Mover and shaker: Eddy Shiimi

Climate change affects every corner of our world. Despite the adverse effects on the entire world, notable efforts have been made by individuals with the ability to do so, especially young, passionate and dedicated environmental activists who believe in active engagement and collaborative change.



Fighting for the future

Eddy Shiimi, in particular, embodies this fight. Shiimi says that shortly after graduation, he started working on developing a proactive mindset and gradually immersed himself in the civil society sector, where he participated in various training programmes that contributed to his professional development.

Shiimi landed his first professional job at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a climate change intern, where he was involved in over six national projects that have significantly contributed to his journey and vision.

"I am still active within the civil society space as an advocate for climate change resilience and research," he explained.



Growing interest

Born and raised in Windhoek, Namibia, he completed his secondary education at Windhoek High School from grades eight to 12 and graduated with a bachelors in geography and environmental studies from the University of Namibia.

“In high school, I had pure science-field subjects and had hoped to pursue science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM)-related courses like metallurgical engineering or pharmaceuticals, but unfortunately, I did not make the cut," he said.

He added that his current degree was his last choice and he could not afford to improve his marks, so he went along with it.

It wasn't until his third or fourth year that his interest in topics like climate change, sustainability and energy began to emerge. Despite this, he was still unable to visualise his future career path.



Collaborative effort

There have definitely been great strides made in involving the youth in climate action by government, civil society and commercial sector organisations by providing financial access for youth-led solutions, capacity-building programmes and promoting the freedom of social representation of young individuals and youth groups.

He believes that youth are full of vigour, innovation and skills, yet they are also one of the most vulnerable social groups to climate change due to a lack of access to quality resources, skills and education.

He expressed his gratitude to the team behind the National Youth Climate Change Summit and Local Conference for Youth (LCOY), commending them for a job well done in offering a platform for youth representatives to voice their concerns about the impacts of climate change in their respective regions. This initiative aims to contribute to the development of the national youth statement on climate change as part of the updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) guidelines.

At a community level, youth can contribute to sustainability by maintaining a clean environment through clean-up campaigns, donations to waste management services or awareness-raising campaigns. At a macro level, the youth need to be engaged in how political economies are managing resources and undertake research to inform decision-making and advocacy.



Namibia’s contribution

He explained that at a global level, climate change discussions are like a never-ending series of Game of Thrones that needs collective action and planning.

"I believe that it is important to know that Namibia contributes very little to global greenhouse gases but is one of the countries that are most affected by climate change due to its natural aridity."

The 1.5 degree Celsius increase is considered catastrophic, as the country is already about 2 degrees hotter than the global average temperature.

"Therefore, we need to recognise that we need to take action now at all levels of the economy by applying all forms of sustainability and climate-compatible development," he concluded.