platform for the interaction of African youth networks on climate change. The Platform is a transformative, one-of-a-kind intellectual and social platform that seeks to develop, connect and inspire African youth to deal with climate change. It brings together the brightest young minds from across Africa and the diaspora to help resolve some of the most pressing climate change and sustainable development issues facing African nations today.