Photo by UNclimatechange / flickr/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 License

By Joscha Betke

This year marks not only the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but also the 10^th anniversary of the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform on inclusive development in Africa.

With the 2022 COP27 conference kicking off today in Egypt, this monthly reading list will focus on our perspective on climate change and its impact on inclusive development in Africa, presenting a selection of our publications on the topic.

Ensuring a just and equitable transition towards a sustainable future is a key position that INCLUDE stands for in the debate on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Recognising the specific needs and circumstances of developing countries, and their historically differential responsibilities with regard to climate change are one aspect of this position. Another relevant aspect is to ensure that the needs of youth and future generations are addressed by amplifying their voices, a position that aligns with the objectives of COP27’s Presidency for the Youth & Future Generations Day on 11th November.

Climate action requires an evidence-based and solution-oriented policy approach in order to make our economies future-fit. “Taking into account the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities”, to say it in the words articulated in the Paris Agreement, is the focus area of the following INCLUDE’s knowledge products:

• Green Jobs and the future of work is a partnership project of INCLUDE and Palladium to strengthen the evidence base around youth employment and the future of work in Africa. The publications offer robust and innovative ideas for creating or improving decent work prospects for youth, especially for young women.
  • Products: Report / Policy Brief / Decent Jobs for Youth Blog
• Building forward more inclusively was the title of last year’s INCLUDE online conference on how to address structural constraints while promoting fundamental, more permanent and inclusive socio-economic transformation post-Covid 19. Our publications, centred around themes like decent jobs, equitable development, climate adaptation and green agriculture, emphasise not to go back to ‘the way things were’ but to build forward more inclusively.
  • Products: Conference Report / Recommendations 
• Employment at the Crossroads of Crises is an INCLUDE evidence synthesis that reports on the impact of crises on youth employment in Africa, taking into account different types of crises, their structural context and offering recommendations on how policies should be tailored to the specific needs of groups whose employment is most affected.
  • Products: Evidence Synthesis Report