LISTEN | Talking Green: Does your business need a Gen Z mentor?

Research has shown that Gen Z  is among the generations most concerned about climate change, with  Pew Research finding that  76% of US Gen Zers consider climate change to be one of their biggest concerns

One such Gen Z, whose concern made her the youngest commissioner on the Presidential Climate Commission in SA, is 21-year-old Ayakha Melithafa.

"I joined the climate change space when I was personally affected by the day-zero drought here in Cape Town. It severely affected my community, and my family, especially my mom because she was a small-scale farmer in the Eastern Cape and they also got affected by the drought. Finding out how much my family was affected lit a fire in me to go out there and do something about it," she says.

Melithafa sat down with News24 for the Nedbank podcast series Talking Green to discuss her role as a Gen Z in the fight against climate change.

"When it comes to climate change, for a lot of people my age, something that we talk about quite often is our worry for our future and the future of people, even generations behind us. We're in a space where we are stressing, but we're also trying to do something about it. The major thing that we're worried about is the corporations that are getting away with the destruction of our planet and the fact that it's not being taken as seriously as it should be," says Melithafa.

When it comes to the role of corporations in the climate change conversation, Melithafa says they need to make climate change a top priority in their company strategy.

 "In the [strategy] plans [they] normally have at the beginning of the year, climate change should be one of the forefront issues. If I can put it that way, just to make sure that it's prioritised. Because I feel like sometimes businesses can get away with not caring about the climate because they say that's not the area of focus," Melithafa explains.

For businesses to achieve putting climate change at its core, they need to invest in sustainability programmes that are not only good for business but also for the environment. SA’s green bank, Nedbank helps businesses with sustainability funding aimed at a greener future. The bank has been leading the charge in financing and assisting businesses to transition away from practices that undermine the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

They offer a wide range of funding products to solve the funding of many of the SDGs, including renewable energy, water, food production and waste recycling. These are solutions that can be tailored to individual business needs.

The idea of climate change isn’t all doom and gloom for Melithafa who is encouraged by the diversity of voices in the climate space.

"What encourages me is first and foremost, the fact that it's led by young people and it's led by mostly young women. That's what I love about the climate movement. That lets me know that my views are safe and protected. What gives me hope is the fact that there are so many opportunities that are presenting themselves in this climate space," says Melithafa. 

LISTEN to the podcast above to hear more about climate and visit Nedbank HERE to help you get started with sustainability funding.