For African youths, COP27 was a silent and failed affair

Climate activists demonstrate at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Centre, Egypt

Climate activists demonstrate at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Centre, Egypt during the COP27 climate conference on November 17, 2022.

Photo credit: AFP

What you need to know:

  • African people are disproportionately bearing the brunt of the climate crisis despite having the least role in causing it because Africa is only responsible for like four per cent of carbon emissions.
  • The continent is dealing with the worst impacts and as a result is in dire need of the loss and damage finance.

As the curtains fell on what was globally touted as an ‘ African COP’, young people said that for them,  the just concluded 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - save for the pomp and colour - is not something to write home about.

Last week, it all began with President William Ruto calling out the global west over what he described as ‘skirting around issues and delay tactics’ in sorting out regions such as Africa that bear the biggest the brunt of impacts of climate change.

The President further discloses that by 2050, climate impacts could cost African nations USD 50 billion annually.

His sentiments came after African delegates suffered shock and heartbreak after they were informed that an agreement had been reached after intense negotiations to have loss and damage as an agenda, which involves discussing whether rich nations should compensate poor countries, can only be done ‘no later than 2024’.

The rich nations are the biggest polluters while poor countries are the most vulnerable to climate change.

To many young people who attended COP27, that announcement made on day one of COP 27 by COP Presidency painted a grim picture of how things would unfold.
Eric Njuguna , a youth climate justice organiser based in Nairobi who works with Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future (FFF), told Nation that the silence at COP27 has been too loud.

“COP 27 has been a silent affair for young people compared to COP26, which was held in a country where protests were easy to organise. (COP26 was held in Glasgow, the most populous city in Scotland) Last year there were large protests organised by FFF and other youth-led groups but when it comes to COP27, of course there has been some improvement in terms of youth engagement as we have had the first ever children and youth pavilion but at the same time we have not been able to organise protests that are aimed at holding world leaders accountable to the scale like that of COP 26.”
 
“They sold COP 27 as an ‘ African COP” but in my view it was just about a location change as opposed to COP representing outcomes that advance what climate justice would mean for African people. As civil societies, some of our key demands have been about stopping new oil and gas infrastructure yet we have seen leaders here at COP 27 advance the fossil fuel industry interests at the expense of people and the planet,” he highlighted.

"This is why we are here pushing for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.”
 
The young activist added that youths have been calling for a separate loss and damage finance facility.

“African people are disproportionately bearing the brunt of the climate crisis despite having the least role in causing it because Africa is only responsible for like four per cent of carbon emissions yet the continent is dealing with the worst impacts and as a result is in dire need of the loss and damage finance. COP 27 has not delivered on these key demands.
 
“Seeing how communities in Kenya are grappling with drought and famine, this is a betrayal from COP27 because the loss and damage is happening now , not no later than 2024,” Mr Njuguna reminded.
 
Mr Alphonce Muia, an environmental scientist and a member of the United Nations Environment Program Youth Constituency Global Steering Committee, said: "This is a failed COP” for young people.  In terms of diversity we have not really seen proper representation of young people especially when the key decisions are being made.
 
"Young people are the ones who are going to live with the consequences of the decisions that are taken today.I was in Glasgow last year.  I have attended quite a  number of COP’s and I can assure you that young people are very much concerned about their future. The more times we talk about years of climate diplomacy, we see things getting dire in confronting the climate crisis and we don’t have time because the science available today tells us that by 2033 we are crossing the 1.5 degrees mark, that means to Africa it’s like three degrees now , it’s worse for us.”

Vanessa Nakata, a prominent climate activist from Uganda , said unlike other previous COPs, this one has indeed been silent.
 
“Compared to COP 26 ,for many of us who have organised big marches and strikes, it has not been the same at COP27…we have tried to use whatever platforms we can get at COP 27 to address the issues we have right now. We have used our social media platforms , media interview opportunities and the events that we have spoken at. I will use this opportunity to hold our leaders accountable and remind them that we cannot have any new fossil fuel investment, that is oil,coal and gas. We need a just transition to renewable energy while addressing the energy poverty on the African continent,” Ms Nakate highlighted.

“We need the establishment of a loss and damage finance facility. The climate crisis disproportionately affects so many girls and women across the world , we have seen this through women having to walk long distances to collect water for their families in cases of drought , we have seen cases of young girls dropping out of school, girls being forced into early marriages as a result of the climate disasters their families experience.”

“It is evident that young women and girls are on the frontlines of the climate crisis but they also must be on the frontlines of the conversations about our planet.

We need to have women and girls in the rooms where decisions about our planet are being made.” 
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