Delivering green jobs for the youth to foster stability and cohesion in Africa will be dependent on robust action on the climate crisis engulfing the continent, a lobby group said Saturday ahead of World Social Justice Day to be marked Sunday.

According to the Nairobi-based Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the continent should leverage a transition to low carbon development to address youth unemployment, foster peace and stability in the post-pandemic era.

Mithika Mwenda, the executive director of PACJA, noted that the Sub-Saharan African region was in a vantage position to spur green post-pandemic recovery that benefits youth and other marginalized demographics, subject to political goodwill.

"Building back better after the COVID-19 pandemic is possible if governments prioritize climate action that could generate millions of green jobs for the African youth," Mwenda said in a statement released in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Mwenda stressed that Africa's ability to realize a green and resilient future hinged on engaging the youth in nature-based interventions to tame the climate crisis that has escalated droughts, poverty, disease and conflicts in the continent.

In particular, he cited economic opportunities the African youth could harness through regenerating degraded landscapes, conserving watersheds and recycling solid trash.

Mwenda noted the continent's youthful demographic has been on the receiving end as climate emergencies lead to job losses, besides worsening inequality and inter-communal tensions, calling for youth-centered climate adaptation and mitigation programs that promise long-term green jobs, inclusive prosperity and enhanced resilience for local communities.

The 2022 World Social Justice Day, under the theme of "Achieving Social Justice through Formal Employment," reinforces the urgency of climate action in Africa as a means to expand economic opportunities for the youth, Mwenda said, emphasizing that investments that decarbonize the continent's energy, transport and agriculture sectors will boost human and ecological health besides unleashing jobs for the youth, women and indigenous people.