Provide more opportunities for youth, says AYICC

Dar es Salaam. The African Youth Initiative for Climate Change (AYICC) has called the government and the public to provide more opportunities for the youth and youth-led organisations to be included in climate related processes.

The Tanzania Chapter supported by Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa was established to ensure the inclusion, and active participation of youth voices from the south, and specifically Africa, in the international climate change negotiations.

National coordinator AYICC Ms Caroline Manyama said the country has already started experiencing adverse impacts of climate change.

Current climate variability and change resulting in extreme weather events impacting long-term growth and affecting millions of people and their livelihoods.

“Climate change impacts have detrimental effects on important livelihood areas like agriculture, water and health. Current climate vulnerability and future climate change adverse impacts are significant to curtail Tanzania from achieving key economic growth, development and poverty reduction targets,” she said.

Thus, action to the public in Tanzania on the important role of young people in understanding the National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and extending their impact in Climate action.

According to her, it is principal to note that collective action and inclusion gives Tanzania a better chance to realise more targets on the NDCs and the youth being 60 per cent of the Tanzania population, their role is pivotal in achieving these targets.

Ms Manyama stressed that the government submitted its revised NDCs guided by the Paris Agreement which are efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Explaining,  she said, NDCs implementation plan depends largely on climate finance mechanisms under UNFCCC, bilateral and multilateral Climate Financing sources. Tanzania will draw from (bilateral, multilateral, private) institutions, Civil Society Organizations and social investors.

In doing so the adaptation contributions will reduce climate related disasters from 70 per cent to 50 per cent and significantly reduce the impacts of spatial and temporal variability of declining rainfall, frequent droughts and floods which have long term implications to all productive sectors and ecosystems, particularly the agricultural sector.

Access to clean and safe water will be increased from 60 per cent to 75 per cent and, based on a conservative and a worst-case scenario of 50cm and 1m sea-level rise, the contributions will verifiably reduce the impacts of sea level rise to the coastal communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.