Various people gathered with some roles in the broader climate justice fields to look into the issue of climate justice from 20 to 23 June 2022, and amongst many different events on the Sidelines of CHOGM, there was one ‘ Youth Conference on Climate Change’ organized by PACJA and partners held at La Palisse Hotel Nyamata.
In this conference that RCCDN staff attended, all the participants together looked at how Africa can invest in its own future, its new model of economic diversification depending very much on giving opportunities to young people and channeling their efforts into building the new economic narrative.
The climate crisis problem is real and if we look at the instance of industrialization that increases Green House Gas-Effects leading to global warming, climate change, and extreme weather events. With immediate effects, this harm the human and natural systems. To respond to these impacts, we have to consider the UNFCCC calls, most especially; mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage.
Furthermore, the participants learnt that there were wide but weak commitments from the Paris Agreement like country pledges: (intended) nationally determined contributions (I) NDCs that are universal but not legally binding, the same type of commitments for all, although the expectation of leadership on developed countries remains. As African youths trying to deliver a common future by connecting, innovating and transforming, in collaboration with decision-makers.
These and some unmentioned-now issues need to be addressed in the COP27 but first, there is a need of coming up with:
· New collective, quantifiable global adaptation goals beyond 2025.
· Global stock-taking of where we are in terms of emissions, temperature, and financial needs.
· Locally produced data for evidence, link of research and database systems.
· Climate finance-striking the balance between adaptation and mitigation.
Strategies to achieve this need to be introduced; from the Africa position paper on loss and damage, leverage on opportunities provided by the global stock-taking initiative to operationalize and strengthen countries’ climate-related field ability and capacity building, data generation and enforcement of climate research, diversification and specification of climate finance sources to include direct financial responsibilities by all emitters and unpacking climate change language.
The talked about Sideline of CHOGM event was a conference that was overall needed and deeply educating and brought minds with different and helpful ideas, especially for youth to get involved know where they want to be in regards to addressing the climate change issue at large.
Writers: Janet Uwase Mbabazi & Mates
