Coming from a country rich in natural resources located in the heart of Southern Africa, Reuben Sapetulu, a 29-year-old Zambian human rights defender and champion for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is the first young leader to organize the Youth Climate Dialogue program involving students from Zambia and China to discuss climate change. His country has been experiencing significant climatic variability, such as droughts, seasonal and flash floods, extreme temperatures, and prolonged dry spells. These climatic events have become more frequent, intense, and severe, impacting the country’s physical and biological systems, and placing considerable stress on vulnerable sectors, especially agriculture. Reuben has already been impacted by climate change and he decided to take a step further to support his country in mitigating the impacts of climate change.
In 2019, he had the opportunity to organize the Youth Climate Dialogue (YCD) between students from Zambia and China. This experience was a milestone in his academic and professional journey and a profound personal enlightenment. As a student leader who was pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology of Education with Civic Education from the University of Zambia with a passion in advocacy for democratic governance, Reuben’s role involved coordinating and engaging students in collaboration with MIET Africa to participate in the climate dialogue with university students in China. This exchange allowed them to share their experiences and insights on how climate change was impacting their respective countries and what they were doing as key stakeholders to strengthen efforts to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Through this exchange, he came to understand that what he often perceived as natural disasters were, in many cases, consequences of climate change. This realization was pivotal for him, as it highlighted the intersectionality between climate change and human rights, deepening his commitment to addressing these issues.
One of the significant outcomes of his leadership at the YCD program was the launch of a platform for young people to engage in dialogue around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also known as the Youth Dialogue Program on SDGs, with a particular focus on climate change. This platform brought together an average of 80 students per day, facilitating in-person discussions and exchanges of innovative solutions while empowering and inspiring young people to take the lead in driving sustainable development goals as key stakeholders rather than being passive recipients. It was open to anyone interested in participating and played a crucial role in shaping youth declarations at the local and global level.
Youth dialogue program on SDGs
In addition, his engagement with policymakers began as a youth representative who actively contributed to the National Climate Change Learning Strategy for Zambia from its inception to launch and picked it up to raise awareness to enable young people to play a key role in its implementation. He further continued as a technical lead for what is being called today as Zambia Climate Change Youth Task Force in charge of the Policy and Programming with him playing crucial roles during the Local Conference of Youth on Climate in Zambia from 2022 to 2023.
Reuben participated in the climate change learning strategy from inception to the launch
Reuben engaging his fellow young people to raise awareness about the climate change learning strategy
Reuben also participated in the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties (COP28) as a young negotiator accompanying and supporting the Chair of the African Group of Negotiators during COP28. Through these experiences, he strengthened his knowledge and engagement with policy processes, making numerous national parliamentary submissions to influence parliamentary decisions and build capacity among young people.
Reuben Sapetulu making Parliamentary Submissions together with the Zambia Climate Change Network for consideration in the 2024 National Budget
He said,
The YCD program was a profound learning experience for me, it is where I first learnt about Climate Change and the need to take meaningful action to shape the future we want to see. It spanned several weeks of intensive training through online courses on the UNCC Learn platform, where I developed new skills as well as public speaking (through the YCD) and navigating technical jargon. These skills were crucial as I continued with my advocacy journey as well as my role as a learning and impact coordinator for ActionAid Zambia stationed at Global Platform Zambia as well as my current role as a communications and Youth engagement assistant for UNICEF-Zambia, focusing on empowering young people and strengthening their role as key stakeholders in driving social change.
Inspired by the YCD program, he has also taken several climate actions at the personal level. He adopted climate-smart innovations at home, such as reducing plastic use and utilizing renewable energy sources.
After his Bachelors, we went further to pursue a Master’s in human Rights, Governance and Development from the University of Zambia a course which harmonized his passion for democratic governance, Climate Justice and human rights. He further plans to pursue further education and obtain a Ph.D., focusing on statelessness, human rights, and the impact of climate change on mobility and internally displaced persons. His advocacy work has continued as he strives to build climate change champions at the local level and strengthen their understanding of advocacy, ensuring the sustained impact of their efforts.
To young people concerned about climate change, his advice is simple:
We cannot afford to leave our planet in a worse state due to our inaction. It is essential to move from being passive recipients of information and services to active drivers of climate action through our innovation and ability to revolutionize our national and global development in a way that is climate smart as well as redefine the climate narrative with young people taking the center stage as key stakeholders, because we as young people have the power and the ability to drive change and shape the future in the way that we envision it.
He believes that the demand for youth participation in climate action is growing and cannot be overlooked. It is therefore crucial for more platforms that facilitate meaningful engagement with national and local policymakers to be created and strengthened, for this will enable us to break down barriers and ensure that youth voices are heard in decision-making processes.
This is crucial not only to bridge the gap between young people and technical experts but also reactivate the role of young people as key stakeholders while reaffirming to our commitment to empower them to drive climate action because the future depends on young people’s ability to innovate and take meaningful climate action while enabling them to influence these decisions and sustain the cause for climate action.
The YCD program not only equipped me with the skills and knowledge to make a difference but has also ignited a passion for continued advocacy and leadership in the fight against climate change.
Reuben Participating in the Be Relevant Conference to push a demand for Youth Climate Action