Youths must be at forefront of fighting climate change

By Nesia Mhaka

The involvement of youths in tackling climate change must not be ignored.
Government through the Ministry of Environment, Climate Tourism and Hospitality Industry in partnership with Africa Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) has developed a learning and skills development project which seeks to capacitate indigenous Zimbabweans, especially youths who are willing to fight climate change.
AYICC platform in Zimbabwe has been spearheading the youth integration policy through lobbying, advocacy, awareness and coordination of climate change interventions in Zimbabwe.
The aim of the project is to engage and capacitate rural youth and other youth groups on climate change impacts and action.
The initiative came after Government realised that there is need for youth groups and organisations to understand the climate crisis and opportunities they can venture into like renewable energy, tree nursery, and waste as a way of income generation.
The other basic drive behind the initiative was to provide a platform for young women and men nationwide to participate meaningfully in the drive aimed at achieving resilient communities by increasing their understanding of climate related challenges and opportunities.
This resonates well with Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Action for Climate Empowerment which calls on Governments to develop and implement educational and public awareness programmes, train scientific, technical and managerial personnel, foster access to information, and promote public participation in addressing climate change.
In an interview with Nhau, climate change expert under the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Mr Tatenda Mutasa said it was important to involve youths who are more than 60 percent of the country’s population in issues of climate change as they affect their day to day lives.
“This is one of the most important projects in the country where young people have been given the platform to raise and express their concerns and proposals on how they can tackle climate change. We have managed to come up with thematic youth committees that can assist communities to adapt to climate change,” said Mr Mutasa.
“We encouraged them to be engaged with a spirit of voluntarism, putting their ideas, time and energy into working towards the goals of human development and strive to help the country to achieve its commitment to 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, because it can’t be done without the participation of the youth.
“A country that ignores or disrespects more than half of its population cannot move ahead and will not achieve a higher human development status.”
Mr Mutasa said youths in rural communities must adapt to the adverse effects of climate change by engaging in conservation, use of renewable energy sources, recycling waste among others.
“As we are fighting the effects of climate change we are also creating employing for them (youths). We want them to also look at the positive side of climate change, that is, the opportunities which if well-utilised will create thousands of jobs,” he said.
AYICC Zimbabwe project manager Ms Elizabeth Gulugulu also said the future of this planet and the next generation lies in the hands of today’s youths.
“Youths can help stop climate change in their own simple yet purposeful ways such as joining environmental organisations or groups, participating in various governmental, non-governmental, and school or community programmes and projects against climate change,” said Ms Gulugulu.
“They could also join clean-up drives at school or in communities, participate in tree planting and go-green activities, garbage picking and recycling initiatives, getting involved in environmental protests and campaigns using social media like Facebook, twitter or Instagram to promote climate change and environmental awareness.”
Ms Gulugulu said youths could also limit the use of plastics, help report illegal activities to authorities, walking or biking in short distances instead of riding fuelled vehicles, segregating garbage at home and lastly, encouraging friends, schoolmates and family to do those things can help mitigate climate change.
She said youths must realise that they have a moral responsibility towards the protection of the environment and the planet.
“Stopping climate change is not easy but, if we work together as one, our micro-efforts will have a macro effect on our environment and our planet. The survival of every living being on Earth depends on how we handle our environment.
“We humans are the highest form of being on this planet, so we are to blame if things go wrong. To me and to all the youths around the world, let us act now. Let us be involved in this fight. As a young generation, let us help the former generation in shaping our environment. Our voice matters and our life matters. So what are we waiting for? Let us stand together in stopping climate change,” said Ms Gulugulu.
Green Impact Trust, monitoring and evaluation officer Mr Takudzwa Mashakwe encouraged youths to engage in environmentally friendly, climate-smart agriculture technologies which increase production and productivity.
“Making agriculture more attractive to young people can help create decent employment opportunities for them in rural areas and reverse perceptions and stereotypes that agriculture is hard and less attractive to venture into.
“Migrating to urban areas no longer guarantees jobs and employment opportunities and increasingly many development organisation now say it is critical to mainstream youth participation in all rural development programmes,” he said.
He added: “In Zimbabwe and elsewhere across the world young people have become disenchanted with agriculture and we need to arrest this through programmes that encourage their participation to see agriculture as business.
“Through the project we encouraged youth participation in farming. Agriculture offers the young generation a chance to make a difference by growing enough food to feed Zimbabwe and the rest of the continent.” Nhau/Indaba