ABOUT

Joshua Amponsem is an environmental and climate activist. He is the founder of Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) and a Youth Fellow at the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). He focuses on the role of youth in Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Resilience Building. His work aims to enhance the meaningful inclusion of youth and children in local and global development processes. He is the lead author of Adapt for Our Future – the first-ever background paper on youth and climate change adaptation, developed for the Global Commission on Adaptation to provide a pathway for youth engagement in global adaptation efforts.

In Ghana, he is leading the Sustainable Communities Project – which provides community-based enterprise models, green jobs and applies circular economy principles to agriculture and food systems, as well as waste management. Joshua is currently supporting the GCA to establish a global Youth Adaptation Network which aims to provide a platform to provide youth with the knowledge and resources needed to accelerate global adaptation action. He served as an advisor in the planning and delivery of the first UN Youth Climate Summit and supported the design and delivery of the first-ever IRENA Youth Forum.

In the past years, Joshua worked as a Business Development Manager and lead environmental consultant for Challenges Group Ghana, where he supported the delivery of business growth services to an enterprise portfolio of over 100 enterprises within the green and agricultural sector in Ghana. For 2 years, he was a UNEP Tunza Ambassador for Africa and mentored over 50 young people to implement green initiatives globally. In 2016, he was named World Climate Ambassador by MIT Sloan’s Climate Interactive for using digital tools to expand knowledge on climate change across Africa. Since 2016, Joshua has been a speaker and contributor to issues of youth engagement, green transformation, climate adaptation and loss of indigenous knowledge at diverse international climate and environmental gatherings. Joshua supports governments and private-sector entities to better integrate the diverse aspirations of young people into their climate and sustainability commitments. He is part of diverse local and international networks working toward a just future.

Quote: “Advocacy and youth inclusion is now a necessity to ensure a viable economic transformation in Africa while protecting ecological and natural resources.”