By Laudato Voices | September 09, 2025. As we may all know in Uganda and Africa at large, climate action and peacebuilding are deeply intertwined. As extreme weather events: droughts, floods, heatwaves, struggle for natural resources intensify, they undermine food security, displace communities, they cause political instabilities and heighten competition over scarce resources. Targeted climate interventions thus become essential platforms for fostering stability and peace across the continent and a path to building peace. As our Holy Father Calls us to be peace builders we must take on climate action as a raw material (brick) for peace building, and as an investiment for future generations.

Resilience, far from being merely recovery, is itself a form of peacebuilding. As Dr. Éliane Ubalijoro, CEO of CIFOR‑ICRAF, vividly puts it, “Resilience is peacebuilding” (Ubalijoro, cited in Laudato Youth Initiative, 2025). This insight underscores that when communities adapt to climate shocks with restored ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods, they reinforce social cohesion and reduce conflict potential.

Beza Melaku Mandefro, a youth delegate at COP29, reminded the world that children’s futures hinge on climate policies designed with their needs in mind (ECA & UNICEF, 2024).

Yoanna Milad, a 21-year-old Egyptian activist at COP27, demanded concrete commitments to phase out fossil fuels and to see progress—not platitudes (Milad, 2022).

Ugandan activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye profoundly stated that climate impacts—like the shrinking of Lake Victoria—affect entire regions and thus demand solidarity across boundaries (Nakabuye, 2025).

Eleven-year-old Natalie Silantoi Anyango urged inclusion of youth at the Africa Youth Climate Assembly 2023, emphasizing collective responsibility for a healthier planet (Anyango, 2023).

These voices reflect a generation aware that climate justice, environmental integrity, and social peace are inseparable.

Pope Francis has consistently linked ecological care with peace and human dignity:

• He urged a “radical energy transition” and condemned our “throw-away culture,” calling a strong climate accord a political and economic obligation (Pope Francis, 2015).

• In his letter marking the 40th anniversary of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel, he warned that “terrorism, economic precariousness, climate change, and intercommunal strife exacerbate the vulnerability of states,” adding that “action must be taken!” to promote security, justice, and peace (Pope Francis, 2024).

• During his visit to Congo, he even denounced foreign exploitation of Africa’s resources, calling it a form of economic enslavement, and urged global solidarity to stop the plundering symbolizing the intersection of ecological, economic, and peace imperatives (Pope Francis, 2023).

These interventions by the Pope link climate integrity with justice, sovereignty, and stability. He emphasizes that safeguarding creation is also safeguarding peace.

In African contexts, climate action is not a standalone policy but a peacebuilding imperative. When ecosystems are restored, schools are climate-resilient, and youth voices are heard, societies grow more cohesive and peaceful. As the Laudato Youth Initiative echo and as Pope Francis affirms, climate justice is inseparable from social justice, human dignity, and the peace of nations.