South African Youth Statement

The South African Youth Statement outlines a comprehensive framework for climate action ahead of COP28, emphasizing the intersection of climate change with health, human rights, and social inequality. It calls for a just energy transition, the reform of global climate finance to prioritize grants over debt-burdening loans, and the legal recognition of climate migrants. The statement advocates for the meaningful inclusion of youth, women, and Indigenous peoples in decision-making and urges developed nations to lead in achieving net-zero emissions to provide developmental space for the Global South.

• The youth call for the development of international legal frameworks to protect climate migrants and refugees, noting that they currently have "non-existent legal statuses" under the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention and other UN frameworks.
• There is a demand for a fundamental shift in climate finance, moving away from "debt-burdening loans" toward public finance in the form of grants and concessional loans to avoid increasing economic disparity in developing nations.
• The statement urges the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to stop subsidies for fossil fuel extraction and combustion and to penalize high-carbon-emitting projects.
• The youth advocate for a just energy transition that replaces centralized fossil fuel production with "decarbonised and decentralised renewable energy," including the reskilling of truck drivers for the rail sector.
• The document highlights the disproportionate impact of mining on local communities, specifically regarding air and water pollution affecting women and children, and calls for national Health Impact Assessments.
• Regarding the Global Stocktake (GST), the statement demands that developed countries achieve net-zero emissions before 2050 to allow the rest of the global community sufficient space to reach their own net-zero goals.
• The statement calls for the total elimination of carbon markets and insists that they should not be developed in the future.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2023). South African Youth Statement. https://saiia.org.za/research/cop28-south-african-youth-statement/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. South African Youth Statement. 2023. https://saiia.org.za/research/cop28-south-african-youth-statement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=South African Youth Statement |date=29 October 2023 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/cop28-south-african-youth-statement/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2023south, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{South African Youth Statement}}, publisher = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/cop28-south-african-youth-statement/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }