Bruce Campbell calls for revolt and revolution

Lucy Holt(CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security)

It's not often you get to talk about GIS, facebook, and MTV all at once. But then, it's not often that youth get to kick-off a conference. But Saturday was a morning of not-oftens. Not least of which entailed Bruce Campbell calling out for youth to revolt.

'You've been negotiating all my life, don't tell me you need more time'. This was the message that the youth delegation brought to COP16 in 2010. Three years later, with negotiations still dragging on, the scientific community has joined the youth community in calling out for revolt.

And who is best placed to lead that revolt? 'You are' said Bruce Campbell to a room full of youth at this year's Global Landscape Forum. "The people in power have not left this world in good shape and unless you want it to fall into even worse shape, you better start a revolution."

Bruce Campbell, the Program Director for the CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food security (CCAFS) Research Program, is from Zimbabwe. By 2090, Zimbabwe and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa might face a 20% decline in growing season. If it happens, it will devastate. That much is certain.

The problem with projections like this is that they are cushioned by a sense of uncertainty, how do we know that will really happen? And a sense that 2090 is so far away, that surely between now and then, something will happen, somebody will do something, to prevent this from becoming a reality.

But while 2090 might seem like a long way away, it is a lot closer for us youth than for our seniors. We talk about our children and our grandchildren whilst negotiators talk about their great-grandchildren. We can't let uncertainty over the details distract from the bigger picture.

But while uncertainty is one of the problems with these projections, it also one of the best things about them: a 20% decrease in growing season is not yet fact. We still have the power to prevent it.

And today we heard from 8 youth trying to do just that: people who are leading the revolution in forestry, agriculture and policy through techniques as diverse as GIS mapping and rap songs. People who are changing the way we do science, the way we farm, the way we do policy, and the way we communicate about it.

We heard from Joseph Macharia, who is using facebook to lure youth back to farms in Kenya, through a page where they can connect and get advice from their peers. We heard from Stepth Kibet who is tapping into his tech savvy peers to help map social erosion. And we heard from Izzy Campbell from Connect4Climate. An organization less concerned with media outlets like Nature and Science, who help youth concerned with climate change, agriculture and forestry speak to and for themselves.

She introduced us to TS1, a rap group unlike any other. TS1 don't sing about fast cars, pool parties and whisky but about bicycles, deforestation food security. Connect4Climate helped TS1 find an international platform by teaming them up with Eminem and MTV. The results were screened across Times Square in New York. This is the voice of the future. This is the way of the future. The voice of revolt. The voice of youth.