Youth Participation in Climate Action in Kenya

Abstract

Climate change is reshaping the world that young people are due to inherit and will bear the costs for in coming decades. Their activism and climate action activities are vital to the global community and the aspect of climate justice. Kenya is a country that is severely affected by climate change, especially its agricultural sector. With having a population with a large percentage of people below the age of 30, many of Kenya’s youth are being involved in climate action nationally and internationally. They are met with having to overcome a variety of barrier to be able to participate in the first place and then continue to do so. Education, gender, and family influences are just some of the factors that have a great impact on the way of youth participation. However, young people are found to have a strong sense of responsibly which enables them to overcome some of the barrier in their path. Still, they are left to carry the burden of spreading the knowledge and Appling mitigation and adaptation actions that are not always met with understanding from their communities or families. Without support or recognition, young people fight for their future alone and use their own resources to do so. Further, youth from the global south have a history of not being equally included in international climate activates and academic research related to that. This study sets out to fill that gap by researching what influences the younger generation in Kenya when participating in climate action and how are these factors interrelated. By doing so, difference to the global north become apparent which are important to show that different support is needed in different regions to be able to support youth in their fight for a better future