Climate Change from a Young Person’s Perspective in Africa

By Marian Pleasant Kargbo – Sierra Leone

Whenever there are issues of national disasters, young people are seen as both the perpetrators and survivors. Climate change has been a national phenomenon. Throughout Africa, we’ve seen how flooding, mudslides, high sea tides and rise in temperature have been affecting us. We now struggle to grow the very crops that we are to eat, we no longer know rainy and dry reasons. Everything with regard to the environment seems not to be working well. There is a new trade in timber and young people are actively involved in it. We keep destroying our environment for a temporary and selfish gain.

Climate change also affects women and young girls by limiting their access to quality healthcare such as reproductive health services due to displacement of people caused by disasters from extreme weather conditions.

Climate change issues have been affecting young people and it keeps affecting young people and that is now leading to irregular migration from one community to another and from one country to another. Women and girls die every day because of pregnancy complications such as still births in regions affected by displacements caused by climate disasters.

In countries like Sierra Leone where we once heard the flash flood and mudslide, we saw how a lot of people had to migrate to find places safer to stay. Agricultural activities are not happening since most of the lands are now being used for mining and young people actively involving in timber logging and sales.  

People are moving to protected communities and building houses. These issues cut across Africa and if young people are to solve issues of climate change, we should be deliberate in the protection of our environment.

Young people should reorganize their energy in making sure that trees are being planted in their communities and compounds.

If the percentage of young people that we have in Africa can reenergize themselves in protecting their environment by planting trees and being friendly with the environment; then we can avoid the many hazards that we are having now as a continent and we would all live to see the Africa that we want where we can be able to predict our weather as before.