A primer on how you(th) can engage effectively in climate action, and policy formulation and implementation.

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© AYT 2015
Climate Change and
You(th)
Information Note
By Kennedy Mbeva Liti, Kennedy
Wahome Muthee, Reuben Makomere,
and Belinda Makadia
December, 2015
Introduction
Background
Climate change is undoubtedly one of the
greatest human development challenges of the
21st
century. Rising global temperatures and sea
levels, more frequent droughts and floods,
increasing intensity of extreme weather events
and erratic rainfall patterns are but some of the
impacts of climate change. Research as
demonstrated that human beings have been
altering the earth’s climate, since the Industrial
Revolution, by emitting greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere. Climate change is such as
serious challenge that it stands to unravel the
gain made thus far in other human
development issues, such as extreme hunger
and poverty.
Mitigation and Adaptation
Actions to address climate change can be
broadly thought of in terms of mitigation and
adaption. Simply put, climate change
mitigation is the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions to the atmosphere; adaptation is
simply adjusting to climate change. Mitigation
can be undertaken, for instance, through
substituting carbon emitting coal plants for
power generation with clean energy sources
such as wind and solar energy. Adaptation on
the other hand can be undertaken for instance
by growing drought resistant crops and
rainwater harvesting to address water shortages
caused by climate change. Thus, negotiations
on climate change usually focus on mitigation
and adaptation.
International Efforts to Address Climate
Change
Brief History
The steady rise of climate change on the global
political agenda is a manifestation of the scope
of this challenge. The United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is the main platform for addressing
global climate change, and it came into force in
1994, after being adopted at the famous Rio
Conference on Environment and Development
in 1992. The UNFCCC enjoys near universal
membership, with 194 countries having ratified
it.
Kyoto Protocol
International efforts to address climate change
have been ongoing in the form of negotiations
under the UNFCCC. In 1997, the Kyoto

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Protocol was adopted and became the first legal
instrument under the UNFCCC, with the
main objective of committing the leading
historical emitters of greenhouse gases –
developed countries – to reduce their
emissions. The Kyoto Protocol’s first
commitment period was from 2008 – 2012; the
second commitment period is from 2013-2020.
However, the Kyoto Protocol has not been
effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
to safe levels. Furthermore, there have been
calls for a new agreement that applies to all
countries.
2015 Paris Agreement
Countries will meet in Paris, France in
November – December 2015 to finalise a new
global climate agreement that will succeed the
Kyoto Protocol, which will expire after the year
2020. This will be during the 21st
Conference
of Parties to the UNFCCC (in UN-speak),
otherwise also known as COP21. The 2015
Paris Agreement will be more encompassing
this time round, with many – if not all –
countries that have ratified the UNFCCC
making contributions to tackle climate change.
INDCs
‘INDCs’ has been the buzzword in climate
change circles for the last year or so. But what is
it? INDCs – which stand for Intended
Nationally Determined Contributions – are
simply contributions that countries will make
towards tackling climate change, and will be an
important part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, if
not the heart of it. As of October 1, 2015, 119
INDCs have been submitted to the UNFCCC,
and are available to the public1
. Kenya
submitted its contribution on 24 July 2015.
More INDCs are expected before the end of
year, and even after.
1
http://www4.unfccc.int/submissions/indc/Submiss
ion%20Pages/submissions.aspx
In essence, an INDC is a contribution
comprising actions that a country will take to
address climate change. Different countries
have put forward INDCs with varying contents,
but the main elements are mitigation (actions
and plans to reduce their greenhouse
emissions); adaptation (actions and plans); and
developing countries have included call for
support (financial and technological) to support
their climate actions. These commitments will
form part of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Kenya’s Climate Change Interventions
Kenya is one of the leading countries in
tackling climate change. To this end, the
country has undertaken a number of actions.
The key ones are:
 National Climate Change Response
Strategy
 National Climate Change Action Plan
 Draft Climate Change Framework
Policy
 Draft Climate Change Bill
Furthermore, there have been a number of
activities aimed at cascading some of these
plans and actions to the County level.
Climate Change and You(th)
Overview
Climate change is inherently a complex
problem, hence requires many actors and
stakeholders in responding to this challenge.
Governments have been at the forefront in
addressing this challenge, mainly through the
United Nations (UN). However, different
actors have come on board, including the civil
society and private sector.

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However, young people the world over are
becoming increasingly engaged in tackling the
climate change challenge. Perhaps this is
because their concerns and actions are
anchored on their understanding of the
intergenerational dimension of climate change,
and their role as the best placed moral agents.
Youth and Climate Change in Kenya
The watershed moment for youth engagement
in climate change in Kenya in particular, and
Africa in general, was in 2006 when the 12th
UNFCCC climate change negotiations were
hosted in Nairobi, Kenya. The African youth
Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), the
biggest youth climate movement in Africa
present in over 40 countries was launched.
Since then, many other youth-led organisations
tackling different aspects of climate change
have been formed and are active.
Youth can and are playing an important role in
contributing to efforts to combat climate
change. This spectrum of activities ranges from
advocacy to provision of clean energy solutions.
Some of the key activities that youth can – and
are – engaging in climate change are:
 Advocating for laws, policies and other
measures to address climate change
 Providing clean energy solutions such
as energy-efficient cook stoves
 Creating awareness on the need to take
climate action, such as interuniversity
dialogues and community mobilisation
 Mainstreaming climate change
interventions into their professions,
such as sustainable investing in clean
energy solutions
Conclusion
Climate change is undoubtedly one of the main
human development challenges of the 21st
century. Efforts to address climate change
initially focus on international climate change
negotiations, with countries as the main and
sometimes sole actors. However, this has been
changing as many other diverse actors have
joined in these efforts. Youth are becoming an
increasingly important constituency in the
efforts to address climate change, mainly
through advocacy for adequate and responsive
climate plans, laws and policies and providing
solutions such as entrepreneurship in clean and
affordable energy. Most importantly, youth
should work in concert with other stakeholders
and actors in climate change.
This information note is an output of the
African Youth Trackers (AYT) project.
About the African Youth Trackers (AYT)
project
African Youth Trackers (AYT) is an innovative
project undertaken by the African Youth
Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC),
GreenBits Initiative, and Road to COP (R2C),
with an overarching objective of building and
enhancing the capacity of African youth to be
more effective agents in climate governance.
This is through peer-to-peer training,
production and dissemination of education and
training materials on climate governance,
training workshops on climate governance and
tracking international climate change
negotiations.

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Notable ongoing initiatives
Sustainable Forestry Management – Nyeri
County
Communities in Hombe Area within Nyeri
County have joined hands in rehabilitation of
over 1,200 hectares of the Mt. Kenya forest that
faced the risk of extinction due to human
encroachment. During the 1980’s and 1990’s,
over 1,000 hectares of the forest was brought
down for commercial usage leading to loss of
key flora and fauna. However, in the 2000’s the
communities around Hombe area established
Community Forestry Associations (CFA) under
the Forestry Act (2005) to lobby for sustainable
benefit sharing from the forest resources and
promote conservation exercises within and
around the forest. This was realised through
numerous trainings, capacity development
initiatives and tree planting, leading to
establishment of massive tree nurseries that
holds over five million seedlings. The
community has earned over four million
shillings in the last ten years through
distribution of the seedlings. The initiative has
also reduced overreliance on forests for
livelihood.
Plate 1 & 2: Seedlings initiative by the Hombe
Community
Seaweed farming as an alternative livelihood
in the coastal region
The coastal communities have traditionally
relied on fishing as their main source of
livelihood. Over the years, these activities have
led to destruction of breeding sites, damage of
the coral reef and depletion of fish stocks. This
scenario is evident in Msambeni Constituency
in Kwale County. Years of uncontrolled fishing
coupled with adverse effect of climate change
have seen massive declining fish stocks,
biodiversity loss, and damage of the coral reefs
that acts as the fish breeding sites. This has also
translated into high poverty levels among the
communities in these areas. Sea weed farming
is, however, bringing the much needed
alternative livelihood. Through Diani Chale
Management Trust (DCMT), a local CBO in
Ukunda, the communities have initiated a
seaweed farming projects in the Indian Ocean
to address high poverty levels, fish extinction,
and environmental degradation.
The project has largely contributed towards
marine biodiversity conservation. Further, it is
chemical free and less damaging to the ocean
when compared to most fishing exercises. The
seaweeds also supply food to the fish thus
increasing their numbers. Communities have
also established that this farming is
fundamental in the restoration of the breeding

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sites and coral reefs, in addition to economic
empowerment. Seaweeds have a diverse use,
ranging from cosmetics, food, medicinal
purposes, and industrial gums.
Plate 3: Seaweed farms in Indian Ocean
Plate 4: The drying process
Indigenous food farming to avert climate
change effects in the lower eastern Kenya
Perennial droughts and famines are
common in the lower eastern parts of
Kenya. The situation is further worsened
by the negative effects of climate change
notably unpredictable rainfall patterns that
have led to crop failure year in year out.
The communities in these areas have
joined hands in adapting to these effects
through promoting indigenous food crops
such as millet, sorghum and cassava. In
addition, there is more emphasis on value
addition through processing these products
for diverse usage. The cassava crops also
provides shading to the underground crops
The community leaders through the
initiatives of Farm Practice Initiative (FPI)
have also held sensitization and capacity
building workshops to popularize
traditional foods among the communities.
There is also a move towards
commercialization of the cassava crops
products such as flour, starch and animal
feeds to generate income to the community
Plate 1: Farmers harvesting cassava tubers
in Yatta district