YouthADAPT2022 Cohort Webinar: Women as Leaders in Climate Adaptation Empowering Change

This webinar aims to further explore these critical roles and discuss strategies to amplify women’s voices and leadership in climate action.

Event description

AAAP YouthADAPT Pillar
The overarching objective of the African Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP)
YouthADAPT pillar is to promote job creation through entrepreneurship and
innovation for action on climate adaptation and resilience in Africa.
It aims at preparing a new generation of African youth for the transition towards green
and climate-resilient development, as well as to combat poverty and improve the
quality of life for young people in Africa. Young people are not only victims of climate
change, they are also valuable contributors to climate action – as agents of change,
entrepreneurs, and innovators. Youth across the continent are scaling up their efforts
and using their skills to accelerate climate action.

For this reason, one of the pillars of the YouthADAPT program aims to scale up
promising and transformative youth innovations for climate action through working
with youth-led and owned enterprises (50% women MSMEs). To this end, AAAP has
launched the African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge (YouthADAPT Challenge).
The challenge encourages young entrepreneurs, innovators from micro, small and
medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and other youth-led and youth-owned
enterprises in Africa to implement solutions for building resilience and adapting to
the adverse impacts of climate change.

YouthADAPT Challenge
The YouthADAPT Challenge is an annual competition and awards program jointly
organised by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the African Development
Bank (AfDB) and Climate Investment Funds (CIF). It aims to strengthen inclusive
growth and broaden investment and economic opportunities for African youth.
Winners of the YouthADAPT Challenge receive up to $100,000 in business grants and
participate in a 12-month business accelerator program to help them scale up their
businesses, deepen their impact, and create decent jobs. Ten (10) winners were
selected in the first edition held in September 2021. At COP27, the program
announced eighteen (18) winners for the second edition of the Challenge, while eight
(8) female-led enterprises were announced as winners for the third edition of the
program at COP 28.

Overview: Women Leaders in Climate Adaptation – Empowering Change
Despite the barriers they face, women continue to demonstrate leadership and
ingenuity, making their full participation essential to achieving sustainable
development and addressing global environmental challenges. By recognizing and
empowering women as key agents of change, we can ensure that climate adaptation
efforts are more inclusive, effective, and sustainable, ultimately securing a better
future for all.

This webinar aims to further explore these critical roles and discuss strategies to
amplify women’s voices and leadership in climate action.

Objectives

• Raise awareness about the gendered impacts of climate change and the disproportionate burden it places on women.
• Showcase successful examples of women-led climate adaptation initiatives across Africa.
• Identify key barriers preventing women from assuming leadership roles in climate action.
• Develop recommendations for empowering women as leaders in climate adaptation.
• Foster a platform for dialogue and knowledge sharing among experts, policymakers, and practitioners.