Ghana to host youth conference on natural resources, environmental governance

More than 200 young people will from May 2 to May 4 this year, converge on Accra to share ideas and discuss feasible solutions to shape sustainable environmental governance on the continent. 

The gathering, dubbed the National Youth Conference on Natural Resources and Environmental Governance, will focus on youth-led solutions in critical areas such as energy transition, responsible mining and food sovereignty.

The three-day conference, organised by the Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), is expected to feature representatives from civil society, government agencies, financial institutions, diplomats, development partners and the private sector. 

Launch

Launching the second edition of the conference in Accra last Thursday, the Executive Coordinator of SYND, Chibeze Ezekiel, explained that the conference would showcase innovative solutions proposed by African youth to tackle the urgent climate and environmental issues facing the continent.

He added that the continent, with its rich natural resources and diverse ecosystems, encountered significant hurdles in managing these resources sustainably leading to issues such as illegal mining, unregulated fishing and environmental degradation.

Synergy

Mr Ezekiel said the conference was an opportunity to bring together young people undertaking similar initiatives in their respective countries to create the necessary synergies to address the issues while learning from each other.

 “We believe that if a young person in Ghana can see what a college in another country is doing, it can motivate them to do the same and build synergy to draw resources together and champion the course of solving the issues confronting us.

“The strong case we want to make is that if we create the right environment for young people, they can become the change agents we want them to be,” he said.

The conference, he said, would also provide an opportunity for studying different programmes to understand the sector and how they could take advantage of opportunities to create employment for themselves.