Beyond Tokenism: The “Born Frees” and Climate Change in South Africa

Abstract

Climate change and youth participation are emerging as important clarion calls today. Indeed, very few individuals will possibly counter a call for the involvement of young people in decisions and actions which (in)directly affect their lives. Presently, some of the greatest social problems faced by young South Africans are COVID-19, employment, and climate change. These challenges require the active participation of young people—locally known as the “born frees”—in the construction and operationalization of interventions, especially in light of the insufficient (sub)national response. That being said, policymakers often adopt top-down over bottom-up approaches, with the young generation often excluded or at best given a tokenistic role in climate decision-making processes. Therefore, this paper suggests some new ways of conceptualizing youth agency and brings to light how the born frees could efficiently take part or have a say in negotiating the path to climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation. By drawing from the existing literature, the paper concludes that effective engagement with youth is essential in empowering them to key stakeholders or partners in adapting and/or mitigating climate change.

Seen and heard: The youth as game-changing role-players in climate change and environmental consciousness – A South African perspective

“…This is because it is the most vulnerable continent in this regard (Awojobi & Tetteh 2017:39). The population that will be affected the most is the children and the youth (Cattell 2021;Chersich et al 2019;Han & Ahn 2020;Nkrumah 2021).…”

Courting emissions: climate adjudication and South Africa’s youth

“…As a major fluctuation in the atmosphere, climate change will be one of the major challenges faced by youth [ 10 ]. The notion of ‘youth'’ encompasses persons between the ages of 15 and 24 [ 11 ].…”

“…In South Africa, approximately 9.5 million of the country’s demography fall into this camp [ 12 ]. Indeed, there is an evolving number of young South Africans who have joined global campaigns, and often used print and electronic media to advocate for urgent climate action [ 9 , 10 ]. One caveat bears underscoring, nonetheless.…”

“…Ironically, while a number of these litigants at the global level are youth, the agency and voices of young South Africans have rarely been articulated in courtrooms. This trend is even more disconcerting as scholarship around South Africa’s climate justice has had limited interaction with the role of local youth in equally invoking the Constitution and other legal instruments to trigger political action towards carbon neutrality [ 9 , 10 , 19 ]. The paper fills this gap by suggesting ways in which disempowered youth could use courtrooms to reclaim their rights to a healthy environment.…”

“…In seeking to understand the protection afforded youth from environmental hazards, specific attention will be paid to this provision as it overtly entrenches the right to a clean environment. This assessment will be complemented with critical analysis of recent instruments, Climate Change Bill (CCB), National Environment Management: Air Quality Act (NEMA), and Carbon Tax Act (CTA), all aspiring to contribute to clean energy [ 10 – 12 ]. These documents will be assessed in light of their effectiveness in combatting emissions, and the leverage provided for young people to be included in framing and operationalizing climate actions at the local/provincial/national levels.…”