The COP29 South African Youth Statement

The COP29 South African Youth Statement, presented by the Youth Policy Committee Global Change Working Group via Youth@SAIIA, outlines a comprehensive set of demands for the South African government delegation to COP29. The statement advocates for a climate justice approach that integrates human rights, gender equality, and social justice, calling for urgent reforms in water sanitation, waste management, and the energy transition to protect marginalized communities.

• The youth call for the centralisation of human rights in climate justice, specifically demanding urgent action on water and sanitation in the Free State, Eastern Cape, and the Hammanskraal area of the Tshwane region. They highlight systemic failures including raw sewage and semi-treated water in the Eastern Cape, Hammanskraal, and Mogale City Municipality, and demand the demonetisation of water resources like boreholes and JoJo tanks to combat frequent outages in the City of Johannesburg.
• The statement emphasizes the intersection of climate and gender justice, noting that South African women make up 60% to 80% of the agricultural workforce and face disproportionate challenges from water shortages and extreme weather. It highlights that the 2022 Durban floods damaged 84 clinics, restricting women's access to essential sexual and reproductive health services, and calls for a ban on single-use plastics given that 94% of beach litter in South Africa is plastic.
• Regarding environmental health and pollution, the youth demand accountability and compensation for families in Mpumalanga suffering from chronic bronchitis due to the concentration of coal mines. They also call for the formal recognition of environmental racism, noting that apartheid-era planning strategically placed polluting industries and waste dumps in black neighbourhoods.
• The document advocates for a shift in climate finance for the Global South, moving away from debt-dependent loans toward public finance, grants, and debt cancellation. It calls for the simplification of the Loss and Damage Fund's accessibility and transparency in disbursement to ensure aid reaches countries unable to navigate complex bureaucracies.
• The youth propose a just energy transition that includes modernising the grid, establishing state-owned solar PV and battery production to lower costs, and providing training for extractive industry workers. They also advocate for the use of AI in carbon capture and the regulation of AI-generated content to prevent climate misinformation.
• To improve agri-food systems, the statement champions food sovereignty through state-sponsored community gardens and a shift toward agroecological practices over corporate-driven solutions. It specifically recommends training in aquaponics, which can increase crop yields by up to 30% compared to traditional methods while using less land and water.
• The statement demands increased youth participation in climate governance by 2029, proposing the creation of youth councils at local, national, and international levels, and a nationally-specific Youth Advisory board on Climate Change policies within the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs (DFFE).

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2024). The COP29 South African Youth Statement. https://saiia.org.za/research/the-cop29-south-african-youth-statement/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. The COP29 South African Youth Statement. 2024. https://saiia.org.za/research/the-cop29-south-african-youth-statement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=The COP29 South African Youth Statement |date=30 October 2024 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/the-cop29-south-african-youth-statement/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2024cop29, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{The COP29 South African Youth Statement}}, publisher = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/the-cop29-south-african-youth-statement/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }