Youth Employment and climate change; time for action

Report By: Kwame Frempong, GYAN Ghana National Coordinator

August 12, 2008 has been set aside by the UN General Assembly as International Youth Day. The UN General Assembly recommended that public information activities should be organized to support the Day as a way to promote better awareness of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and beyond. The theme set aside for this year is “Youth and Climate Change; take action.”

Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences. Average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. It involves changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over durations ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by dynamic processes on earth, external forces including variations in sunlight intensity, and more recently by human activities.

Most of the global warming over the last 50 years has been caused by human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas that traps the sun’s heat and warms the earth. Greenhouse gases occur naturally in our atmosphere, and without them the Earth would be too cold for life to exist. However, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are the main contributors to climate change (99%). The gases allow solar radiation (heat) to pass through the atmosphere but after it is absorbed and re-radiated by the earth, the gases prevent this heat from escaping back into space. Under natural circumstances this is what makes the earth warm enough to support life.

But over the past few decades, climate change has brought about extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, storms and heat waves. These dramatic changes have also caused sea levels to rise, threatened wildlife, reduced the amount of safe drinking water and increased the spread of disease. These extreme weather conditions are far from natural. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, when humans began burning fossil fuels (petrol) on an unprecedented scale, greenhouse gases have steadily been piling up in the atmosphere.

Many of these gases last longer than a century. As a result, current carbon dioxide concentrations are now far above any level in the past 650,000 years. Global emissions of green house gases have increased by 70% between 1970 and 2004. The result is that more and more heat is being trapped in our atmosphere, leading to an “enhanced green house effect”. The world is warming very fast with global temperatures rising by 0.75 degree Celsius since 1850. The rate of warming for the past years 50 years double that for the past century.

Youth Employment Partnership must benefit environment and help fight climate change

Though climate change is largely due to human activities in the developed world, its impact is strongly felt in developing countries. In Ghana, climate change has not attracted enough attention even though it has been suggested that climate change is the most serious threat facing humanity. But climate change and youth employment have generally attracted much global attention in recent years. Both are serious challenges to the future health and prosperity of Ghana, and are issues which require urgent attention. We cannot take care of one without addressing the other. The ill effects of climate change and poverty require taking comprehensive action that encompasses both issues. We cannot fight climate change without considering the need for decent and well paid jobs for our youth, nor can we effectively address the youth unemployment challenges without accounting for the impacts of climate change on agriculture, disease patterns, and violent weather events, all of which particularly impact developing countries like Ghana.

This year’s theme for the world youth day: “Youth and Climate Change; take action” sets the tone for renewed efforts to solve the challenge of climate change with strategic action. The question to ask is what actions can be taken to solve climate change and unemployment at the same time.

To lessen the negative effects of greenhouse gases, we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This will not completely eliminate the problem but will result in some degree of positive change. The promotion of energy efficiency can bring significant increases in climate change.

Government policies can help in fighting climate change. The introduction of new initiatives such as the regulation of greenhouse emissions by setting standards for industry and transport is one policy direction that can be taken by governments. Such policies can be in the form of municipal rules for energy use and regulation of industries whose emissions constitute an important cause of climate change.

Youth organizations must influence government policies as well as help raise awareness on climate change. Additionally, youth organizations should monitor policy implementation in order to share their knowledge and put pressure on policy makers at all levels to ensure that policies do indeed deliver outcomes for young people. The organizations must also ensure rights to land, forests, water, energy and livelihood for their poorest people.

With the backdrop of youth unemployment being a major challenge confronting this nation, efforts made to provide practical solutions to the issue of climate change can serve as employment avenues for young people. The recycling of paper and plastic products to conserve energy can be a source of employment for the nation’s unemployed youth. Recycling centres should be set up to recycle paper and card and other items too including old computers, ink cartridges, plastic, tins, even furniture and clothing.

In solving the challenge of climate change and youth unemployment, new forms of responses should be pursued. The formation of partnerships between organizations and/or between an organization and communities for instance as well as the creation of “green jobs” in view of the increasing concerns of climate change can be viable alternatives.

Thus, the challenge of climate change can also provide a solution to the challenge of unemployment among Ghanaian youths. The bottom line is that the youth of Ghana should be at the forefront of spearheading the fight against climate change.