The KENYA INSTITUTE for PUBLIC
POLICY RESEARCH and ANALYSIS
No. 26/2023-2024
Thinking Policy Together
Enhancing Youth Inclusion and Representation in Climate 
Action in Africa
Brian Seroney, Nyawira Maina, Sharon Korir, Dave Ojijo, Dibo Willis-Ambetsa, and Irene Nyamu
Key Highlights effective engagement in climate change matters, and access to resources to facilitate their participation.
If the current levels of global warming and greenhouse ii) Limited opportunities and under-utilization of youth 
gas emissions continue to rise unabated, youth and potential. Existing institutional, programmatic, and 
children will be the most impacted social group, with policy frameworks for youth engagement do not reflect 
lifelong environmental, health, social, economic, and the huge potential by youth as the largest demographic 
political consequences of adverse climate changes and group in Africa to contribute innovative, climate-smart, 
biodiversity loss. With this vulnerability, along with the and sustainable initiatives that can accelerate climate 
sheer global population size, youth engagement is not action scale-ups in the continent.
just an imperative but a right that secures their future 
and advances climate justice. This policy brief looks at iii) Limited youth capacity development and funding. 
the importance of youth inclusion in climate change, Harnessing African youth potential for effective climate 
key barriers to their participation, and proposes policy action calls for well-designed capacity building 
interventions to address the barriers. Key highlights programmes to equip the youth with technical 
include: expertise for engagement with policy makers and 
climate experts.  Joint or collaborative programmes 
i) Youth under-representation in climate change activities. between experts and youth-led organizations could 
In Africa and globally, youth are grossly under- transfer essential skills and knowledge and bolster 
represented in programmes and initiatives addressing young people’s contributions. Furthermore, dedicated 
climate change, but gradual progress has been made, resource mobilization for youth to participate in 
with youth being given a platform during COP27 for Conference of Parties (COP) and other global 
the first time. The key barriers to youth participation engagements could greatly promote youth inclusion 
are limited information, visibility, technical expertise for in climate action. 
Introduction action matters, including limited information on climate 
change, inadequate visibility of youth-led climate action 
As the world continues to experience varying dynamics initiatives, limited technical expertise in policy making 
of the climate change crisis, youth exclusion and under- processes, and limited resources to promote and enhance 
representation in significant decisions on climate change their participation. Thirdly, youth participation is now 
has emerged as a concern for three main reasons. considered a rights issue (UNDP, 2022), and hence their 
Firstly, youth represent a large proportion of the world’s exclusion constitutes a climate injustice.
population. Today, young people aged between 10 and 24 
years make up 1.8 billion of the world’s population, which Similarly, in Kenya, the youth population is nearly 13 
represents 16 percent of the global population, while in million but their participation in climate action is low. A 
developing countries they constitute up to 80 per cent of recent mapping of youth-led climate initiatives documents 
the population (UNDP, 2022). Secondly, this demographic only 694 networks and originations representing a total 
will inherit the effects of climate change caused by actions of 119,714 children and youth, which is less than one per 
of past and current generations and, consequently, there cent (0.92%) of the youth in Kenya (Ministry of Environment 
are growing calls for meaningful youth engagement and Forestry, 2023).  Some of the activities these youth 
(African Youth Climate Assembly Declaration, 2023; UNDP, organizations and networks engaged in include raising 
2022). Meaningful youth participation in climate action is climate change awareness (576 institutions); forestry-
“making young people a real priority in policies and policy related actions (477); climate action adaptation (495); 
making, recognizing their efforts and impact to date, and capacity Building (407); climate action advocacy (392); 
promoting and enabling their participation in climate policy and research (158); and the least focus areas were 
politics. It is also about securing their rightful place in climate climate change finance (96) and regulation (59) (Ministry 
governance structures across all levels, and empowering of Environment and Forestry, 2023). 
and collaborating with them in the implementation of Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 calls for Africa’s Development 
solutions” (UNDP, 2022:12). This definition acknowledges to be driven by its people and reliance on the potential 
that young people are key drivers of climate change offered by African People, especially its women, youth, 
advocacy, innovation, and sustainability (UNDP, 2022), and children (African Union-AU, 2013). Therefore, the 
but several factors have led to their exclusion from climate 
KIPPRA Policy Brief  No.  26/2023-2024 1 
marginalization of young people can be a hinderance to Afrobarometer study states that one in every 10 Africans 
the continent’s ability to harness the innovation and the have a full understanding of what climate action is and 
energy of its youth in addressing climate challenges (UNDP, its consequences, but while the vast majority can explain 
2022).  Overall, the Agenda 2063 framework has been changing weather patterns, they do not directly attribute 
instrumental in addressing youth marginalization. Several them to climate change (Maluleke, 2021). However, 
African countries have established youth empowerment there are higher levels of knowledge among youth who 
policies and programmes and some, such as Kenya, are directly engaged in climate action, although this is a 
Uganda, and Seychelles have initiated mechanisms small representation proportional to the youth in Africa as 
for engaging young people in policy development, reflected in the mapped Kenyan youth organizations. This 
including climate matters (Benkenstein et al., 2020). means that a lot more work is needed to educate young 
However, current efforts are not enough, with advocates people on climate change threats and responses.
calling them tokenistic initiatives and pushing for real 
youth contributions to be fully entrenched in all climate Several policy frameworks exist that champion youth 
governance processes and outcomes at local, national, access to information, skills, and knowledge at regional 
and global levels (UNDP, 2022). Advocacy in this area is and global levels. The Sustainable Development Goal 
gradually yielding traction. The UNDP argues that with its No. 4 (SDG4) addresses the need for an inclusive and 
support to the 120 countries that are part of its Climate equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning 
Promise Agenda, 80 per cent of the second generation of for all. This goal has been interpreted by UNESCO, which 
Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) to the Paris leads its implementation as education for sustainable 
Agreement consider youth and children compared to 40 development (ESD). ESD enables young people to access 
per cent of the first generation NDCs (UNDP, 2022). In at skills that help them navigate their world as an inter-
least 60 per cent of the countries, preparation of the NDCs connected ecosystem of work, social life, and care for 
had included consultations with children and youth as part the environment. The African Union, through The Youth 
of the civil society engagements (UNDP, 2022)). Similarly, Decade Plan of Action has a key priority on education and 
until 2022, global engagements under the United Nations skills development geared towards climate change and 
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) the environment. Though such frameworks and institutions 
such as the Conference of Parties (COP) limited youth support youth education, climate change literacy levels 
participation in official engagements. Notably, COP27 remain low, thus hindering effective youth inclusion and 
marked unprecedented strides in youth inclusion by participation in climate action (UNESCO, 2023).
introducing the first-ever youth-led climate forum and 
establishing a Children and Youth Pavilion. There will be Visibility of the Youth-led Organizations 
need to measure the extent to which such changes enable in Climate Change Initiatives
youth to influence important global governance on climate 
action. There is evidence that on-going youth advocacy for 
inclusion is gaining traction on several platforms regionally 
Youth Access to Climate Change and globally, allowing for youth to participate in climate 
Information change action. During COP 27, the first ever Youth Pavilion 
and Youth Climate dialogue was hosted. Similarly, the first 
Information empowers and promotes informed youth ever Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi in September 
participation. Well-informed young people can make 2023 also had the first ever youth climate assembly as a 
substantial contributions and influence climate actions. pre-event to the summit.  This enabled the assembling of 
However, most young people are unaware of the African youth for deliberations on youth-informed policies 
engagement opportunities available to them (Chan et and programmes and led to the African Youth in Climate 
al., 2021), which diminishes their participation capacity Assembly (AYCA) declaration, which calls for greater 
and renders them passive stakeholders in climate action. inclusion and support to youth in climate engagements. 
Information sharing can thus significantly influence the In the incoming COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, the 
quality of youth participation in climate action globally, but programme has also incorporated the youth. 
many have little or no access to climate change information 
despite continuing to witness on-going climate change While acknowledging some efforts to involve the youth 
crises. A survey by UNESCO shows that 70 per cent of in important conferences and events at COP, more could 
young people globally have concerns about climate be done to ensure meaningful participation and balanced 
change, but their depth of knowledge on the subject varies inclusion of youth as a large segment of the African 
considerably (UNESCO, 2023). In the UNESCO survey population, which requires greater resource commitments. 
covering 166 countries, 27 per cent of the youths had According to the World Food Programme (2022), the 
little knowledge about climate change, 41 per cent had a COP27 delegation under-represented young people due 
deeper understanding of climate change, and 2 per cent to the expensive costs associated with attending high-
were totally ignorant of the existence of climate change ranking conferences. This points to a need for financial 
(UNESCO, 2023). The UNDP survey (People’s Climate support from both local and international governments to 
Vote) also noted that one out of every three respondents sponsor more young people to attend such meetings. Even 
aged 14 to 18 years believe that climate change is a global the acclaimed Africa Climate Summit, which hosted 30,000 
emergency requiring urgent action (UNDP, 2022). Among delegates from across the globe, had only 3,000 young 
G20 countries, respondents below 18 years were more people in the youth assembly. This accounted for only 10 
supportive of implementation of bold climate policies to per cent representation. The level of youth involvement is 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to adults still below expectations, diminishing their presence and 
(UNDP, 2022). influence in important decision-making platforms.
In Africa, climate literacy levels stand at between 23 and 66 Inclusion should go beyond events at COP to include the 
per cent, with huge variations between countries (Simpson youth in intervention programmes. At the global level, the 
et al., 2021). Further affirming the low literacy levels, a 2019 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals target 
2 KIPPRA Policy Brief  No. 26/2023-2024
16.7 calls for responsive, inclusive, participatory, and needs (UNDP Climate, 2022). While the current initiatives 
representative decision-making at all levels. The Africa promote technical skills, there is need for greater access 
Youth Commission aims to change power structures to to information on the availability of current opportunities, 
enable the youth to participate and engage in platforms at while the training scope must include knowledge in the 
the global and regional levels. However, the commission areas of policy making, collaboration, presentation, and 
does not highlight exclusively how the youth should be negotiation expertise for climate change action.
included in climate action deliberations at the regional 
and international levels. To address this, the African Resource Mobilization for Effective 
Youth in Climate Action (AYCA) Declaration called on the 
African Union to establish a Youth Division within its social Participation 
programmes and incorporate youth in programmes within It is acknowledged that the overall engagement of youth 
their Department for Sustainable Development and the in climate-related platforms is constrained by limited 
Blue Economy (African Youth in Climate Action Declaration, funding and the high financial costs associated with 
2023).  Further, post-COP27 youth advocacy efforts participation in high-level forums such as COP. These 
resulted in the appointment of a COP27 Youth Climate financial responsibilities encompass accreditation, air 
Envoy, who served as an ambassador for the COP27 travel, accommodation, meals, and day-to-day living 
presidency. This role has been extended into COP28, an expenses throughout the event, which present an obstacle 
expanded mandate of Flagship within the COP presidency significant to youth participation. Despite deliberate efforts 
leadership team. In addition, the envoy undertakes two to encourage youth attendance, participation remains low 
years of consultations with the COP presidency, acts both at the regional level (for example the Africa Climate 
as a liaison with the presidency, which has elevated the Summit) and globally at COP and other related events. 
place of youth in global governance engagements and While COP27 marked a new beginning for youths, COP 
garnered support towards greater COP investments funding and accreditation to attend these events remains 
in capacity building, strengthening youth voices and a challenge for youths. Only a handful receive sponsorship 
improving resource mobilization for youth initiatives.  Such from civil society organizations and funders outside the 
measures will go a long way in addressing youth exclusion COP official delegation (Benkenstein et al., 2020). Though 
and ensuring greater integration of young people in the no data is available yet, still a very small percentage of 
realization of Agenda 2063. Kenya youth possess the means to self-sponsor and fully 
participate in the upcoming COP28 despite attempts to 
Youth Technical Expertise for Effective support youth-led organizations to mobilize resources. 
Participation in Climate Action
To effectively harness youth creativity, knowledge, and 
For meaningful inclusion, the youth must be equipped skills, it will be necessary to undertake a comprehensive 
with the right technical skills for policy making and reassessment of strategies that can facilitate youth 
technological innovations revolving around climate involvement in high-level conferences, where their voices 
action. Insufficient technical expertise has significantly are needed more today than ever. This entails addressing 
contributed to the exclusion of young people from climate the economic challenges that impede youth inclusion, 
action deliberations. According to a survey by Plan thereby unlocking their potential contribution to the 
International (2022), only 29 per cent of young people are discourse on climate change.
confident in their global technical skills for climate action. 
As the world rapidly transitions to a green economy, there Policy Recommendations
are enormous opportunities for the youth to contribute to 
economic development and in seeking solutions to the (i) African governments through the ministries responsible 
current climate crises. for implementing education programmes and policies 
can put in place public education programmes that 
Article 13, part 4 of the AU Africa Youth Charter (2009) would enhance access to information on the causes 
reiterates the importance of youth participation and and impacts of climate change to improve skills 
training in science and technology, and that equally, development and knowledge acquisition among young 
training centres should be equally accessible to African learners. This could be achieved by supporting 
encourage youth participation. Given the climate crises, the development of digital platforms that offer climate 
there is recognition that education and training must change news and ensure credible and up-to-date 
equip the youth with green skills for the green economy. information on climate change reaches as many young 
Several African governments have initiated the journey of people as possible. These communication channels 
equipping young people with skills to participate in a green need to be accessible to all young people regardless 
economy. For instance, the Liberian Government has of their geographical location. 
launched a School of Environmental Studies and Climate (ii) African governments, international and regional bodies, 
Change where 120 students are already enrolled (UNDP and development partners and institutions can bolster 
Climate, 2022).  Moreover, the Ugandan government youth engagement by recognizing climate efforts by 
is actively funding youth-led climate-smart agricultural youth-led organizations and putting in place resources 
groups through grants (UNDP Climate, 2022). South Africa and strategies to promote the effective inclusion, 
is supporting over 150 high school students to undergo representation, and participation of young people 
a robotics programme aimed at solving climate issues. in significant decision-making processes on climate 
Similarly, through the Green Economy Youth Activator action. These youth groups should be empowered and 
Programme, Kenya is actively collaborating with young have the right resources available to ensure sustainable 
people to leverage technology for the green economy climate action. Through these organizations, young 
(UNDP Climate, 2022).  Development partners have also people will also be able to access employment 
been proactive in this area. For instance, the USAID Youth opportunities and create employment themselves.
in Development Policy has implemented measures to 
ensure access to opportunities to build the skills the youth 
KIPPRA Policy Brief  No.  26/2023-2024 3 
(iii) To implement the AYCA Declaration of 2023, the COP27 (2023), UNESCO launches global survey report on 
African Union should create a Youth Division and youth demands for climate change education and mobilizes 
Youth Council within its structure and integrate youth stakeholders for the Greening Education Partnership. 
in their sustainable development and blue economy UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/cop27-unesco-
programmes. launches-global-survey-report-youth-demands-climate-change-education-mobilizes.
(iv) Policy makers can underline collaboration with Maluleke, L. (2021), Climate Change Action requires Climate 
young people in a bid to build their capacity in policy Change Literacy. Good Governance Africa. Available: https://
formulation, negotiation, and implementation. Through gga.org/climate-change-action-requires-climate-change-
this kind of meaningful engagement with institutions, literacy/.
including the Africa Group of Negotiators and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (2023), 
Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, Mapping of Youth Climate Change Networks/Organization in 
young people will gain the technical expertise required Kenya https://bit.ly/3JgwoKm.  
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(v) An exclusive funding mechanism under COP, UNFCCC, Plan International (2022), Young people unprepared for jobs in 
African Union, and other international bodies such the “green economy: A global survey. Plan International. 
and International Monetary Fund and World Bank Available: https://plan-international.org/publications/young-
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Acknowledgements
This policy brief was prepared by Brian Seroney (Kenya Inter-Universities Environmental Students Association-KIUESA), Nyawira Maina 
(KIUESA), Sharon Korir (KIPPRA), Dr Dave Ojijo (Green Health Focus), Dibo Willis-Ambetsa (OnTrak Margharibi), and Dr Irene Nyamu 
(KIPPRA).
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4 KIPPRA Policy Brief  No. 26/2023-2024