“Activism must be deliberate; its not enough to believe”

On August 07, 2022, we were pleased to speak with Chibeze Ezequiel who coordinates the Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), a youth-led NGO that promotes youth inclusion in the governance of the Natural Resources & Environmental (NRE) sector. He is a Climate Reality Leader, a member of the International Experts of the Environment of Peace 2022 (EP2022) project. He serves on the board of 350.org and chairs the Youth in Natural Resources and Environmental Governance (Youth-NREG) Platform. He emerged as the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize Recipient for Africa.

Dr. Ash Pachauri, the senior mentor of the POP movement asked Chibeze Ezekiel what leadership meant to him and the leadership skills that he has learnt throughout his journey in climate activism to which he emphasized leadership being about leading by example, having conviction, pursuing one’s passion and not giving up.

Ivan Ransom from Mexico wanted to know how Chibeze was inspired to become an activist and how his work enabled him to achieve the closing of a coal plant to which he made the audience realize that He didn’t know about climate change or advocacy till he attended a workshop and learned about policy advocacy. He later set up 350.org in Ghana. In 2015, news about a coal fired power plant hit the news to which he spent some time understanding the issue. Later on the submarine approach was applied which entailed internally reviewing people’s experiences and mobilizing support and conducting advocacy in the community. By the time you rise, you are all set with the needed ammunition. They not only said ‘no’ but also provided alternatives.

Drishya Pathak from India asked for the main challenges that youth face as they try to create change in the climate agenda as well as Chibeze’s views on how these problems can be overcome to which a crucial response that Youth face challenges in the area of knowledge and capacity. On paper, youth have the right to participate in decision-making.  However, in Ghana even though we have policies, this doesn’t happen. Youth don’t have the capacity to participate and are perceived as ‘deviant’. He decided to address this challenge by reviewing policy briefs and understanding policy ‘language’. He also translated policy documents to briefs which are accessible to communities which enable him to bridge the existing gap. This approach has been very effective as people are now represented in discussions about Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and other elements of policy-making.

Alejandra Fragoso from Mexico asked about components of effective activism and availed and spoke of her concern on how they can be implemented. Chibeze emphasized on passion, conviction and consistency as the world wears you down. One has to take things forward with conviction as well as be prepared to get back up.

In closing, Dr. Norma Patricia Munoz from Mexico wanted to know the role intergenerational and intersectional cooperation play in creating transparent and effective movements to which Chibeze shared with the audience about how to amplify the importance of bridging the gap between children, youth, and adults. He started a program ‘children for climate action (C4C). Parents for future generations of Ghana is the other group he has established.  The idea is to rally everyone around climate change. How can they all take steps to address climate change?  The idea to address an effective movement by involving young people and adults too. This coming together goes a long way in addressing climate action and climate transparency.

About our guest speaker

Chibeze Ezequiel coordinates the Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), a youth-led NGO that promotes youth inclusion in the governance of the Natural Resources and Environmental (NRE) sector. He is a Climate Reality Leader, a member of the International Experts of the Environment of Peace 2022 (EP2022) project. He serves on the board of 350.org and chairs the Youth in Natural Resources and Environmental Governance (Youth-NREG) Platform. He emerged as the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize Recipient for Africa.

As a strong climate activist, he holds the conviction that young people must be at the heart of climate solutions in that they have a pivotal role to play in winning the fight against climate change.