MONROVIA – For the first time, thirty-three young leaders from the Youth Climate Change Initiative of Liberia (YCCIL), West African Youth Network Liberia (WAYNL) and the Liberia National Student Union (LINSU) have organized a National Climate Youth Summit to showcase climate solutions and engage with national leaders in the country.
The National Youth Summit on Environment and Climate Change created a platform for young climate action leaders to showcase their solutions to national leaders and to meaningfully engage with decision-makers on the defining issues. The summit also served a medium of strengthening partnership towards youth inclusiveness into Environment and Climate Change related interventions in the country.
This historic event took place on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at the World Bank Liberia Country Office ahead of the 25 the session of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) schedule to take place in Madrid, Spain beginning December 2, 2019.
The National Youth Summit brought together climate champions from government line ministries and agencies, student’s groupings to share their solutions on the national stage, and deliver a clear message to national leaders: how significant young people are ensuring that they contribute to climate change conversations. The event gave voice to the demands of young people for far hastier action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to erasing the notion of being too young to make the difference.
The World Bank Speaking through its Country Manager Mr. Dr. Khwima Nthara said, it decided to support the initiative because of the importance attached to youths’ development and considering the involvement of young people in discussions, that border around the sustainability of environment and climate change.
“Therefore, this summit provides a perfect forum for our young people to discuss and come up with a Liberian Youth position on Climate Change and environment that can be used as a starting point not only for the 25th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25), but for national programs and implementation of projects,” Dr. Nthara stated.
“We want to assure our national and international stakeholders of our support for the environment and we will continue to support initiatives like what we are witnessing today. The youth population of Liberia is critical towards the development of Liberia and we want to urge other national youth counterparts across Liberia to join the initiative next year so that we can expand the dialogue,” Dr. Nthara further stated.
Speakers, who threw light on Climate Change and a way forward, included the Government of Liberia, International and local NGOs, and Climate and Environmental activists. Several thematic presentations were also made by experts working in the field of Climate Change spoke on several topics and answered several questions for youth understanding.
The Executive Director of Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) Hon. Nathaniel T. Blama, Sr. who served as Keynote Speaker said, he believes that the young people have now realized what affects Liberians also affects the youth. He mentioned that Liberian youth constitute half of the country’s population; therefore they have to get involved in the protection and sustainable management of the environment and finding ways to reverse Climate Change impacts.
“The young people have to get involved in smart green technology and think outside of the box to come up with new ideas in mitigating Climate Change so that the people of Liberia can gain relief. What we see today regarding Climate Change, was caused by forefathers of the industrial Revolution who are gone, but people feeling the impact now are women, children, youth people living with disabilities, etc. So if we are to reverse their actions, we have to adopt a new way of doing things. Climate Change is real and the young people have to get involved to set the agenda for their future,” Hon. Blama stated.
The Summit became interactive, when young people started asking more questions regarding Climate Change and why Liberia should face the gave impacts of greenhouse gases( GHG) as well as how does Climate Change impacts the agricultural sector. In responding to some of these questions Mr. Benjamin S. Karmorh, Focal Point UNFCCC, who spoke on climate Change Effects and National Response Mechanisms, said even though Africa’s least developed countries of which Liberia is a part, aren’t major emitters of greenhouse gases they suffer the pinch due to lack of resources and infrastructure to address the issue.
Mr. Karmorh further mentioned that Liberia is feeling the impact of Climate Change greatly because we have limited trained human capacity and poor infrastructural mechanisms put in place. He stated further that as a Least Developed Country (LDC) it makes us vulnerable to the impacts of Climate Change. He mentioned that the difference between LDC Countries and Developed Countries DC) when it comes to responding to Climate Change impacts include technological and infrastructural advancement.
For their parts, both Arthur R. M. Becker, National Program Manager of the West African Youth Network and Teddy P. Taylor, Executive Director of Youth climate Change Initiative Liberia, in separate remarks stressed the importance of Climate change Actions across the world.
Mr. Becker mentioned that the concluded UN Climate summit in September 2019 in New York called by UN Secretary-General brought together youth and policymakers to consider critical actions that the world can take to address Climate Change issues.
Cataloging a few disasters around Africa and the USA, Arthur R.M. Becker highlighted that the Impacts of Climate change are visible globally, recalling the flood that overcame Monrovia during the last few months of the rainy season in Monrovia and its environs. He also spoke of the recent flood at the Italian Council, the catastrophic mudslide in neighboring Sierra Leon- 2017, Floods in Mozambique, and hurricanes in the USA among others.
He mentioned how significant young people are to ensuring that they contribute to climate change conversations. He said “young people are not too small to make a difference, and in this case, anyone feels that little things don’t matter, let them try sleeping in a room with mosquitoes, then they will surely know that little things matter” he alluded. In furtherance, he mentioned the role played by young Greta Thunberg who is Swedish teenager and also climate change activist, who began her climate action before the Swedish parliament which has gained steam across the world.
Mr. E. Abraham T. Tumbey, Project Manager of National Adaptation Plans Project (NAP) at UNDP/EPA, said the NAPs project funded by the Green Climate Fund, is a derivative of the Paris Agreement, to ensure that countries like Liberia and other least developed countries have access to resources to adapt to climate change.
Mr. Tumbey stated that when it comes to climate change, there are two climate actions we used address (Mitigation and Adaptation). He further mentioned that floods, sea erosions, and thunderstorms are all evidence of climate change in Liberia. It has an effect on the health system because due to flood, water-borne diseases increase and because of storms engineers will spend more time preparing infrastructures. He said Climate Change is affecting agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors, because a great deal of the population mainly in the rural areas depend on agriculture while in Montserrado and other parts depend on fishing to survive. It affects the GDP of a country and indicative growth rate.
Mr. Tumbey stressed that in the production of greenhouse gases, Liberia is at 00.00 percent, which is nothing, but because of developed countries emitting more, Liberia faces the consequences of Climate Change. And under the UNFCCC, there is something called; ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ meaning every country has a responsibility irrespective of their situation. Therefore, The NAP project is to allow Liberia to develop the capacity to address Climate change in the medium and long term. And Liberia needs to utilize the mechanisms available to address it’s present and future Climate Change situation.
The NAPs coordinator, in conclusion, mentioned that as part of the NAPS Project implementation to address Climate Change issues, the EPA and other stakeholders were able to finalize the National Climate Change Policy and Response Strategy which points to what Liberia wants to do in addressing this issue. Since 2015, Liberia signed the Paris agreement it was able to ratify the Paris Agreement, the NAPs project was also able to provide Capacity Building opportunities for technicians from different line Ministries and Agencies at the Galilee Institute in Israel in understanding core Agricultural Technologies to address Climate Change as well the introduction of a Master of Science Program in Environmental Management, Climate Change and Biodiversity amongst others.
The summit provided a unique opportunity for Youth to network amongst each other. At the end of the National Youth Summit, the young delegates adopted a National Youth Common Position which was submitted to the World Bank Country Office and is also expected to be submitted to the National legislature, the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia, International Partners and Embassies accredited near Liberia’s capital such as the United States Embassy, Swedish Embassy, French Embassy, British Embassy, etc., Conservation International, Fauna and Flora International, United States Agency for International Development, African Development Bank, etc.
Key issues highlighted in the Liberian Youth Common Position included: Establishment of the Liberia Youth Environmental Secretariat; Annual hosting of the National Youth Summit on the Environment and Climate Change; The Hosting of the West Africa Youth Summit on the Environment and Climate Change in June 2020; Support to Young people to form a part of National delegations to attend national, regional, and global events on the Environment and Climate Change especially the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change Conference on Climate Change, UNCBD, UNCCD Conference of Parties.
