Young Minds, Big Ideas. Accelerating Youth-Led and Localised Climate Action in Urban Africa

This event is a call to action from young climate activists. It invites you to get involved in addressing an urgent need to increase support for youth-led and localised climate action in urban Africa.

Zipporah Njenga

Facilitator

November 6, 2024 | 13:00 - 14:30

Voices from Cities - room A

Plan International

Denmark

English

Reference:

VC-A 8

WUF12

Voices from Cities

Summary

Young people in informal settlements across urban Africa live with the consequences of the action and inaction of the global community. Only 10% of the finance committed by international climate funds contribute to locally focused climate change projects. An even smaller a fraction of this funding reaches young people on the front line of climate change. Their challenge is not deciding what to do, but how they can scale their work and be taken seriously as partners in creating green, inclusive, and resilient cities.

Therefore, the key message of this event is: Young people haven’t been waiting for global action but are already actively leading climate action where they live. Those with resources and power need to get behind them in much more significant ways than is the case today.

The event will be thought-provoking, challenging, and interactive. Presented by young climate actors from urban Africa, the event brings forth big ideas for localised climate action – and evidence that it works. In line with the principles for locally-led adaptation, we want a committed conversation about how to increase accessible funding for localised climate action and how to empower local youth-led organisations leading the way with innovative solutions.

But we are not just gathering to showcase what we already know. We will be asking the audience to be discussion partners as well as stakeholders, helping us co-create ways forward to strengthen and accelerate youth-led and localised climate action. Young climate actors will be there to offer practical advice on how to effectively support local climate action achieving its full potential. But ultimately our call to action is a matter of climate justice: global climate finance does not yet reach those most affected by climate change and those with local solutions. Urgent action is needed to change this!

About the organisers:
Plan International (representing the Coalition for Youth-led Climate Action with Slum Dwellers International (SDI), C40 Cities, and UN-Habitat) together with YOUNGO, and Children and Youth Constituency for Sustainable Communities (CYCSC) are joining efforts to use our collective convening power creating a space for young people to influence climate priorities.

References:
Soanes et al. 2017: https://www.iied.org/10178iied
Principles for locally led adaptation: https://www.iied.org/principles-for-locally-led-adaptation

Objectives

Our key objective, of both this event and our joint work, is to position young people as essential partners and stakeholders in creating green, inclusive, and resilient cities as well as to attract more funding for youth-led climate action.

At the event, we will:
1) Showcase and explore how flexible and equitable climate finance and youth participation in decision-making can strengthen localised and youth-led climate action.
2) Create a platform for exchanging localised solutions, building synergies across cities, and facilitate networking and opportunities for partnerships.
3) Assemble a room full of young climate activists, urban practitioners, decision-makers, funders, and other stakeholders ready to get behind a collective drive for youth-led and localised climate action in Urban Africa.