Across Africa, young people are already trying to change the world around them. They are speaking up about the issues they care about, organising in their communities, asking difficult questions and finding practical ways to respond to the challenges they see every day.
I am one of them.
I have always wanted to make a difference. Climate change is an issue I care deeply about, particularly because I have seen how its consequences are experienced by communities far from the rooms where global decisions are made. But I have also learned that wanting to make a difference and being able to do it well are two different things.
For me, the journey from one to the other has been about learning how to turn conviction into action.
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My advocacy deepened when I attended the first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi. Standing among leaders, youth activists and civil society voices, I witnessed a decisive shift. Africa was no longer approaching the table as a passive recipient of aid. Instead, the continent was presenting itself as a source of solutions, particularly in green energy, adaptation and climate-smart development.
It reinforced what I had long believed: African voices must shape the global climate agenda, not merely react to it.
But being inspired by what happens at a global summit is only the beginning. The real test is what happens when you return home.
How do you take a complex conversation about climate finance, adaptation or global negotiations and make it meaningful to someone in your community? How do you help people understand that they have a voice in these conversations? How do you turn that understanding into collective action and make sure those voices reach the people making decisions?
These were some of the things I began to understand through my experience as a ONE Champion.
I learned to think about advocacy as more than speaking up. It is about understanding the issue, knowing where decisions are made, identifying who has the power to act, communicating in ways that people can connect with and creating opportunities for people to act together. Most importantly, it is about moving from simply having something to say to knowing how to make that voice count.
In November 2025, I put some of those skills into practice in my own community in Murang'a County.
I organised People, Power and Processes in the Climate Conversation at Gakoigo Showground, with a simple goal: to bring the conversations taking place at the Africa Climate Summits in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, and the upcoming COP30 in Brazil, closer to the people who experience climate change every day.
We shared key outcomes from the summits, popularised COP30 and created space for participants to develop their own messages to decision-makers.
Twenty messages were drafted. One of the strongest said: "As you meet in Brazil for COP30, we continue to bear the heavy consequences of climate change in the Global South. Act now!"
Those messages were forwarded to policymakers.
But we also moved from words to action. Together, we planted 50 assorted improved fruit tree seedlings on community land. The event generated more than 30 social media posts, brought 30 new supporters into the movement and drove new traffic to the ONE website. More importantly, people left with a clearer understanding of climate processes and a stronger sense that they could play a role in shaping the conversation.
That experience changed how I think about advocacy.
Communities are ready. Young people are ready. They have ideas, experiences and a deep understanding of the challenges facing their communities. What can make the difference is having the opportunity to develop the skills to turn those things into effective action.
It also showed me that change does not have to begin in a conference room in Nairobi, Addis Ababa or Belém. It can begin at a community gathering in Murang'a, with people learning together, writing messages to decision-makers, planting trees and deciding that their voices deserve to be heard.
That is why I am excited about what comes next.
There are thousands of young Africans who want to contribute to something bigger than themselves. Some care about climate justice. Others care about healthcare, education, economic opportunity, governance or issues we have not even begun to name. They do not all need to become the same kind of changemaker. They need the opportunity to discover what they care about, understand how change happens and develop the ability to contribute effectively.
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The opportunity I had as a ONE Champion is now being opened to many more young people through ONE Academy.
For me, that is the most exciting part.
ONE's role is to help create the platform, skills, networks and opportunities. But the stories that will come from it belong to the young people who step forward. They will decide what matters to them, what they want to change and how they want to contribute.
I know what it feels like to have the desire to make a difference and then discover that there are skills you still need to learn. I also know how powerful it can be when someone gives you the opportunity to learn those skills and put them into practice.
Africa does not have a shortage of young people who want to change the world. We have a growing ecosystem of young people already doing it.
I am excited to see what happens when many more of them get the opportunity to do it well.
Christopher Arunga is a Kenyan youth advocate and ONE Champion passionate about climate justice and community-led action.
