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If COP27 is to deliver for Africa truly, the negotiators, politicians, international donors and corporate lobbyists in Sharm El Sheikh must face up to some unpalatable truths, write Guileda Shafeekath Ashanti, Eric Njuguna and Leah Namugerwa.
Just two months ago, we met with several African government ministers, senior UN and African Union representatives, and ambassadors from rich countries. We looked them in the eye and told them bluntly that the climate crisis threatens our safety, health, education and job prospects. We are being cheated by those supposed to look after our interests and excluded from decisions that shape our future.
That meeting was at the 9th International Policy Conference, organised by the African Child Policy Forum in Addis Ababa.
Dubbed the 'African COP'
Many of those same ministers and officials are in Egypt this week for the COP27 UN climate change talks. We fervently hope they remember our words and understand that for us African children and young people, the climate emergency is right here, right now. It is already reversing the limited progress made on child rights. It increases the risks of violence and displacement from climate-related conflict and disasters - especially for girls and young women.
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COP27 has been dubbed the "African COP". At best, this is wishful thinking - at worst, it's condescending and misleading. Simply changing the venue of the annual talks doesn't make them African, any more than when previously held in Morocco, Kenya and South Africa.
If COP27 is to deliver for Africa truly, the negotiators, politicians, international donors and corporate lobbyists in Sharm El Sheikh must face up to some unpalatable truths. Decades of inaction by world leaders, the fossil fuel industry and multilateral agencies have robbed us of our future, along with millions of other African children and young people. Despite Africa producing less than four percent of global carbon emissions, we are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis through no fault of our own.
Even the money promised so far by wealthy nations is nowhere near enough. One analysis calculates that only around US$30 billion per year - around a tenth of what's needed - actually makes its way to African countries each year. Much of the finance that does come is in the form of debt or already included in existing aid and development grants that force Africa to pay for a crisis that it didn't cause.
Genuine climate justice is debt justice: Africa needs new, additional finance that is not debt. Recently revised estimates predict that sub-Saharan countries will go almost $1 trillion into debt over the next ten years unless wealthy countries provide enough finance to tackle the climate crisis. That debt will severely restrict our potential and that of African children for generations to come.
Social and economic burden of climate change
It's hard to imagine that in 2050, we will be approaching middle age. By then, there will be one billion children and young people in Africa who with the right life chances, could power a social, cultural and economic renaissance across the continent. But the social and economic burden of climate change spells a future of poor education, poor health, unemployment and increasing poverty. Right now, in 2022, Africa's children are already at risk from the worst impacts of climate change - not just floods and droughts but violence, child labour and forced displacement.
We've heard a lot about youth inclusion and engagement at COP27. Egyptian Dr Omnia El Omrani has been appointed Youth Envoy. A Children and Youth Pavilion - created and led by young people - will be located at the heart of the action in the UN Blue Zone, and a Young and Future Generations Day will be held. Welcome as these developments are; we are far from convinced that our voices - the voices of African children and young people - will be heard, let alone acted on.
We have heard reports of young African climate activists being excluded from the conference, which only serve to justify our suspicions and confirm that we are seen as an inconvenience or even a threat. By the time the worst impacts of climate change are felt, many of those attending COP27 will be long gone, and our generation will be left to pick up the pieces - so why is no one listening to us?
We demand to be heard, and we demand urgent action. To the government ministers and officials meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, we say that there is no climate justice if children and young people are silenced. There is no climate justice if finance simply creates more debt. There is no climate justice if women and girls are ignored. There is no climate justice without indigenous people at its centre.
We have had enough of your empty promises, inaction and double standards. You need to act as if the house is on fire - because it is.
- Guileda Shafeekath Ashanti is President of the Benin National Association of Children's Councils.
- Eric Njuguna is National Co-Lead for Fridays for Future, Kenya and COP27 Actions Coordinator for 350.org.
- Leah Namugerwa is an organiser with Fridays for Future, Uganda, and Founder of the Birthday Trees Project.
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