The Legacy lives on: Why today's climate fight needs youth at the centre
Image: SIGCINIWE
Speaking at the G20 High Level Intergeneration Dialogue in Sandton last Friday, Deputy President Paul Mashatile emphasised the imperative of empowering youth to lead economic and social transformation and to be at the core of the global engagement on the future of the society they will inherit – It was warming.
We have observed the month-long sacrament called youth month in South Africa by bemoaning our challenges and celebrating our youth heroes and trailblazers. Now that the elders have once again temporarily remembered the youth of 76 we must not cast our eyes off the existential global crisis - the climate crisis.
South Africa's energy transition is both a national imperative and a strategic opportunity for youth empowerment. The convergence of youth unemployment, skills shortages, and infrastructure challenges makes it critical to invest in human capital development for sustainable energy systems.
Demonstrated since the Soweto Uprising of 1976, to today's climate action litigation in the highest courts, South Africa's youth have always been at the forefront of transformational change. Today, as we confront climate change, a defining challenge of our time, it is once again young people who must step up with courage, clarity, and conviction.
Many young people are demanding action to address climate change. They recognise that current policies and targets fall short of what is needed to secure their future. These young activists use traditional and innovative methods to build momentum and advocate for change. Litigation is one method they use to hold polluting industries and governments accountable.
In December 2024, the power of the youth was exhibited not through protest, but through litigation. In a landmark judgment, in favour of the #CancelCoal campaign, the country's first youth-led constitutional climate case. The campaign, led by African Climate Alliance, Vukani Environmental Justice Movement, and groundWork, challenged the inclusion of 1 500MW of new coal-fired power in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan.
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The court agreed that the plan violated several constitutional rights, including the right to an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing, especially for children. Moments like this highlight that youth participation is not symbolic. It is dynamic. It's deliberate. And it is critical for achieving an inclusive just transition.
A just transition must put youth as co-creators of the sustainable future.
Our energy transition is both a national imperative and a strategic opportunity for youth empowerment. The convergence of youth unemployment, skills shortages, and infrastructure challenges makes it critical to invest in human capital development for sustainable energy systems.
According to the Statistics South Africa 2024 Mid-year Population Estimates, 21 million young people account for 33.1% of the country's population, underscoring their significant role in shaping the nation's social and economic landscape.
It is the youth who will inherit the long-term consequences of today's climate decisions. That is why it is essential that young people are present in decision-making spaces and equipped with the tools, information, and platforms necessary to meaningfully participate in building a resilient and just South Africa. Although there has been progress in including the youth in climate action discussions, their inclusion does not mean parity.
The youth are often under-equipped when entering the webinars, the negotiations rooms, and the public dialogues where the language is technical and unfamiliar, yet it is about their future. Many ask: 'Do I know enough to speak here?' That is why we must start from the ground up- from school syllabuses to multidisciplinary curricula in law, public health, built environment and many other disciplines.
Deliberate steps must be taken to dismantle the barriers that prevent young people from meaningfully engaging in climate action. This means investing in funding youth participation, access to information, peer-learning, international exchange to sharpen their prowess in decision-making
Youth are both disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of the climate crisis and uniquely positioned to drive transformative solutions. However, limited access to technical education, practical experience, and entrepreneurial pathways hinders meaningful participation
It is a welcome development that the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) has established the Youth Leaders Caucus, rallying a diversity of young who offer perspectives across sectors on climate action and the just transition. While we appreciate the PCC's gesture and goodwill, we still need to be present in frontiers of climate action and the shaping of a new development paradigm in a future net-zero economy and society.
If we are serious about climate action, all of society must move beyond superficial consultation, and embrace the procedural values underpinning our country's Just Transition Framework (JTF) through co-creation of climate action with and for the youth.
Next year when we mark half a century of the 1976 generation, we must gather not to protest, but to celebrate increased youth participation in South Africa's just energy transition - otherwise like we did in 1974 against Afrikaans, we will lead the charge against the exclusive language of 'climate action'
Ayakha Melithafa, Commissioner of the Presidential Youth Commission and Founder of Ayakha Melithafa Foundation
Image: Supplied
Ayakha Melithafa, Commissioner of the Presidential Youth Commission and Founder of Ayakha Melithafa Foundation
*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.
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