Make Youth “active stakeholders in the fight against climate change”: Global Youth Leader

In contributing towards the fight against “climate injustices”, Ms. Ineza said that the youth are “demanding for the damage and loss” funds that the international community promised to the countries most affected by climate change.

“The funds that we are demanding need to be new and additional to the already existing one and we don't want it to be in the same formality that we have seen in the past,” she said in reference to the $ 100 billion climate finance goal.

She continued in reference to the climate finance goal by the international community, “Even the $100 billion goal commitment that was set previously was done without having any research. It was kind of a promise of the world to address climate action, but even that one has not been fulfilled.”

The native of Rwanda said unless the issue of climate change is addressed, the toil of the youth will be in vain as their efforts will be frustrated by the impacts of environmental degradation.  

“If climate change is not resolved, even if you’re dreaming to be a farmer, you cannot have that dream because everything is going to be trashed out by a three or five-day rainfall,” she said, and added, “Even if you want to be in real estate, you cannot really dream of a big sustainable kind of a house because everything might be destroyed by the cyclone or any kind of event.”

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Members of SECAM and the ACD launched their communiqué during the October 17 virtual conference that was followed by over 50 participants from various organizations. The document brings together suggestions and requests from an African perspective ahead of the COP27 scheduled to take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6-18,

In the communiqué that was read out on behalf of SECAM and members of ACD during the October 17 virtual session, the First Vice President of SECAM said decision makers ought to act fast to address the climate change crisis.

“Climate change is a moral outrage. It is a tragic and striking example of structural sin, facilitated by callous indifference and selfish greed. The climate crisis is leading to the destruction of our planet, the devastation of the lives of the poor, and the detriment of future generations,” Fridolin Besungu Cardinal Ambongo said.

Cardinal Ambongo added, “We, Church leaders and civil society organizations in Africa and beyond, demand world leaders, business leaders and decision makers to heed to this important communiqué, and in so doing, heed to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth.”

The Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who also serves as the President of the Justice, Peace and Development Commission of SECAM expressed concern that the climate crisis has become “a lived reality for people across Africa”.

He highlighted some of the devastation being experienced across the continent owing to climate change, saying, “Recent summer heatwaves in the north of the continent have caused massive social and economic losses and damages, breaking temperature records and severely disrupting agri-food systems in an already hungry region.”

“Storms and cyclones early in the year caused devastation in Southern Africa, resulting in the destruction of homes and the loss of lives,” the member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M., Cap) who was elevated to Cardinal in October 2019 and appointed to the Vatican’s Council of Cardinals in October 2020 said. 

He continued, “Eastern Africa is facing the worst food crisis in a generation, precipitated by extreme drought. In West Africa, cities are flooded, communities in the creeks are submerged, conflicts which have simmered for years are now intensifying due to climate-induced displacement.”

The Congolese Cardinal went on to recall that in the Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis proposed dialogue and encounter as a means of building a more just world.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.