Climate change is at the heart of our team’s work on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme. In this series of blogs, shared throughout COP26, the team gives insights into their work on supporting Kenya’s climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience.
This blog highlights the work the team his been doing to incorporate the voices of young people into the long-term development of their municipalities, giving them an opportunity to prioritise the effects of climate change.
SUED is funded by the UK Government and Managed by Tetra Tech International Development. Atkins Global is Tetra Tech’s partner in the development of the urban economic plans; KPMG and OCA are the investment attraction firms actualising the urban economic plans in close collaboration with the supported municipalities.
Why climate change matters to Kenya’s youth
The UN estimates that young people aged between the ages of 15-24 account for one-sixth of the global population – some 1.2 billion individuals. They have the largest potential to be the catalyst for change and in this current generation – ‘Generation Z’ – there has never been a group of people who are more aware of climate change and its potential to directly influence them.
For some of these young people in Sub-Saharan Africa, they already live with the realities and effects of climate change in their daily lives. In Kenya, 75% of its population is under 35 yet, culturally, decision-making remains the preserve of the older generations. Young people are seldom involved in critical planning processes, resulting in a lack of prioritisation of their needs and missed opportunities to integrate their aspirations in the broader planning of the nation.
In Kenya’s Mandera and Isiolo municipalities, the youth are on the frontline of the negative climate events that the two municipalities are susceptible to – extreme droughts in the dry season and flooding in the rainy season, exacerbated by poor urban drainage. These young people have historically lacked access to information, training and finance, leaving them unable to adapt to climate change and disproportionately at risk during climate extremes.
The youth are further shortchanged when it comes to economic activities, with a significant number not appropriately compensated for their work. A majority of young people in Mandera and Isiolo work in blue-collar jobs where compensation rates are not standardised. and the lack of technical tertiary institutions to provide training opportunities limits their ability to train for white-collar jobs. . This is all exacerbated by the adverse climate events that reduce the productivity of economic activities such as farming, which in turn increases the unemployment rate. In these two counties, climate change induced hazards – such as drought causing lack of pasture and water – are the largest threat to young people’s livelihoods. It also deters youth-led investment into agro-pastoralism, leading to climate induced rural-urban migration in search of job opportunities. The lack of economic opportunities also increases the risk of the youth being radicalised and turning to extremism, driven by clan-based conflict over natural resources, when extreme events destabilise food and water supplies and increase competition for basic resources in largely pastoralist communities.
Incorporating young voices into future climate proofing
Urban resilience is critical to sustainable development. By understanding the current trends and putting in place remedial actions countries can protect their environment and safeguard them for future generations. As SUED was developing the Urban Economic Plans (UEPs) for Mandera and Isiolo, we incorporated indigenous knowledge on climate change from the communities, such as Isiolo’s Dedha grazing system, with the aim of strengthening customary natural resource management institutions and empowering the community response to the climate risks the face. For example, it was critical to know the capacity of the pastoral community to 