By Gerald Barekye

Yesterday in a meeting with youth climate activists in Kampala Uganda, one of the topics that came up was the Nairobi Declaration 2023.

Youth raised concerns about the status quo of the commitments that were made and their involvement in making sure that the made commitments are fulfilled.

However, the answers to the questions remained minimal and this informed me to come out with this short article to know the progress made for the proper implementation of the Nairobi declaration.

In September 2023, the African Union Commission and the Republic of Kenya hosted the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) under the theme “Green Growth and Climate Finance for Africa and the World,” the summit attracted policymakers, practitioners, businesses, diplomats and civil society groups to exchange views on climate solutions.

The summit discussion focused on green growth in Africa and finding financing solutions to support the programs aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, which affects over 1.3 billion people across the African continent.

The severe climate changes characterised by high temperatures have resulted in many catastrophies including the closure of education institutions in South Sudan and high drought rates in the Northern part of Uganda.

The discussion committed among other things to developing and implementing policies, regulations and incentives aimed at attracting local, regional and global investment in green growth and inclusive economies by focusing economic development plans on climate-positive growth, strengthening actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, deforestation, and desertification; advancing green industrialisation across the continent by prioritising energy-intense industries and finalising and implementing the draft African Union Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

However, there is no progress seen to have these policies in place to mitigate climate change.

Further, during the summit, the Africa Youth Climate Assembly (AYCA), called for integrating their voices in handling climate change, an issue that has the biggest impact on the continent. 

The assembly’s secretariat presented the youths’ declaration to President William Ruto, the brainchild of the ACS23 and chair of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change, this was supposed to be an entry point for youth to fully participate in energy transition plans and climate change mitigations.

It should be noted that Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population under the age of 30, and that by 2030, young Africans are expected to constitute 42% of global youths, hence African continent can reap from this demographic dividend in the shaping of the green growth agenda which will contribute to energy transition plans.

Despite Africa’s relatively low emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reports Africa suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change, including multi-year droughts, flooding and lower crop yields.

The IPCC also predicts more life-threatening heatwaves, stating: “Children born in Africa in 2020 are likely to be exposed to four to eight times more heat waves compared to people born in 1960.” This is already being experienced in African countries where the temperatures are too hot.

This week we saw the government of South Sudan closing out schools due to extreme heat with the high temperature of 41 degrees Celsius and up to 45 degrees Celsius that are expected.

With the commitments that were made, I think this would be a critical time to reflect and remind the countries that made commitments to fulfil them. What’s happening in South Sudan can happen to Uganda and any other country and as of currently, the high temperatures are cutting across in most of the African countries.

The commitments that were made remain in a docket and most people remain unaware of the progress so far made. With the increased young people population across Africa, youth should be at the forefront and included in all decisions to increase their participation in climate action measures.

The youth declaration that was read and adopted should be respected and youth included in the decision-making tables and finances availed to them to support their climate mitigation plans.

Finally, African leaders need strategies and awareness campaigns to make sure that the commitments made are known to the public and have continuous updates about the implementation progress of these commitments for inclusive participation. If this is not done, the declaration will just remain on paper and Africa will continue in lamentation book.

The writer is an environmental justice defender.