Young leaders make their mark at the Africa Climate Summit

This week, 12 members of EU delegations’ Youth Sounding Boards made their way from 7 countries (Cameroon, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe) to attend Africa’s very first Climate Summit and Africa Youth Climate Assembly. 

From 1-6 September, the youth delegates together with hundreds of young people from across Africa actively participated, networked and engaged in the events in Nairobi, Kenya. The EU walked its talk of supporting young people’s active participation in policy debates on issues close to their heart by providing support to the participation of in total 24 youth delegates in this unprecedented Summit, including support to the African Union Youth Envoy’s team from across Africa.

To further display their commitment and thirst for action, the youth delegates joined the African Union Youth Envoy Chido Mpemba to plant more than 50 trees at a local primary school in Nairobi’s Kibera community. They followed up with a joint EU-AU youth workshop, where exchanges brought to the forefront the urgency of climate change debates, the significance of youth leadership in climate action and the importance of representation in international decision-making processes.

At the end of the Youth Assembly, the youth representatives handed over the Nairobi Youth Declaration to Kenya’s President William Ruto. The Declaration calls for the establishment of a Global Green Bank and a New Global Financial Pact with priority on youth, more investments, better access to finance and a UN Youth Office to be based in Africa, which has the largest youth population on the planet. The asks of the youth declaration aim to influence the Nairobi Declaration, the key outcome of the high-level Africa Climate Summit.  

The Africa Climate Summit offers African and international leaders the opportunity to come together, debate climate challenges and formulate a common position on climate action. The Summit aims to drive climate-positive growth, pave the way for new investment commitments and new global financial deals and partnerships to support Africa’s green transition towards its ambitious climate goals.