Durban Platform for Youth Involvement

Half of the World population is made of amazing group young people, creative, strong and committed to finding solution to the world greatest challenge; climate change. We traveled by road, sea and air to meet with our peers in Durban, South Africa for the UN climate Talks.  We began our participation with a 3-day Conference of Youth (COY7) at the University of Kwazulu Natal (UKZN). We held worshos on climate change policy, linking population and climate change, media and messaging, building youth climate coalitions and we dance to the tune of “Waka Waka- it time for Africa”.  We met too with ‘elders’ who are deciding how our future will look like without much consideration of how and what we think as the inheritor of the present unsustainable world whichever way they leave it.

Much was at stake during the talks. After the excitement, expectation and ultimate failure and farce of the Copenhagen summit in December 2009, the credibility of the entire UN process was under great scrutiny. The 2010 conference in Cancún restored some faith, but as things stand there is still no legally binding international framework for cuts in carbon emissions beyond 2012. The future of the Kyoto Protocol has been a major sticking point for years – and at these talks. The final outcomes are a Green Climate Fund being instated, the Kyoto Protocol having a second commitment period and there being a road-map to a new legal binding treaty from 2015.

This year marked a great year for the Youth climate movement as we were boosted with a permanent observer seat at the UNFCCC under the YOUNGO (Youth NGOs).  As the generation that will take over the climate which ever way the govt decides to leave it, young people like us will be spending the next 40 years of their lives de-carbonising the environment. Inside the ICC, we asked that Durban shouldn't be a burying ground for Kyoto protocol, govt should show the leadership that they are entrusted with, support Africa and other countries adapt and access the Green Climate Fund.  We asked them to "Get it done"

""What has been the most important and exciting news from the conference has been the active involvement of youth - There is a story of hope from Durban—it's the story of the youth and their allies who refused to remain silent, and who will stand up everyday and everywhere and show the bravery we saw in South Africa. That's how we'll win this fight--and that's the progress we're most proud of." ~ 350.org 

African Youth were not left out. We held workshops, social media advocacy and we traveled from Nairobi to Durban by road holding road shows, collecting petitions and creating a great wave of awareness globally on the fate of Africans struggling in face of devastating climate impacts and yet  they shouted "We have faith''.  but how long can this faith last??

Written by Esther Agbarakwe
Photo Credits: Kyle Gracey and Esther Agbarakwe

Launch of the Nigerian Field Society Young Explorers (NFSYE)

Mr. Oladipupo Ajiroba, a postgraduate student of Natural Resources Conservation at the University of Lagos and also a Special Assistant to Mrs. Hafsat Abiola, the Special Adviser on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Ogun State Governor was selected and installed as the Chairperson at the Official launch of the Nigerian Field Society Young Explorers (NFSYE). In his acceptance speech, Mr. Oladipupo Ajiroba, Chairman of the newly launched NFSYE, and also of the leadership team at Nigerian Youth Climate Coalition (NYCC) commended the Nigerian Field Society and the management of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture for making youths the vanguard of forest protection and natural resource management in Nigeria. He spoke about the work of Nigerian Youth Climate Coalition in involving young people on environmental management in Nigeria and expressed confidence that with this previous experience, he will lead NFSYE successfully.

The launch programme that was held on Saturday November, 19 at IITA campus, Ibadan, Oyo State and chaired by the Director General of IITA; had seasoned experts on conservation and environmental management in attendance.

In his words, “he decried the alarming rate at which Nigeria’s forest reserves have been depleted. The launching of Nigerian Field Society Young Explorers Initiative is an excellent opportunity for us to stress the importance to walk the talk and not just talk the talk".

“Young people should be given more consideration and prominent roles in planning various projects and policies. Natural resources management is not complete without the active participation of young people as well as the indigenous people. While it is not a doubt that old people have the ideas born out of experience overtime, young people have the energy and number to drive these ideas and as well ensure it is sustainable” he adds. Furthermore, Oladipupo extolled the leadership of young Nigerians who have been leading environmental campaigns in Nigeria, especially Esther Agbarakwe, the founder of Nigerian Youth Climate Coalition who presently is an Advocacy fellow at Population Action International, Washington DC, for her leadership and extensive advocacy work on promoting awareness on biodiversity.

In Nigeria, deforestation or loss of vegetation or the selective exploitation of forests for economic or social reasons is about 3.5% per year, translating to a loss of 350,000–400,000 ha of forest land per year. The consequence of this situation has led to global warming and climate change that is now affecting agricultural production,” were the words of Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Prof. David Okali, Nigeria’s first professor of forestry, notes that the impact of deforestation and degradation on the environment and livelihoods is enormous. Meanwhile, the current president, Prof. Funso Adeniyi, emphasized the importance of forming the youth wing of the NFS, the oldest NGO in Nigeria, now 81 years old.

“The time for action is now and the youths, who will soon be the custodian of these resources, must be involved,” they said.

Recent studies show that forests in Nigeria now occupy about 923,767 km² or about 10 million ha. This is about 10% of Nigeria’s forest land area and well below the Food and Agriculture Organization’s recommended national minimum of 25%.

Dr. John Peacock, a consultant and coordinator of the IITA-Leventis Foundation project, notes that agricultural intensification could help reduce the rate of deforestation in the region.

“If farmers get improved seeds and inputs such as fertilizers, and are trained, they would not need to slash and burn or embark on practices that will harm the forests,” he says.

Written by Oladipupo Ajiroba

A Strong Opening and an Open Letter to our Leaders

The 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP17) opened in Durban today with a very strong statement on women by both the outgoing president of COP16, Ms. Patricia Espinosa, and current president of COP17 Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. Both ladies mentioned women’s empowerment during their statements as key to helping family adapt to the changing climate and urged governments to support women’s efforts in safer climate initiatives.

Ms. Nkoana-Mashabane, who is also South Africa’s International Relations Minister, said world leaders had gathered because of the concerns of millions of people. She urged the leaders to be bold in their actions in agreeing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  It was so inspiring when PAI was mentioned by the COP president, as she invited me to deliver the Youth Opening Statement during the Opening COP plenary.

This is what I said, and what I hope our leaders will consider this week during the negotiations:

The future cannot be discussed without youth. The future is ours. You can see that our patience has come to an end; we are willing to raise our voice even if it means taking us to the edge.

We do not want Durban to be a burying ground for the Kyoto Protocol. The renewal of commitment to the Kyoto Protocol in Durban is crucial as Africa and other vulnerable countries’ future depends on it. Everyone in this hall must collaborate to create solutions. As we travelled by road from Nairobi to Durban we collected petitions requesting you to act fast.

We believe that the Conference of Parties has come of age. We are no longer in the childhood stages of determining solutions to climate change. The time of maturity has arrived. Some of you here have shown leadership while others have blocked progress. We ask you to negotiate with open doors filled with compassion, integrity and justice. We ask you to show the world the leadership you have been entrusted with .

Thank you

Esther Agbarakwe

7th Conference of Youth, Durban, South Africa

More than 400 young people from all over the world gathered at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) in South Africa this week for the 7th Conference of Youth. The Conference of Youth (COY) is about bringing together youth from all over the world who are passionate about sustainability and climate change. It’s a place to connect, share skills and build a movement.

At about 7.30 am after a very fast breakfast, I called a taxi to take me to UKZN’s Howard College, my backpack filled with PAI Materials for the Youth Expo. I arrived at UKZN at 8.30 am, due to heavy traffic.

This having been my second time at COY, I felt I had a bit of experience and was inspired to be attending the COY7 on African soil.Arriving at the venue, my first question was: Where are the African youth delegates? I whispered this to my African youth delegate from Cameroun, because the room was already filled with young people from the global north (you could see the marked difference from the skin color alone).

I was worried, because our hope as African youth facilitators was that for the first time, African youth would have equal representation at the Conference of the Parties (COP), large climate negotiations that this year are being held in Durban. Just then, the African Youth Justice Caravan arrived and the hall was now more than half filled with African delegates — mostly from the Southern African Countries (Kenya, South Africa, and Malawi, which had the largest delegation).

Youth in Durban enjoy a moment of fun

I was proud of this and felt a sort of entitled solidarity with the “African movement.” Even though the people running the COY sessions were mostly Australian or international, at least a lot of the delegates were local, I thought to myself. But what does locality mean in the face of a global movement? Who speaks, and who gets listened to? What capacity do they have to effectively engage with other youths on the relevant issues at the COP? In a lot of senses, “Africa” (the continent is sadly still not being diversified by most youth, though it is 53 individual countries) is being represented in global talks and movements around the world, just as it is at COY. But does this mean that “African” voice gets listened to in the same way in which other organizations from the global north get listened to?

There are lots of African voices speaking out, but there is something very uncomfortable about the way in which we are ‘facilitated’ to speak by others, and the way in which they in turn listen to what we have to say. Of course, the global north, in their experience and monetary advantage, do have a lot to teach us and can help us “build capacity.” This is especially true at political gatherings such as COP, which require a specific way of speaking to be taken even remotely seriously. And that’s something we need. But it’s not all we need.

Making my tribute to the Late Professor Wangari Maathai at the opening plenary, I spoke of the need to empower young African women as Wangari believed and worked for with her Green Belt movement. For me, seeing myself standing on the podium speaking and helping to facilitate the COY was just one example of this.

Soon after, I took my heavy backpack outside to get set for the exhibition. I got a table outside where a long line of youth were standing to get food, and many of them stopped to talk to me about my statement, and the importance of empowering women. Everything points to the fact that African youth and global youth at large are very interested to know and be engaged in the issue of sexuality and sustainability. The question we need to answer is: how do they make the connections, and what actions can they take?