As it stands, global warming has reached 0.8 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels. Since 1955, it is estimated that about 90% of the excess heat energy trapped by the increased green house gas (GHG) concentrations have been stored in the oceans of the world. The rate of ice lost in the Antarctic and Greenland has tripled, while unpredictable weather patterns – from the droughts in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Cyclones in Asia, the heat waves in Europe, the Hurricanes in the Americas, and finally to the floods just witnessed in the United Kingdom – have all but become the new ‘normal’. Things are set to get worse.
In the midst of all of this have been numerous international conferences on climate change spearheaded by the United Nations, specifically under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Many argue that these conferences are little more than avenues for the continued oppression of poorer and vulnerable nations by richer countries.
As it stands, the world is in a race to ensure that the globe does not warm beyond 2 degrees; a race that seems like it has already been lost, and is still a dangerous mark to even aspire to live under. Additionally, the Global South will face the worst consequences of climate change despite having contributed little to GHG emissions.
Questions abound as to whether places like the Sahelwill be habitable in 2020. For the residents of the small, but breathtakingly beautiful island of Maldives, the issue is not the future, but whether there will even be a future to look forward to, due to the fact that the water level is rising so quickly there.
The stories are terrifying, especially when negotiators from these countries tear up in front of global audiences when they speak about their country’s predicament.
A former negotiator from Tuvalu at a past UN conference on climate change told the world that his country has only two options left: either countries must actually agree on solutions to the climate crisis, or God will have to perform a miracle to turn them into fish because their Island is sinking. Naderev Saño, a negotiator from the Philippines, with tears in his eyes and a shaky voice asked the negotiators present at COP18 in Doha, to agree on solutions once and for all. He spoke at a time when Hurricane Bopha was ravaging the Philippines, which not only left over a thousand dead but hundreds of thousands displaced and causing damage running into billions.
Unfortunately, Naderev Saño left without a solution, just as he had in the 3 previous conferences.
From false solutions in the name of the ‘Green Economy’, which purport to solve the climate crisis but really do nothing but commodify nature and allow corporations and polluters to run scot free, the Global South has had its plate full. Leave the oil in the soil, the tar in the hole and the gas in the grass has been the clarion call from climate activists, but instead of the world heeding this advice, we seem to be eager to get on the fastest train to our destruction.
IPF Green is borne out of the fact that our generation (more so in the Global South) and the generations to come will be left with an unprecedented climate burden and crisis which we must solve.
But how do you solve an issue which you have little to no information about? From the mainstream media to social media, especially in Africa, climate change hardly features, yet the continent is already reeling from the effects of the crises. The school curriculum is almost devoid of environmental issues, educational programs in the media do not feature environmental issues and, despite the fact that Africa and the rest of the Global South produce most of the resources used in the world (leading to mass environmental degradation), the political classes do not comprehensively deal with these issues.
Young people in the Global South have approached the IPF, telling us that they feel as though they are treated as junior partners with regards to solutions to the climate issues facing the globe.
It is instructive to note that the South is rich in indigenous, traditional and even modern solutions to issues such as food sovereignty, environmental conservation, conservation of bio-diversity in the flora and fauna, water sovereignty and security and finally in leading alternative lifestyles.
What the IPF Green Seeks to Accomplish:
- We have established that there is a need by youth from the Global South to express themselves through the media on sustainable development issues affecting their communities. This is something which is currently being neglected by many mainstream media outlets. We intend to provide these young people with a platform which will also act as a safe space for them to discuss the climate change issues that are affecting their countries, and advocate for comprehensive solutions to this crisis.
- There are a lot of projects and solutions being implemented by young people in the South that could potentially benefit other young people by enabling them to learn good practices on sustainable development, or by helping them improve on their own projects. IPF Green will feature these projects, their founders, and the communities being empowered by this work.
- IPF Green will help foster debates through our multiple online platforms on policy, governance and issues around climate change and environmental conservation, thereby empowering these young people to not only be recipients of policy but to also produce, implement, and actively engage in the socio-political and economic spheres of their own regions/countries in order to help bring about positive change.
- IPF Green has already made contact with climate justice activists/leaders who have expressed their interest and commitment to act as mentors to the youth that we will work with. We will provide a learning space, and allow for the formation of networks and associations that could potentially inspire behavior change, policy change, and holistic development.
- Finally, IPF Green realises that literacy rates and internet availability are significantly lower for the youth of the Global South, and we do not wish for this to stand in our way. With time, we intend to roll out a project whereby we will have Youth Leaders, who will primarily be made up of the young people who have participated actively in online sessions, engaged with other youth through blogging, micro-blogging, podcasts and vodcasts; to start local groups where they will reach out to the young people in their communities, and provide satellite programs for education on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. This will empower them to start their own projects, according to the specific needs in their communities.
If you would like more information, or would be interested in taking part in the project, please email ruth@internationalpoliticalforum.com
