The Role Of Youth And Digital Transformation In Saving Our Planet

Introduction

Climate change conversations have been on the rise these past few months. I recall my mother asking me what the fuss about climate change is for it to be all over the news and I didn’t think I had a tangible way of describing it in one of our local languages in Ghana - ‘Ga’ so I simply used a scenario of the changes in our weather patterns and how Accra has been hotter than usual.

The United Nations (UN) refers to climate change as long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Temperature rise is only the beginning of the story. The Earth is about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s. The last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record. All these changes in our climate can be attributed to human activities. Human activities have been the main driver of climate change - burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas.

But the question remains the same. How can we avert all these happenings? To save our planet, we need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere to achieve the net-zero goal by 2030. The clock is ticking!

Chaired by the Stockholm+50 co-hosts, Sweden and Kenya, the meeting was structured around three interactive discussions on the preparations for the three Stockholm+50 Leadership Dialogues and other elements of the international meeting on 2-3 June 2022.

Following a brief presentation on the respective Leadership Dialogue themes, the floor was opened for comments and/or questions on the draft background papers.

The preparatory meeting was held in-person (with COVID-related restrictions applicable at the time of the meeting) with live streaming on UN Web TV in the six official languages of the United Nations.

Read the full reflection here This reflection paper was dedicated to the Tomorrow Foundation. See more about Nadia’s participation at COP26 here.