Empowering Youth for Climate Action.

Environmental Alert (EA), with support from the European Union and We World, in collaboration with the Environment and Natural Resources Civil Society Organization Network (ENR-CSO Network) and the Climate Action Network Uganda (CAN-U), today mobilized youths to take part in the training of youth ahead of COP30. The initiative brought together youth and youth workers to develop their priorities, demands, and key asks ahead of COP30, scheduled to take place in Brazil.

This effort seeks to ensure that the voices of young people who are among the most affected by the climate crisis are meaningfully included in global climate decision-making. By identifying shared concerns, innovative solutions, and concrete recommendations, the youth are expected to contribute to shaping Uganda’s and Africa’s position at COP30, while also driving momentum for climate justice, resilience, and sustainable development.

Najjuko Carolyn, the Environment Engineer and Manager in the Climate Change Department at the Ministry of Water and Environment, has emphasized the urgent need for youth participation in global climate processes. She made the remarks today during a training session for youth on climate change negotiations held at the Environmental Alert headquarters in Kabalagala.

“The youth have been targeted and are some of the different groups that have been impacted by the effects of climate change and this is a call for them to come up and participate aggressively in this space of Climate change while also taking up space to get these opportunities that exist in the climate change spaces, things to deal with innovation especial where they can get green jobs, innovation opportunities in technology for example using digital tools to document evidence of climate disasters within Uganda and also be able to communicate this information in a form that is best understood by everyone,” said Najjuko.

She further highlighted challenges around climate finance, stressing that current procedures hinder youth access to funds. “At CoP30 in Brazil, the youth [are] seeking financing and improving the modernities because right now it’s very hard for them to have access to climate finance because of the hectic procedures that are in existence, and this should be made a little bit simpler for the youths,” she explained.

On adaptation and loss, and damage, Najjuko said young people remain among the most vulnerable. “Adaptation, Lose and damage, the youth are very affected and so today their key asks have been on financing on the Loss and Damage and putting actual money in the funds they can tap into and come up with innovative ways of addressing these climate change impacts and reduce on these damages and for the case of mitigation they agree on the just energy transition which is also a priority to Uganda and the youth would also want to tap in this opportunity through the innovative clean energy systems that are exiting to be able to create themselves green jobs and also address the issue of unemployment that exists.”

In her conclusion, Najjuko stressed the need to address issues of climate change threatening health and well-being, noting that climate justice must be clearly communicated. She underscored the importance of prioritizing the nexus between climate and health, as well as agriculture and climate, given Uganda’s Agro-based economy. She further highlighted youth demands for inclusion in UNFCCC and institutional processes to ensure representation at all levels, thereby strengthening their participation in future COPs.