Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on African youth to challenge their leaders to take climate adaptation seriously.
Ki-moon said the voices of the youth are vital in ensuring leaders make the continent a sustainable place to live.
"I beseech you, tell your leaders that this is the world we are going to live in, make it sustainable...use your voting power," he said.
Ki-moon said the future of the continent lies not only with the decisions that leaders take not but in ensuring that we stick to them.
He recognised that many promises have been made especially on doubling the financing and it is now time it is honored.
Ki-moon who is also the chair of the Global Center on Adaptation noted that unless decisive climate actions are taken, the "future is incredibly bleak".
"Accelerating Africa's climate adaptation is a global agenda as it benefits everyone...Unlocking the untapped potential of the African youth to drive the resilience agenda is one of the pillars of the Africa Acceleration program," he stated.
The five-year program, he said, is worth $25 billion (Sh3.5 trillion).
He spoke when he opened a high-level intergenerational dialogue aimed at driving adaptation solutions and jobs on climate change in the continent.
The sideline event being held at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies is part of the ongoing Africa climate summit which opened in Nairobi Monday.
He was however optimistic that the summit would unlock the private sector financing on climate solutions in the region.
"There is no time to waste, too much has been wasted and we cannot afford to waste it anymore," said Ki-moon.
He further appealed to the developed nations to support the African countries by pushing harder for adaptation.
African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, former South African first lady Graca Machel and Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba are among the guests who attended the event.
Ababu said plans to increase forest cover by 30 percent to mitigate the effects of climate change are on course.
He said the country plans to recruit one million green army warriors to plant 50 billion trees.
