Around forty youth from fifteen countries of the Asia-Pacific region participated in the five day workshop, “Asia- Pacific Youth Forum on Climate Actions and Mountain Issues” from August 8 to August 12, organized by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).[break]
The participants also prepared the final draft of the Kathmandu declaration & Youth position paper to be submitted at Rio+20, United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in June 2012. Recommendation was made on topics like sustainable development framework, promoting green economy and energy for low carbon future.
The final day of the workshop also celebrating the “International Youth Day,” had Gagan Thapa, Constituent Assembly Secretariat, Government of Nepal and a Youth Leader as the chief guest. He motivated participants by saying that he hopes to see people from all regions work towards creating a free and a prosperous society.
The workshop consisted of environmental and climate experts presenting their views on various topics about things that we as humans can do to mitigate problems associated with climate change.
The topics like Payment for Environmental Services (PES), Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) was presented by Resource Economist of ICIMOD, Bhaskar Karky. He further elaborated on how we can protect nature and lessen the speed of global warming.
Program Coordinator of IFAD, ICIMOD, Dhrupad Choudhary presented facts on the community- based adaptation toolkits. “Community people don’t have the luxury of having discussions about climate change in an air conditioned room since they are facing it every day. Their livelihood and security is at risk and we need to see how they are responding and policy makers should do something about it,” he stated.
Talking about biodiversity significance in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, biodiversity analyst Bandana Shakya at ICIMOD enforced the point that we have to avoid the tipping point because if we cross this line we will not be able to bring our ecosystem back.
She added that the regional approach should be to raise a voice to protect the endangered species. “Recognize the paradigm shifts, and realize that we are facing climate change issues. Young people like us need to identify opportunities, demonstrate leadership qualities along with collective action, manage change, adapt and benefit that will help towards achieving sustainable development.”
During the workshop, various youth leadership sustainability exercises were coordinated by Professor Robert D Steel of Sustainability Asia.
“We have become so hardwired for competition that we have almost forgotten to live in harmony and that is why we are not able to find the common goal of sustainability” he said. His exercises focused on supporting interactive thinking and integrating different perspectives and also working together to produce effective actions.
The workshop also consisted of other motivational speakers like Chaitanya Kumar, South Asia Coordinator of 350.org, who shared his experiences about working with youth to combat climate change, the various campaigns led by youth through the medium of media and art.
“Not only have the youth been actively participating at international levels like COP but there are also great youth networks and movement at regional level in each country,” he opined.
Another presenter, Wilson Ang, Team leader of World Leadership Conference 2011, working in his NGO Eco –Singapore stated, “I’m here not to save the planet, but I am here to save human kind.”
The young active leader, who has a mission to create 10,000 green jobs by the age of 35, expressed his disappointment to see under-representation from the Asia pacific region in the global negotiation process. “Youth are not looked upon as problem solvers rather they function as catalyst to amplify voices and opinions,” he added.
Anil Chitrakar, from Ashoka Fellow also conducted some exercises which explained that climate change is not a level playing field and we need to work collectively not individually to acquire productive results.
Ivana Savic and Ben Vanpeperstraete from CSD Youth Caucus, a global network for children and youth for Rio+20 shared their experiences and ideas through video conference. “If we draw a concrete roadmap positive result can be expected. The focus of the caucus is to facilitate youth input into UNCSD and foster sharing of information and communication between diverse networks of youth organizations who share common interest in sustainability,” they shared.
They emphasized that it is vital to have more youth involved in building partnerships globally.
The conference also had speakers talking about how in the context of the Asia Pacific Region we are more vulnerable to climate change since this region is still at a developing stage and has to cope up with lots of sustainability issues.
It also included topics like glacier melting, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation among others.
The young participants also shared their concerns and talked about actions that they have taken or plan to implement in the near future. Rabia Khan from Pakistan shared that we can start practicing what actually needs to be done. “We have a lot of ideas and experiences but a lot depends on how we implement it and this is what matters.”
Talking about his experiences, Edgar Geguiento a representative of TUNZA, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) explained how youth can advocate for environmental issues. He also talked about his campaigns to protect the environment before joining TUNZA.
“Everyone has the capacity to change the world and we don’t need to be superheroes for that,” he elaborated. It was in his school that he witnessed environmental problems like cutting down of trees, waste segregation, hence being a broadcasting student he used radio programs as a tool to make children and youth aware about various environmental issues.
“At the end of the forum we will all go home but I hope we can share what we learnt with our fellow youth. It’s not that we have to do something big but even making small initiatives like refraining from using plastics and planting trees also matters. It is by doing so that at the end of the day you can feel proud that you have made a difference,” Geguiento said.
VOXPOP
What is your take as a participant at the Asia-Pacific Youth Forum on Climate Actions and Mountain Issues?
Actually I am not working specifically in the environment and climate change areas. But instead I am working for the health institution. I was however intrigued to join the forum which focused on the environmental and climate change issues as this is one of the most persistent issues in the world.
I have been engaged in some activities relevant to environmental issues in my university before and intend to engage in it in the future as well.
The forum gave me creative knowledge which I was unaware of before but will use the knowledge that I acquired here, towards my organization, to the youth and my country.
Zulfadhli Nasution, 23, Indonesia
I was always concerned and interested regarding issues dealing with climate change and have always wanted to know the perspectives of those from the other Asian countries. I am also interested in all steps that are being taken by them.
Forums like these are greatly beneficial for young people like us, as we are more open minded, eager to make friends and learn from them.
Although I have a background in science, I still was not familiar with facts like black carbon and ABC. I had heard about such terms before but not in-depth.
This event was enhanced through lectures and presentations made by the environmental experts. Thus, it helped in broadening my ideas about such issues.
Tian Wang, 24, China
This is the first time that I have attended a youth forum like this. It is often said that youth are the partners for development, hence would like to contribute as a youth but firstly I intend to work locally, then regionally and also at the international level.
We had come from diverse backgrounds so obviously there was vast knowledge sharing.
We also learnt about experiences of people from other countries and methods applied by them.
This has helped us in sharing what works best for each country. Since we come from the Asia Pacific region, we were able to relate to each others problem through one common platform. I also learned various new concepts like that of ecoliteracy and others.
Jigme Choki, 27, Bhutan
Before joining this youth forum, I was of the opinion that we would only be studying and learning techniques about climate change adaptation and numerous mountain related issues. But interacting with the participants from seventeen different countries in itself has been a great learning experience.
They had brilliant ideas to share and I am in the process of developing a research on youth and sustainable development.
The things taught here were very pragmatic and helped us learn about various skills of combating climate change.
I got first hand field experience from this forum and even learned about the glacier melting issues of the Himalayas and a lot of other emerging issues.
Parth Sarathi Mahapatra, 23, India
The main prioritized issue during this time is climate change. From the media, to politicians, the government bodies to the local level, the focus is on climate change since it is one of the most sensitive issues at present. Realizing this, I was eager to learn more about the topic.
Having worked as a university teacher back in Afghanistan, I learnt many facts about environmental issues.
This forum has greatly enlightened me and I intend to incorporate these ideas into the curriculum when I go back.
If not formally then at least in an informal manner I can make people aware about climate change issues and its impact on the environment.
Mohammad Reza Ebrahim, 27, Afghanistan
I attended the program with my own initiative in order to be a part of youth activities and I hope that some distinctive steps will be taken towards mountain development and climate actions. After attending this forum, my ideas and opinions changed because of the diversity of thinking among the participants.
Young people play an important part as they are the main force capable of effectively bringing about change.
They can do what the older aged people had failed to do.
They are well informed and motivated and I am glad that I also could be part of the Rio +20 initiative.
Faruqul Islam, 24, Bangladesh
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