Information note climate change youth

Information note climate change youth

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  1 © AYT 2015 ClimateChange and You(th) Information Note By Kennedy Mbeva Liti, Kennedy Wahome Muthee, Reuben Makomere, and Belinda Makadia December, 2015 Introduction Background Climate change is undoubtedly one of the greatest human development challenges of the 21st century. Rising global temperatures and sea levels, more frequent droughts and floods, increasing intensity of extreme weather events and erratic rainfall patterns are but some of the impacts of climate change. Research as demonstrated that human beings have been altering the earth’s climate, since the Industrial Revolution, by emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Climate change is such as serious challenge that it stands to unravel the gain made thus far in other human development issues, such as extreme hunger and poverty. Mitigation and Adaptation Actions to address climate change can be broadly thought of in terms of mitigation and adaption. Simply put, climate change mitigation is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere; adaptation is simply adjusting to climate change. Mitigation can be undertaken, for instance, through substituting carbon emitting coal plants for power generation with clean energy sources such as wind and solar energy. Adaptation on the other hand can be undertaken for instance by growing drought resistant crops and rainwater harvesting to address water shortages caused by climate change. Thus, negotiations on climate change usually focus on mitigation and adaptation. International Efforts to Address Climate Change Brief History The steady rise of climate change on the global political agenda is a manifestation of the scope of this challenge. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the main platform for addressing global climate change, and it came into force in 1994, after being adopted at the famous Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. The UNFCCC enjoys near universal membership, with 194 countries having ratified it. Kyoto Protocol International efforts to address climate change have been ongoing in the form of negotiations under the UNFCCC. In 1997, the Kyoto
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  2 © AYT 2015 Protocolwas adopted and became the first legal instrument under the UNFCCC, with the main objective of committing the leading historical emitters of greenhouse gases – developed countries – to reduce their emissions. The Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period was from 2008 – 2012; the second commitment period is from 2013-2020. However, the Kyoto Protocol has not been effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels. Furthermore, there have been calls for a new agreement that applies to all countries. 2015 Paris Agreement Countries will meet in Paris, France in November – December 2015 to finalise a new global climate agreement that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire after the year 2020. This will be during the 21st Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (in UN-speak), otherwise also known as COP21. The 2015 Paris Agreement will be more encompassing this time round, with many – if not all – countries that have ratified the UNFCCC making contributions to tackle climate change. INDCs ‘INDCs’ has been the buzzword in climate change circles for the last year or so. But what is it? INDCs – which stand for Intended Nationally Determined Contributions – are simply contributions that countries will make towards tackling climate change, and will be an important part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, if not the heart of it. As of October 1, 2015, 119 INDCs have been submitted to the UNFCCC, and are available to the public1 . Kenya submitted its contribution on 24 July 2015. More INDCs are expected before the end of year, and even after. 1 http://www4.unfccc.int/submissions/indc/Submiss ion%20Pages/submissions.aspx In essence, an INDC is a contribution comprising actions that a country will take to address climate change. Different countries have put forward INDCs with varying contents, but the main elements are mitigation (actions and plans to reduce their greenhouse emissions); adaptation (actions and plans); and developing countries have included call for support (financial and technological) to support their climate actions. These commitments will form part of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Kenya’s Climate Change Interventions Kenya is one of the leading countries in tackling climate change. To this end, the country has undertaken a number of actions. The key ones are:  National Climate Change Response Strategy  National Climate Change Action Plan  Draft Climate Change Framework Policy  Draft Climate Change Bill Furthermore, there have been a number of activities aimed at cascading some of these plans and actions to the County level. Climate Change and You(th) Overview Climate change is inherently a complex problem, hence requires many actors and stakeholders in responding to this challenge. Governments have been at the forefront in addressing this challenge, mainly through the United Nations (UN). However, different actors have come on board, including the civil society and private sector.
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  3 © AYT 2015 However,young people the world over are becoming increasingly engaged in tackling the climate change challenge. Perhaps this is because their concerns and actions are anchored on their understanding of the intergenerational dimension of climate change, and their role as the best placed moral agents. Youth and Climate Change in Kenya The watershed moment for youth engagement in climate change in Kenya in particular, and Africa in general, was in 2006 when the 12th UNFCCC climate change negotiations were hosted in Nairobi, Kenya. The African youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), the biggest youth climate movement in Africa present in over 40 countries was launched. Since then, many other youth-led organisations tackling different aspects of climate change have been formed and are active. Youth can and are playing an important role in contributing to efforts to combat climate change. This spectrum of activities ranges from advocacy to provision of clean energy solutions. Some of the key activities that youth can – and are – engaging in climate change are:  Advocating for laws, policies and other measures to address climate change  Providing clean energy solutions such as energy-efficient cook stoves  Creating awareness on the need to take climate action, such as interuniversity dialogues and community mobilisation  Mainstreaming climate change interventions into their professions, such as sustainable investing in clean energy solutions Conclusion Climate change is undoubtedly one of the main human development challenges of the 21st century. Efforts to address climate change initially focus on international climate change negotiations, with countries as the main and sometimes sole actors. However, this has been changing as many other diverse actors have joined in these efforts. Youth are becoming an increasingly important constituency in the efforts to address climate change, mainly through advocacy for adequate and responsive climate plans, laws and policies and providing solutions such as entrepreneurship in clean and affordable energy. Most importantly, youth should work in concert with other stakeholders and actors in climate change. This information note is an output of the African Youth Trackers (AYT) project. About the African Youth Trackers (AYT) project African Youth Trackers (AYT) is an innovative project undertaken by the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), GreenBits Initiative, and Road to COP (R2C), with an overarching objective of building and enhancing the capacity of African youth to be more effective agents in climate governance. This is through peer-to-peer training, production and dissemination of education and training materials on climate governance, training workshops on climate governance and tracking international climate change negotiations.
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  4 © AYT 2015 Notableongoing initiatives Sustainable Forestry Management – Nyeri County Communities in Hombe Area within Nyeri County have joined hands in rehabilitation of over 1,200 hectares of the Mt. Kenya forest that faced the risk of extinction due to human encroachment. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, over 1,000 hectares of the forest was brought down for commercial usage leading to loss of key flora and fauna. However, in the 2000’s the communities around Hombe area established Community Forestry Associations (CFA) under the Forestry Act (2005) to lobby for sustainable benefit sharing from the forest resources and promote conservation exercises within and around the forest. This was realised through numerous trainings, capacity development initiatives and tree planting, leading to establishment of massive tree nurseries that holds over five million seedlings. The community has earned over four million shillings in the last ten years through distribution of the seedlings. The initiative has also reduced overreliance on forests for livelihood. Plate 1 & 2: Seedlings initiative by the Hombe Community Seaweed farming as an alternative livelihood in the coastal region The coastal communities have traditionally relied on fishing as their main source of livelihood. Over the years, these activities have led to destruction of breeding sites, damage of the coral reef and depletion of fish stocks. This scenario is evident in Msambeni Constituency in Kwale County. Years of uncontrolled fishing coupled with adverse effect of climate change have seen massive declining fish stocks, biodiversity loss, and damage of the coral reefs that acts as the fish breeding sites. This has also translated into high poverty levels among the communities in these areas. Sea weed farming is, however, bringing the much needed alternative livelihood. Through Diani Chale Management Trust (DCMT), a local CBO in Ukunda, the communities have initiated a seaweed farming projects in the Indian Ocean to address high poverty levels, fish extinction, and environmental degradation. The project has largely contributed towards marine biodiversity conservation. Further, it is chemical free and less damaging to the ocean when compared to most fishing exercises. The seaweeds also supply food to the fish thus increasing their numbers. Communities have also established that this farming is fundamental in the restoration of the breeding
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  5 © AYT 2015 sitesand coral reefs, in addition to economic empowerment. Seaweeds have a diverse use, ranging from cosmetics, food, medicinal purposes, and industrial gums. Plate 3: Seaweed farms in Indian Ocean Plate 4: The drying process Indigenous food farming to avert climate change effects in the lower eastern Kenya Perennial droughts and famines are common in the lower eastern parts of Kenya. The situation is further worsened by the negative effects of climate change notably unpredictable rainfall patterns that have led to crop failure year in year out. The communities in these areas have joined hands in adapting to these effects through promoting indigenous food crops such as millet, sorghum and cassava. In addition, there is more emphasis on value addition through processing these products for diverse usage. The cassava crops also provides shading to the underground crops The community leaders through the initiatives of Farm Practice Initiative (FPI) have also held sensitization and capacity building workshops to popularize traditional foods among the communities. There is also a move towards commercialization of the cassava crops products such as flour, starch and animal feeds to generate income to the community Plate 1: Farmers harvesting cassava tubers in Yatta district