Strengthening Youth Participation in Climate-Related Policymaking

The document advocates for redefining youth engagement in African climate policy, moving beyond 'tick-box' exercises to treat young people as key stakeholders. It emphasizes the importance of intersectional approaches, the role of youth networks, and the need for comprehensive curriculum reform to build climate-conscious citizens.

• Youth participation in African climate policymaking is currently hindered by inaccessible decision-making spaces designed for older adults, a lack of consideration for the differing needs of 'younger' youth (15–24) and 'older' youth (25–35), and a tendency toward tokenistic 'tick-box' engagements.
• African youth climate activism is characterized by an intersectional lens, linking climate change to broader social justice issues such as food security, water management, electricity access, employment, and gender empowerment.
• To improve policy formation, governments should integrate climate agendas into existing youth structures like councils and parliaments, ensure gender-responsive action, and explicitly reflect intergenerational equity in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
• Sustainable climate movements in Africa require a shift from focusing solely on individual leaders to supporting collective groups, networks, and institutions to ensure a greater diversity of youth voices.
• Education must evolve beyond providing basic environmental information toward comprehensive curriculum reform across all subjects and levels, including the training of non-science teachers to provide social and cultural contexts of the climate crisis.
• There is a critical need for more research specifically focused on the African context to define and develop best practices for meaningful youth engagement in climate policymaking.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2020). Strengthening Youth Participation in Climate-Related Policymaking. https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-youth-participation-in-climate-related-policymaking/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Strengthening Youth Participation in Climate-Related Policymaking. 2020. https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-youth-participation-in-climate-related-policymaking/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Strengthening Youth Participation in Climate-Related Policymaking |date=4 December 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-youth-participation-in-climate-related-policymaking/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2020strengthening, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Strengthening Youth Participation in Climate-Related Policymaking}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-youth-participation-in-climate-related-policymaking/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }