{"id":11163,"date":"2022-03-06t16:33:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-06t16:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/green-africa-youth-organization-climate-action-in-ghana-and-the-global-south\/"},"modified":"2023-02-28t18:46:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28t18:46:07","slug":"green-africa-climate-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/green-africa-climate-action\/","title":{"rendered":"green africa youth organization: climate action in ghana and the global south"},"content":{"rendered":"

some nonprofit organizations within the environmentalist and conservation spaces have a legacy of maintaining neo-colonialist frameworks and control over indigenous and local communities\u2019 land, water, and energy resources. european settler-colonial states have a legacy of militarized conservation in africa and asia in order to maintain control over former colonial entities, the people living in these areas, and (most importantly to international corporations) natural resources.<\/p>\n

in a historical context, the charter of indian forestry (1855) offered a model for imperial environmentalism<\/a> under the british empire in africa in which colonial governments were bestowed the power to seize land that was not otherwise privately owned. (kashwan, 2021, p. 5-6) this toxic relationship between the global north and global south persists today through our globalized economy. for example, ghana is the largest gold producer on a continent that supplies 40% of the world\u2019s gold<\/a>. (al jazeera, 2022) at the same time, global justice now has reported that african countries in 2015 received $162 billion in foreign aid while $203 billion was extracted from the continent<\/a>, either directly from multinational corporations or by costs necessary for climate change adaptation (mcveigh, 2017).<\/p>\n

extractive economies that reinforce these oppressive systems of command and control have been imprinted into the head spaces of the ruling financial and political elite as the end-all, be-all solution to improving quality of life for humanity. due to these cultural setbacks, youth leaders and advocates around the world are frustrated about the lack of action their governments are taking on climate change. one such group in ghana has been incredibly active in terms of transitioning local and regional economies and communities to more sustainable mechanisms and relationships between people and the planet. <\/p>\n

founded in 2014, green africa youth organization (gayo<\/a>) pursues a holistic path to mobilize and engage youth voices in ghana in order to challenge climate change and introduce a circular economy to the region. i had a conversation with betty osei bonsu, who is a project coordinator based in accra, about the work she does with gayo. their vision is to achieve environmental and economic sustainability through youth empowerment, skills development, and public education. gayo champions several initiatives that follow these thematic areas including climate change disaster risk reduction and circular economy<\/a>. in tandem with the 2030 sustainable development goals, these initiatives encourage a multi-pronged approach to climate action and normalization of sustainability in local and regional economies. gayo refers to itself as a gender-balanced organization, in alignment with goal 10: reduce inequality within and among countries<\/a>. gayo not only pushes for women leadership in environmental spaces, but also seeks to enhance inclusion within waste recovery and management.<\/p>\n

the sustainable community project<\/a> (scp) is meant to establish a zero-waste model for waste management led by community members within ghana. established in accra, cape coast, abuakwa, and pioneered from the ashanti region, edubiase in 2016, this project focuses on several waste-to-value initiatives including: composting, recycling arts, and charcoal briquette. composting is important to a sustainable community because it provides organic fertilizers within towns that can be sold to people within the community for better organic crop yield. meanwhile, recycling arts offer training to create items that can be sold and be reused for the creator or their family. additionally, charcoal briquettes are a biofuel meant to be a sustainable transitional energy source that is substituted for firewood. this work started as a pilot program in cape coast, but expanded into a full initiative in the adansi south district of ghana. these three areas of value addition are meant to establish circular communities by working with media outlets, activists, and local organizations\/assemblies to implement this project throughout ghana and beyond. the main objectives for the sustainable community project are to divert waste from landfills, support the works of waste pickers while building community capacity, and promote revenue generation through upcyling what would otherwise be thrown out. ms. bonsu mentioned that the initiative offers other opportunities such as the creation of green jobs and green jobs training for alternative livelihood while maximizing resource recovery so that small-scale waste can be re-purposed and sold as sustainably-sourced products. waste pickers play a major role in the scp as they recover most of the waste. thus, gayo supports them by advocating for their rights, integrating them to work in coordination with the assembly, and providing them with necessary resources.<\/p>\n

furthermore, the circular economy project is also focused on training youth, and fostering development so they can act as ambassadors for various gayo initiatives. following this, they have organized over 300 youth individuals within universities through the gayo ecoclub chapters<\/a>. this is a student-led movement envisioned to raise future climate leaders and young ecopreneurs, create awareness on environmental protection, and increase the employability of youth through professional working experiences. gayo is also building the capacity of these students by pushing for the creation of environmental courses <\/a>and initiatives through partnership with other institutions and community engagement activities. as a result, students and emerging professionals are able to learn more about climate change and the circular economy while making an impact in their communities.<\/p>\n

meanwhile, the youth climate council provides a platform for youth-led individuals and organizations to gather actionable suggestions and to come together as a centralized power to pitch concerns they have to the government. the youth climate council was established by green africa youth organization and its independent partner, youth climate lab (ycl)<\/a>, and with institutional backing from the international development research centre (idrc). i found this project particularly compelling after learning from ms. bonsu that, in her own words, \u201c[people] in the global south\u2026are faced with a situation where youth do not have voices in decision making, are not being represented in government [and] are not included in the formation of climate policies.\u201d a significant part of gayo\u2019s mission is to empower and engage youth throughout the country and the world around comprehensive climate action, environmental education, and community-centric programs.<\/p>\n

the youth climate council is a unified climate youth movement which amplifies youth voices and creates opportunities for young climate activists in ghana. the council is embedded within the ministry of environment, science, technology, and innovation, working hand-in-hand with the environmental protection agency ensuring a direct connection between youth and government, and vice versa. the youth climate council’s priority is to provide services to strengthen activism and the impact of its members.<\/p>\n

betty went on to say that, \u201cbecause of this platform, we were able to attend cop26 in order to highlight gayo and other youth experiences in ghana ” around climate action and environmental awareness. following this year’s cop 26, the ghana government pavilion was utilized by gayo and its partners to host capacity-building webinars and events for youth, while sharing initiatives and climate interventions carried out by youth climate activists, organizations, and institutions in the nation. government institutions providing platforms, and the autonomy to decide what actions should be taken, center the perspectives of youth leaders rather than perpetuate archaic systems that are damaging to people and the planet. <\/p>\n

climate action demands intersectional, multi-generational collective action. even though the majority of ghg emissions and environmental degradation has been caused by the generations before us, it is up to youth voices, organizations, and movements to strive for a more sustainable and ethical future. gayo is one such organization achieving this feat in real time, with betty osei bonsu representing ghana and gayo at cop26 calling the world to action. global north countries and institutions, and its respective government entities, need to pass the microphone to leaders such as betty that are already transforming our relationship to the environment while also finding economic opportunities in alignment with environmental justice and sustainability. <\/p>\n

sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

al jazeera staff. 2022. mapping africa\u2019s natural resources<\/a>. al jazeera<\/em>. <\/p>\n

bonsu, betty osei. (2021, november) personal communication [personal interview]. <\/p>\n

kashwan, prakash, et. al. 2021. from racialized neocolonial global conservation to an inclusive and regenerative conservation<\/a>. <\/a>environment<\/em>. 63:4, 5-6.<\/p>\n

mcveigh, karen. 2017. world is plundering africa’s wealth of ‘billions of dollars a year’<\/a>. the guardian<\/em>. <\/p>\n

dive deeper<\/strong><\/p>\n

gayo joins inaugural plastic action champions \u2013 green africa youth organization<\/a><\/p>\n

ghana hosts first local conference of youth in climate change | wundef.com<\/a><\/p>\n

are you an entrepreneur? apply to join the founder institute ghana and gayo fellowship. \u2013 green africa youth organization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

learn more about green africa youth organization (gayo) and their impact in ghana and on the international stage, from the perspective of gayo project coordinator betty osse bonsu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9840,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4900,4933,4914],"tags":[144,488,4588,569,4696,1794,4697,172,591],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-green-living","category-storyfest-2022","category-sustainability","tag-climate-change","tag-composting","tag-cop26","tag-economy","tag-gayo","tag-ghana","tag-global-south","tag-recycling","tag-storyfest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\ngreen africa youth organization: climate action in ghana and the global south - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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will be pursuing a m.a. in food studies (policy, cultural analysis, and social entrepreneurship) at new york university steinhardt school of culture, education, and human development.\u00a0 i have engaged in a variety of interdisciplinary environmental research projects with f&m professors, such as the environmental migration lab with professor eric hirsch\u00a0and the sustainable food systems working group with professors eve bratman and patrick fleming. in my first year, i assisted in the foundation of the environmental migration lab alongside over a dozen other students, interviewing and transcribing conversations from immigrants, refugees and organizations such as church world service lancaster and casa pa\u00a0as well as designing environmental impact surveys in order to compile quantifiable data on the effects of climate change and its associated political, ecological, social, and economic impacts. additionally, as a third year, i coordinated and co-drafted a proposal to the 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lancaster county, i helped plant native tree saplings, remove invasive species from streams within the chesapeake bay watershed and co-drafted a science literacy pamphlet for the amish farming community as a project intern with the alliance for the chesapeake bay. i also led social media and lobbying efforts\u00a0for the local citizens' climate lobby chapter, an organization that\u00a0\u00a0provides resources and workshops to enable local communities to engage in politics, reach out to their elected officials and become agents\u00a0of change. i organized get-out-the-vote campaigns between ccl lancaster, environmental voter project, and postcards to swing states alongside climate activist james \"jim\" sandoe in order to reach out to first-time voters ahead of the 2020 u.s. presidential election to register to vote for climate action. during my junior and senior years, i interned for the re-election campaign of former pa treasurer joe torsella as a campaign finance intern. during this experience, i learned the ins and outs of state-wide political campaigns within the democratic party while also gaining valuable experience processing data and donations from climate and environmental political action committees and donors. the culmination of my advocacy, research, and journalism efforts has resulted in the formation of the greenzine, a resource and publishing hub redefining the public's perceptions around climate change, climate action and environmentalism. our work is interdisciplinary, intersectional, and multimedia in that it covers multiple subject areas, involves various aspects of identity, and intends to reach people where they're at in terms of their learning style! it started as a monthly newsletter when i served as the social media chair and president of the student-run environmental action alliance and fair trade cafe, and has gone on to blossom into an international, grassroots platform for the planet and people reaching dozens of countries, institutions, and communities. if you are interested in joining the team or pitching a collaboration\/story idea, please consider filling out this brief survey. if you do not have the time to join, please consider supporting us through our patreon. currently, my main focuses are on bridging together consumers and producers within our food systems so that we can foster a deeper consciousness and connection between built and natural environments. i intend to this by hosting in-person educational events and community-centric activities while i work as an in-house gardener\u00a0and barista at a\u00a0queens-based cafe called elevenses. alongside building up the greenzine platform, i will be writing remotely about environmental ethics and related issues\u00a0for a uk-based, gen z-led media organization called thred. i also work part-time at a\u00a0martial arts studio called modern martial arts nyc that i have trained at throughout my childhood and into adulthood.","url":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/author\/max-sano\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11163"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11163\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11163"},{"taxonomy":"storyfest_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/storyfest_categories?post=11163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}