Webinar: The Role of Youth in Critical Minerals Governance, the Energy Transition, and Climate Change in Zambia

On 15 May 2025, Pamoja Critical Minerals Alliance convened a dynamic youth-centred webinar to explore the intersection of critical minerals governance, climate change, and Zambia’s energy transition. The webinar brought together students, activists, and civil society leaders to reflect on the urgent need for inclusive, sustainable, and just mineral governance in the face of global green energy demands.

Participants engaged in a robust discussion around Zambia’s mineral wealth—including copper, cobalt, and lithium—and the pressing need for youth inclusion in shaping policies that govern their extraction, use, and impact on people and the environment.

Key Themes and Contributions

1. Youth and Mineral Governance: Participants called for formal platforms to allow youth to engage in the design, monitoring, and implementation of policies governing critical minerals.
2. Climate Change and Energy Crisis: Discussions addressed how Zambia’s energy challenges, including persistent load shedding, are directly tied to mineral governance and missed opportunities to harness clean energy.
3. Gender and Environmental Justice: Panellists raised concern over the gendered impacts of mining, especially how women’s land rights and health are compromised in mining communities.
4. Artisanal and Illegal Mining: The webinar unpacked the realities of illegal mining in Zambia, stressing the need for improved regulation, licensing, and youth-led awareness campaigns.
5. Geopolitics and Skills Development: Discussions explored Zambia’s geopolitical position in the global minerals market and the need to invest in youth skills development to better engage with the sector.

Notable Voices

Student leaders from the University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU), Copperbelt University Students Union (COBUSU), and UNZADESA brought lived experiences and academic insight into the challenges and opportunities facing youth in Zambia’s extractives sector.

Representatives from civil society and youth organisations also spoke passionately on the need for transformative education, intergenerational equity, and accountable leadership.

Outcomes and Next Steps

Participants agreed on several action points to continue momentum from the discussion:

• Youth participants will establish youth advisory councils to engage government on critical minerals policies.
• Organisations will develop and share education and sensitization programs on critical minerals and their governance.
• Collaboration will be strengthened between youth groups in Solwezi, Kabula, and Lusaka to address local mining impacts.
• Participants are invited to join the Pamoja Critical Minerals Alliance and take part in the upcoming international launch at Copperbelt University in August 2025.

Conclusion

The webinar highlighted that Zambia’s mineral future must be shaped with and for its youth. As global interest in Africa’s critical minerals intensifies, it is essential that the voices of young people are not only heard—but structurally embedded in decision-making.

This dialogue marks a critical step toward building an intergenerational movement for just, inclusive, and transparent mineral governance in Zambia.

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