Young African leaders mobilise against climate change in COP27
Climate finance must reach the communities most affected by climate change
Hundreds of young African faith-based climate activists have been cooperating across the continent in preparation to influence the climate talks at COP27 in Egypt this week.
They are calling for wealthy nations to fulfil their climate finance commitments of $100 billion a year – but also to make sure the money is invested directly into the communities most affected by climate change and to make sure the money is given as grants and not loans to avoid growing African debt levels.
The wealthy nations, that caused the climate crisis, must show leadership and accountability in providing climate finance. The faith communities and young people should play an important role in this localisation process to ensure the finances are invested fruitfully. One option, Investing finance in green jobs for young people will both boost resilience and innovate around new forms of climate-friendly economic activity.
The activists are raising their voices in the hope that the experiences and priorities of those grassroots communities directly affected by climate change will be taken into account by the official government negotiators.
They have raised their voices by influencing a number of important statements over the past few months including: A Faithful Voice on Hunger and Climate Justice1; the Climate Youth Ecumenical Summit (Climate YES) Statement2; and the Renew Our World COP27 letter3 (see links below).
Last week in Ghana they continued to advocate for climate action at the All African Youth Congress, growing the level of organising amongst young faith leaders and influencing the written commitments emerging from the AAYC.
Climate change is already on the agenda at the AAYC. The Pan Africa Climate Alliance (PACJA) Africa climate torch stopped at the AAYC opening ceremony on Tuesday 1 November. The Climate Justice Torch initiative is designed to amplify untold climate impact stories of Africa ahead of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP 27) in Egypt. This was the climate torches’ final stop before moving to COP27 this week.
Similarly, a group of young climate activists travelled to COP to continue to spread their message of climate action.
A Faithful Voice on Hunger and Climate Justice:https://www.bread.org/article/a-faithful-voice-on-hunger-and-climate-justice/
the Climate Youth Ecumenical Summit (Climate YES) Statement:https://climateyes.org/
The Renew Our World COP27 letter:https://www.renewourworld.net/cop27_letter
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