Nature plays a strong role in the mitigation and adaptation of climate change. Over half of anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide are sequestered by the land and ocean, and research suggests that biodiverse, intact ecosystems are more resilient to the impacts of global temperature rise. Due to the need to actively remove carbon from the atmosphere in order to limit temperature rise to 1.5oC, we will not be able to fully address climate change without solutions that are grounded in nature and youth-inclusive.

The decisions made today about climate change and biodiversity have greater impacts in the future, meaning that youth are disproportionately affected. Youth have important, valuable, and relevant knowledge and experiences to bring to climate action. We are also powerful policy and narrative influencers and have demonstrated throughout the last years our ability to shape and direct the climate movement. Yet, youth expertise and lived experience are not meaningfully included in general climate planning, decision-making, or implementation, nor any of the aforementioned related to nature. 

As current and future leaders, we should be able to co-design our own future with decision-makers. In the search for solutions to the climate crisis, decision-makers, civil society and political leaders cannot forget young people, they cannot forget frontline and marginalized communities, and they cannot forget nature. R40 aims to break down silos and collaboratively bridge the broader network of African climate activists and environmental, biodiversity youth organisations through knowledge-sharing, storytelling, and capacity building to address both of these issues together.