00:00It is a hot sun-filled day, typical for the Gambia, where temperatures frequently reach
00:1030 to 32 degrees Celsius, and climate stress is a daily reality.
00:14The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative ranks the Gambia 151st in climate change readiness,
00:21pointing to limited capacity to respond to climate shocks, yet young Gambians are stepping
00:27up with climate change initiatives.
00:29What we do with communities is to work with them on dryland and wetland trees, especially
00:34indigenous trees, how to restore them, and of course on wetlands, especially mangroves.
00:39Many of these efforts, however, depend heavily on external funding.
00:45With adaptation finance needs of developing countries estimated at over US$310 billion
00:52per year by 2035, questions are now emerging about sustainability.
00:58It was a very big disappointment. It caused a lot of chaos for the community, but also for us, which is why we should not wait for cases like this to happen.
01:17And organizations should be encouraged or are encouraged to be more self-reliant.
01:22And for this group of young debaters, climate change is deeply personal.
01:27Beyond raising awareness, they are committed to volunteering and taking practical action,
01:31driven by a firm belief that even small efforts can make a big difference in tackling climate change.
01:39This is evidence that even without support, we can do something. We can get something done.
01:44Because at the end of the day, it is not the responsibility of anybody to come and save us from the dangers of climate change.
01:50The flooding that happened last year, it did not spare anybody because all of us felt the bite.
01:55Even rainfall itself, the pattern has changed. Other people are also telling you the amount of heat that we feel right now is different from the one we used to feel.
02:02The Gambia is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, which it joined in April 2016, and has outlined an ambitious path towards net zero emissions by 2050 through its long-term climate-neutral development strategy.
02:18But as global climate financing titans, experts warn that countries like the Gambia may face grain pressure to meet those goals without consistent international support.
02:28It's going to be nearly impossible to achieve those goals without funding.
02:33I am a self-claimed retired climate change negotiator for seven years. I know how it is, how frustrating it is if you don't have funds.
02:41The next option would be, how can the Gambia, especially NGOs and other institutions, come up with funding from some other sources in order to continue with or without funding from the United States?
02:55Despite being one of Africa's smallest and most vulnerable nations, the Gambia has gained international recognition for its climate ambition.
03:04As external funding becomes less predictable, the country's youth-led climate movement now stands at the center of whether ambition can translate into lasting resilience.
03:17The next option would be, how can the new people develop the country's youth-led climate movement now stand to the climate change of the climate movement with the future?
03:24The world's in the space for Africa is a few years of the countries who have created the climate change to the climate change.
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