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Joshua Amponsem

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Joshua Amponsem
Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2021
Born (1991-08-08) 8 August 1991 (age 33)
Obuasi
NationalityGhanaian
EducationUnited Nations University, Institute of Environment and Human Security
Alma materUniversity of Cape Coast
Occupation(s)Climate and environmental activist, youth engagement expert, climate adaptation practitioner
Years active2015–present
OrganizationGreen Africa Youth Organization
Notable work
MovementInternational Youth Climate Movement

Joshua Amponsem (born 1991) is a Ghanaian climate advocate and a co-founder of Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO).[1][2] He is the climate specialist[3] at the Office of the UN Secretary General's Envoy on Youth.[4] He is the Lead Author of Adapt for Our Future,[5] the first-ever research paper on the role of youth in advancing climate adaptation.[6][7][8] His career has been more focused on grassroots climate and waste management solutions while advancing youth engagement in resilience building, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation at the international level.[9][10]

Climate advocacy

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Amponsem started climate advocacy in 2014 as a Bachelor student at the University of Cape Coast where he first learnt about climate change.[11] In 2014 and 2015, ahead of and after the COP21 UN Climate Conference to adopt the Paris Agreement, Amponsem joined the Ghana Youth Environmental Movement to lead series of street protests in Accra in the quest to halt a coal-fired power plant project proposed by the Government of Ghana.[12][13] Amponsem quickly established the Green Africa Youth Organization as a student initiative to deliver climate solutions. His motivation is to "translate academic conversations from the classroom into practical solutions for communities".[14]

Amponsem attended his first international climate conference, COP22, in 2016 as a Global Peace Initiative of Women Fellow where he raised awareness on the need for female leadership and the absence of indigenous knowledge in climate dialogues.[15] He later co-authored a book, The Power of the Feminine: Facing Shadow Evoking Light, where he described his relationship with water and the urgent need for humanity to restore our relationship with nature. His advocacy on gender equity, which he described as "a necessity to ensure a viable economic transformation while protecting ecological and natural resources",[16] led him to co-design the Water for Adaptation Project in 2017 to provide water accessibility to a community in Northern Ghana where 66.75% of girls miss school days due to climate change induced water scarcity.[17] In 2018, he attended the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee Meeting where he started his advocacy on the urgency to build expertise and deploy finance for frontline communities to adapt to already occurring climate impacts[14][18][19][20]

As an environmental activist, Amponsem has come to appreciate that nature gives us everything.According to him, our basis of life is dependent on nature and thus, it’s important that we see nature as our source of life rather than a resource for mere exploitation.[21]

Initiatives

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He has been an adaptation fellow at the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) since 2020.[22] Joshua studied MSc in Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security offered by UNU-EHS[23] at the University of Bonn.[24][25] He has led several community-support projects to engineer sustainable development and launched various climate initiatives in Ghana.[26][27] He attends key UN events and summits as a speaker to discuss the importance of youth participation in climate adaptation policies.[28][29][30] He was one of judges of Afri-Plastics Challenge initiative where he called for investing in waste management innovation to tackle plastic pollution.[31][32][33][34][35][36] He initiated the Global Alliance for Youth Climate Councils which held an event with Youth Climate Councils in Ghana, Netherlands, Denmark, Brazil and youth climate networks in Uganda during The Stockholm+50 international meeting held in Stockholm on 2–3 June 2022.[37]

References

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  1. ^ Suzuki, Mayumi (28 July 2021). "In Ghana, two young men are shaping climate justice for the Global South". Landscape News. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Joshua Amponsem Climate Lead". Bloomberg Philanthropies.
  3. ^ "Eating and drinking are poisonous! Ghana's 'electronic cemetery' is covered in heavy metal". Sanli News. 26 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Climate and Health: Empowering Women and Youth to Drive Climate Solutions". AHAIC. 9 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Adapt for our Future". Global Center on Adaptation. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  6. ^ "International Youth Day: engaging youth for climate action". UNU-EHS. 12 August 2020.
  7. ^ Sato, Mayumi (29 July 2021). "In Ghana, two young men are changing what climate justice looks like in the Global South". Landscape News.
  8. ^ "Climate activist Joshua Amponsem urges world leaders to prioritize climate adaptation". GhanaWeb. 26 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Youth4ClimateLive Episode 8: Driving Adaptation and Resilience". UNEP. 22 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Joshua Amponsem". Bloomberg Philanthropies. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  11. ^ "UNFCCC - COP26". unfccc-cop26.streamworld.de. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  12. ^ eribake, akintayo (14 December 2015). "Climate: Ghanaian activists demand an end to coal". Vanguard News. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  13. ^ UNEP, Samsung Engineering and. "Earth Day in Ghana - No Coal Our Goal. - Ambassador report - Our Actions - Tunza Eco Generation". tunza.eco-generation.org. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  14. ^ a b Asamoah-Gyadu, Griselda (26 April 2022). "Joshua Amponsem: Championing Climate Action from Cape Coast to COP26". Ecothusiasm. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Inner Dimesions of Climate Change Unveiled by GPIW during COP22 - AfricaBusiness.com". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Gender Equality and Mitigating Climate Change". Voices of Youth. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Water 4 Adaptation – Green Africa Youth Organization". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Virtual workshop: Youth engagement to enhance adaptation action". UNFCCC TEP-A. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  19. ^ Derler, Zak (9 February 2022). "How African youth are helping to define climate adaptation". Climate Home News. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  20. ^ "UN Climate Change on TikTok". TikTok. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Ecology versus economy in Ghana – DW – 07/27/2017". dw.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Global Center for Adaptation (GCA): high-level speakers call for a strong and efficient partnership for the adaptation of the African continent in the face of climate change". Alwihda Info. 17 September 2020.
  23. ^ "International Youth Day: engaging youth for climate action". UNU-EHS. 12 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Joshua Amponsem's Lab". ResearchGate.
  25. ^ "Impulsouth brings together initiatives empowering youth during the ACW 2021". Impulsouth. 5 October 2021.
  26. ^ "Ghana launches Youth Climate Council". Africa Climate Reports. 25 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Ecology versus economy in Ghana". Deutsche Welle. 27 July 2017.
  28. ^ "UN Climate Change Conference – December 2019". UNFCCC.
  29. ^ "Youth, community and green jobs in the developing world". SNV.
  30. ^ "Virtual workshop: Youth engagement to enhance adaptation action". UNFCCC TEP-A. 14 July 2020.
  31. ^ Bellefeuille, Lauren (22 September 2021). "Afri-Plastics Challenge: Meet Our Judges". Afri-Plastics Challenge.
  32. ^ Cheam, Jessica (1 June 2022). "The Global Plastics Treaty: We need speed, standards, scale and teeth". Eco-Business.com.
  33. ^ Waruru, Maina (1 March 2022). "UNEA 5.2: UN assembly to come up with an agreement on plastic pollution". Down to Earth.
  34. ^ "Africa's rural communities to be hardest hit by plastic pollution". ESI Africa. 25 March 2022.
  35. ^ "Africa's rural communities will be hardest hit by plastic pollution". EnviroNews Nigeria. 23 March 2022.
  36. ^ "Should Ghana ban plastic?". Deutsche Welle. 13 January 2017.
  37. ^ "Co-writing the Future: International success stories of youth participation". Stockholm+50. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
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