Over a thousand Climate Activists from across 140 countries attended the first ever United Nations Youth Climate Summit in New York, to make an urgent call against Climate Change and showcase solutions to resolving this defining issue of our time.
The Youth Climate Summit which held over the weekend preceded the 74th United Nations General Assembly. The activists began with a Climate Strike—the largest climate change demonstration in human history, which held simultaneously in many countries across the world with millions of students and activists abandoning school and work to join the mass protest.
“’We’re talking about revitalising the ecosystem, the economy of communities and villages. The future Generations will hold us accountable,” Climate Activist and Connected Development’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal stated at the UN Climate Summit while introducing a documentary on one of the most audacious Climate efforts in Human History, the African Union-led Initiative, the Great Green Wall.
According to Lawal, the Great Green Wall holds the key to the future of African dry lands; a daring initiative that has the potential to bring back to the continent food and water security.
The UN Deputy-General, Amina J. Mohammed who joined the call, stated that desertification and land degradation have reduced the productivity of 23 per cent of land around the world. This has dramatic implications for food production, jobs, ecosystems, affecting the quality of life of communities whose livelihoods depend on their natural resources and the services these provide.
She added that the Great Green Wall is a beacon of hope and an opportunity to turn the tide on land degradation and desertification in Africa.
The past 4 years have been the hottest on record, global CO2 emissions hit an all-time high in 2018 and a fivefold increase in climate actions is needed to increase global warming by 1.5°C. Global Climate Activist, Greta Thunberg, urged humans across the world to “act now as if the house was on fire because there is no time.”
