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Young people are inheriting the consequences of decisions made by previous generations. As we enter 2025, the state of climate change is alarming, with record-breaking temperatures, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events. Human activities are the primary cause of global warming. Today’s generation is responsible for making positive and lasting changes to protect humanity and nature.
The world is home to 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 — the largest generation of youth in history. And their future is clouded with uncertainty.
Young people today face a series of stressful and unsettling issues from which previous generations were shielded. Increased health concerns as a result of increased temperatures, air pollution, and extreme weather events lead to a rise in respiratory diseases, heat-related illnesses, and mental health issues among young people.
To disruption to their education. Especially in low-income regions and areas, climate-related disasters, such as floods and hurricanes, can damage schools, disturb safe passage to schools, and disrupt education. Food insecurity due to climate change puts more pressure on families, who need the younger members of the family to remain at home to help with farming. This especially impacts the girl child, who will be called upon to complete domestic chores or enter into child marriages to reduce the burden of feeding her on the impacted family. These additional influences create long-term barriers to education and career prospects.
As climate change leads to job losses in traditional industries (like agriculture and tourism), young people may face limited employment opportunities. Additionally, they will be burdened with the financial impacts of climate change, such as higher costs of living or the need to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure. According to the World Meteorological Organization, on average, African countries are already losing 2–5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and many are diverting up to 9 percent of their budgets to respond to climate extremes.
Displacement and Migration is becoming more common as people are forced to relocate due to climate impacts such as rising sea levels, extreme weather, or food and water shortages. Which, to the loss of community, culture, and support networks – binding factors in any society.
We know that climate change disproportionately affects marginalized communities. Young people, especially, those from these communities are more likely to experience increased social and economic inequities, limiting their access to resources and opportunities. This creates the risk of disenfranchising certain groups within communities who already face disparities, such as young women.
Climate change threatens ecosystems and biodiversity, which can affect young people’s connection to nature. In countries such as Zambia, where many rural communities still live very much at one with nature, this loss can impact their physical health, emotional well-being, and cultural traditions that rely on natural environments.
All of these consequences have profound effects on one’s mental health, which creates another weight for the youth to carry when we look at the impacts of climate change.
Social inclusion in BCP’s REDD+ projects ensures the equitable participation and empowerment of marginalized groups, including women, youth, and diverse forest users. Guided by the principle of FPIC, the approach ensures that 80% of target communities, including these marginalized groups, are fully consulted at community, zone, and village levels. Communities are informed about the project’s benefits and challenges and empowered to make informed decisions about their participation.
Our social inclusion strategy directly empowers disadvantaged community members by facilitating access to critical resources, including forest user rights, forest enterprise development opportunities, carbon rights, and carbon finance. This fosters sustainable development while ensuring the generation of high-integrity carbon credits. Key components include meaningful community engagement, equitable benefit-sharing, capacity building, gender equality promotion, and robust conflict resolution mechanisms, all aligned with international safeguards such as the UNFCCC Cancun Safeguards.
BCP actively promotes the establishment of inclusive governance structures, such as Community Resource Boards and Community Forest Management Groups, with at least 30% of leadership roles reserved for women and youth.
Young people are not the only victims of climate change. They are also valuable contributors to climate action. They are agents of change, entrepreneurs, and innovators. Whether through education, science, or technology, young people are scaling up their efforts and using their skills to accelerate climate action.
