![Climate Innovators: Empowering a Global Generation of Young People]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | MYD2015, UNFCCC
Young people like me and you. What can we do and how can we be empowered to get ourselves more involved in climate-related initiatives and to bring forth such empowerment to intergenerational scale?
Today, I have decided to attend this dialogue known as “Empowering a Global Generation of Young People”, a side event in COP21.
Empowering a Global Generation of Young People
Highlights from Guy Ryder, a director-general of International Labour Organization
According to Ryder, in today’s world, there are ⅓ unemployment in the world are youth and parts of them lose their jobs due to the impacts of climate change. Yet, the climate impacts of today are not their responsibility but they are the ones bear most of the problems.
So, how can we improve this?
Ryder highlighted if we want to achieve low carbon societies, closing the gap with the skills we have and we need are priority for policy makers. He then maintained governments, employers and workers should come together to find ways to empower and enable the youth to use their spirit of innovation and creativity to produce the responses they need.
“It is imperative for us to look to the future, to empower youth to build areas of education that promotes creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.” said Ryder.
For instance, enterprises are encouraged to provide trainings to young people to become a solar technician and thus to increase skilled forces that promote clean energy. Also, he emphasized the importance of promoting, enhancing and endorsing climate education and trainings to young people as they are the people that need to adapt to uncertainties of climate in the future.
Highlights from Kabiito Denis, an agronomist/farmer in Uganda
Moderator: You are a young farmer yourself. What keeps you farming? A lot of people leaving farming for “greener pastures”
Dennis: In African context, many people leave agriculture because it stems from our family. My mom was a housewife and a poultry farmer. She always tell me to “go get a better job. Farming is tedious. Farming is for uneducated people like us.”
After coming from school as a young agronomist. I have that passion of farming. You can’t give advice to people unless you get your hands here. From doing it now, I can experience, if the season is unpredictable. I can get tailor made solutions because I can interact with nature and connect with the rural communities and bring them into one society all along the agricultural chains. I want to inspire. In most of Africa, we have young people who likes agriculture. It interest people from cities to head back to rural areas. We can help to develop rural areas via climate smart production. If we have good industry in production. We can attract back the youth.
Moderator: What is holding youth back? What would young people to claim that space?
Dennis: They are facing problem and they are not in the decision making process. They can’t move on. Youth have not been involved in other activities where elders are doing and this make them shy away. Making lesser income shy them away. The youth will shy away if income is low. Unless we increase the productivity. Having a decent life and agricultural product in the changing climate will attract youth.
Traditional system and lack of quality education. We are not part of the decision making process which will hinder us to become the agent of the change. We need this part and the system need to include us so we can fully be able to extend our capabilities, skill to get in.
Highlights from Vincent Bryant, Founder of Deepki
Moderator: Vincent, you are in the arena of startups, entrepreneurship, technologies. Can you share with us your opinion on empowering the young people?
Vincent: Let’s imagine you are living in 19th century in USA. You go to Pennsylvania to get decent amount of oil and earn dollars. Some of you will find, some of you would not. Two engineers will let you know where to find the oil based on geological analysis.
Today, story is not about oil but clean energies and “Big Data”. The First ingredient is “Data”. I believe you have all the data to promote energy efficiency.
Second ingredient is Predictive models. We built predictive model to resolve research on how much energy can be saved via a building and imply it to similar buildings. As a student, I am proud of using big data to put constriction of carbon footprint on campus and people. The government are not fast in doing so. Five most consumption measures can be measured from the existing datas.
Today, we have 17 employees (Average age: 29) in this 15 months old company. It is the value you create that is valuable will attracts the youth today. You create value to improve their comfort and save their expenses. It is easier to spread the word to other organization. I spend a lot of time meeting young people who has desire to work on meaningful topic. Not to work for regular industry who does not understand where the money go. If there is a desires, it is powerful to change people’s behavior and speed up the energy transition.
Highlights from Rogie Nichole Aquino, Sole4Souls Philippines
On the other hand, Rogie Nichole Aquino, a 20 years old youth from The Philippines is one of the youth who managed to put words into action. Rogie believes in taking action NOW than later. He made a recommendation in UNESCO to initiate his own projects (e.g. Sole4Souls initiative) in his home country as he hopes to inspire his fellow Filipinos.
Moderator: As a youth, What drives you to take action?
Rogie: Guilt. Youths are reckless. We do not know the affects that we do until the result is in front of us. Then, we will think “why didn’t I pursue this path?” After the guilt stage, I feel motivated to take the action as we need to start now. If not now, when? We all are the agent of change. We all have this responsibilities to make this happen.
Hence, we need to be Open-Minded: Do not stick to what we have done before. We need to be innovative, unity, work with all stakeholders and not to be stuck in the old way like how Governments in The Philippines – where they are stuck with their old political system with big main ideas that disregard others. We also need to stay committed in what we do. We all have the responsibility. We should all act now.
Closing of the event:-
The closing of this event is the most inspiring one when Veteran Negotiator – Former Minister at Republic of Congo arrived later to share his opinion on empowering young people.
H.E. Henri Djombo, Republic of Congo:
“Age does not define the keen sense of responsibility. Some kids mature later. You have old people stay young in their mind. Notions of young and old are subtle. This is the result of their education. They will always committed to causes. Educate the young. We have to support and empower them. It is not about the environment but also education. Give them the tools they need.”
Written by: Jolene Journe T.
![A Skype session with Leonardo da Vinci High School, Potsdam, Germany]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | MYD2015, UNFCCC, YOUNGO
Students from Leonardo da Vinci High School, Potsdam, Germany.
We “scuttle” our way to YOUNGO room to have a skype session with a group of high school youths from Germany!
I panicked and became anxious as I stared at my brightly lit laptop screen. I did not know what to share. Thoughts that were running in my head.
My experiences at COP21? I think everything happened in the blink of an eye. My first week was somewhat confusing owing to many negotiations and side events were occurring concurrently, there were just too many things to focus on at one time. I was excited but was quickly drained out as well.
Nonetheless, I am glad that we were able to have a quick conversation with the high school youths. They inspired me with their enthusiasm and curiosity; a strong desire to learn something. For me, it is the curious mind that inspires humanity; to transcribe dreams into reality. With curious mind, born the vision to build sustainable dreams on this ever so realistic earth.
Sharing some of my COP21 experiences here:-
- COP21 – encompasses of UN team, negotiators, civil society organizations and youth! Youth are the catalyst. They are the one that can help to fill the gap and build a network that connects and holds stakeholders together. These actions can be direct, i.e. MYD member recent participation in giving interventions on behalf of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) during SBSTA Closing Plenary or subtle i.e. MYD members direct engagement with some of our Malaysian negotiators throughout the whole COP21. Throughout the COP21, MYD has organized several impromptu meetups with our negotiators and Malaysian CSOs to strengthen the bond and to understand the UNFCCC process.
- Climate mobilizations do make an impact! At COP21, YOUNGO is an official youth constituency under UNFCCC. Youth from various organizations including MYD members are given the opportunity to participate their daily meetings and action working groups to coordinate mobilizations actions in COP21. Thanks to their consistent lobbies along with other CSOs in COP21, strong scientific evidences and pressures from the vulnerable countries throughout negotiation processes; the world manage to set new REAL temperature targets in the latest adopted Paris Agreement – to limit the global warming by 2 degree Celsius and aiming for 1.5 degree Celsius.
- Active Climate Actions all year round! If you want to make a change, it requires persistence. You need to keep pursuing what you believe with sensibility. Every great work sparks from your own desire to explore. Then, your choices to search for like-minded people or projects within your community
MYD team was formed in June 2015 and we were given 6 months of preparatory journey to COP21. Throughout the 6 months, MYD has successfully organized a training series with various experts from various backgrounds (e.g. climate scientists, Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, climate journalists, CSOs, policymakers, etc) at Malaysia. We also proudly produced and submitted our Youth Statement on Climate Change towards COP21 to our Prime Minister. As a team, we are able to establish our presence at local, regional and international climate events such as Power Shift Malaysia, Asean Power Shift at Singapore and Conference of Youth (COY11) at Paris.
These are just several experiences we have thus far. For post-COP21, MYD members are ready to engage and share their COP21 experiences with their people back home in hope to educate the public and raise another team of youth to understand climate science and policy as well as the infamous UNFCCC process.
In my opinion, effective teamwork and continuous engagement with all stakeholders intergenerationally are essential in order to make bigger impacts on combating climate change.
Hence, thank you students of Leonardo da Vinci High School for giving us this opportunity to share our experiences with you via Skype and vice versa. I hope we can hear more from our readers too! If you have any climate initiatives’ experiences / collaborations you want to share with us. Email to us powershiftmsia@gmail.com and we are happy to engage!
Written by: Jolene Journe Tan.
![Asians out of Asia – Amalen]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | MYD2015, YOUNGO
Whilst at COP21, I had the pleasure of organizing the ASIAN meet up. I met so many different people from different walks of life and a variety of movements they are fighting for. Talking to these people has been eye opening and inspiring, to see the different problems other countries face and how they solve them.
Here’s a little info on some of the people I have met.
Bindhu Bandhari from Nepal
Bindu Bhandari from CliMates and Tunza Eco-generation
Myself Bindu Bhandari, youth campaigner aged 23 from Nepal. Being from one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change despite contributing less than 0.1% of global emissions, I have realized many youths in my country have no idea about climate change and the vulnerability. So, I have been working with different national and international organizations to sensitize youths in different areas of Nepal about climate change.
I was accredited as an observer for COP21 by CliMates (International think and do tank for climate change). My objective was to build a network with youths around the world fight climate change, learn their best practices and share my experiences. The main reason for attending COP21 was to live the atmosphere of diplomatic negotiations and share the experiences with youths in my country and generate ideas of how to highlight the issues of youth inclusion in such high level conferences. My goal at COP21 was to track the negotiations and follow the commitments/status of least developed countries in the negotiation.
From COP21 I have learnt that where there is a will, there is a way and everything seems impossible until it’s done, as said by legendary Nelson Mandela. I learnt the techniques of ideation to implementation of any projects by interacting with youth change makers and officials of different organizations around the world. Moreover, I realized the crucial role of social media in building solidarity and synergy for any mission/goal. Of course the most amazing moment was when the text was adopted at COP21. I really loved Fossil of the Day event at COP21.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented? ‘
I am much concerned that the youths from my country are under represented in COP21. I was the only girl observer from Nepal, though there were some females in governmental delegations. It reflects that youth participation esp. girls are lagging behind in getting space for such high conferences. I view that government should be pushing and addressing gender equity, ensure arrangements for including youth delegations with the governmental delegation so that a youth inclusive voice is represented at COP.
‘What’s next? ‘
I have been working on COP IN MY CITY project of CliMates for the last 3 years. It is a global project, simulation to bridge the gap between international negotiations and youths. As not every youths can gain accreditation to attend COP, this simulation gives of a touch of how the atmosphere of COP feels like.
Do check out Bindhu’s work and progress via her social media :
Twitter: @Bindu_Bhandari
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bindu.bhandari.5
Instagram bindu_bhandari
Sohara Mehroze Shachi from Bangladesh
Sohara Mehroze Shachi from Global Climate Change Alliance, GCCA.
I am a graduate of Yale University, currently working at UNDP Bangladesh on climate change, disaster management and environment. I was selected from 2000 applicants to be one of the 11 climate tracker youth fellow for COP 21.
Being a citizen of one of the most climate vulnerable nations of the world – Bangladesh – and seeing first hand the plight of thousands of climate refugees moving to my city Dhaka has played a big role in increasing my concern about climate change and motivated me to do something about it. And I believe the best way I can make a contribution is by spreading awareness on climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance through my writing. As such I have published articles on these issues on various publications including DW, Huffington Post, EcoWatch, OpenDemocracy and IPS.
I went to COP 21 as a Climate Tracker Adopt a Negotiator youth fellow to write articles in various publications on the negotiations and the myriad impacts of climate change on millions around the world.
As part of my Climate Tracker fellowship team, I analyzed the draft agreement texts multiple times and gained a thorough understanding of the various provisions of the agreement, specifically the climate finance segment.
My highlight was getting to know that 1.5 and loss and damage have been included in the agreement.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented?’
The number of Asian youth at COP was definitely not representative of the Asian population or the impacts Asia is facing. Bangladesh for instance only had a handful of youth representatives in spite of our country being a poster-child for climate change impacts. Funding acts as a big impediment to youth’s participation.
‘And what’s next?’
I am currently developing articles on fossil fuel subsidies, loss and damage and fracking to pitch to Devex, Guardian and Good Magazine.
You can find out more about Sohara Mehroze on her social media sites :
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sohara.mehrozeshachi
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoharaMehroze
Nguyen Cao Danh from Vietnam
Nguyen Cao Danh (Yann Nguyen) from World YMCA
I am Yann Nguyen, 22 years old. I come from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I have been volunteering with the YMCA since 2012. Currently, I am Youth Committee’s Representative from the YMCA of Vietnam.
I am a young volunteer leader of the YMCA of Vietnam and I want to inspire young people in my community about climate change via YMCA’s Work Camp and Training.
I was excited for my trip to Paris during the second week of negotiations.
I expected to make friends and get connected with youths around the world. Plus, I expect to gain efficient knowledge in international development and international relation during the time with YMCA in Paris. I want to raise youth voice to make a better world.
I have learnt that climate change is an important issue not only in Asia countries but worldwide. Young people is the one who will solve it. So, their voices have an extreme impact. I am a part of young generation and I want to do something about climate change because recently climate change is affecting not only my life but millions of others life’s.
I was personally impressed about how young people were engaging to the agreement via various actions in the green zone. As an Asian Youth, I felt that I was not isolated in the crowd. I joined various meetings and actions with my friends during COP21 especially the YMCA’s flash mob on the 11th December 2015.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented? ‘
I don’t think so. Even though I didn’t meet any other Vietnamese Youths during the meeting, I still try my best to raise our voice. Coming to Paris is expensive but I was very happy to meet up with Asian Youths at Le Bourget to share our view, our idea and our problem.
‘What’s next? ‘
After Paris I plan to launch an exchange program in South East Asia Countries to raise the awareness of young leaders in sustainable development in 2016 called ASEAN VOLUNTEER EXCHANGE NETWORK (AVEN) within YMCA Network. It is a long term project. I hope that I will benefit not only youths but also the community.
You can check out Nguyen Yann on his social media sites for more on him :
Instagram: Yann.nguyen0404
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nguyen.caodanh
Avik Roy from India
Avik Roy from GCCA and Asian News International, Climate Home
I am an environmental journalist based in India. I have been a negotiator tracker/climate tracker for two consecutive years at Warsaw and Lima before going to Paris COP as a journalist tracking India. Before being a journalist I have been a Greenpeace activist in my country, a global power shifter and an online climate mobiliser. I have been featured by The Guardian as one of 12 young climate campaigners to watch in the lead up to COP21.
I went to COP21 to report on negotiations that shaped the global climate dialogue and the role countries like India played there. My objective was to highlight the global climate politics to local, grassroots audience in India and include them in the process.
My biggest takeaway from COP21 is that youth power and collective conscience of governments can pave the way for a safer, equitable planet for our future generation.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented? ‘
India has an unrivalled youth demographic with 65 percent of its 1.2 billion population being under 35 years of age. Indian youth have been fairly representing at international discussions, especially at the UN process. But this representation has to grow manifold and a lot of marginalized communities who are direct stakeholders of environmental degradation needs to be provided the opportunity to place their voice at these conferences.
‘ What’s next? ‘
I don’t have any independent projects running right now. However, I have plans to create a media outreach platform for climate and environment stories from across India.
Do learn more about Avik via his social media platforms :
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avikroy0511
Twitter: https://twitter.com/avikroy5
![The Declaration on Agricultural Diversification]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, UNFCCC
On 7th December 2015, The ceremony of “The Declaration of Agricultural Diversification” was held at Paris in conjunction with Paris COP21. The ceremony was graced by The Honourable Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia and YABhg Tun Jeanne Abdullah with an aim to address one of the most pressing issues to humanity – food security.
The Honourable Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia and YABhg Tun Jeanne Abdullah officiated the Declaration of Agricultural Diversification
The event was a success and it was also graced by several honorable mentions including Dr. Sayed-Azam Ali, CEO of Crops for the Future (CFF); Dr. Trevor Nicholls, Chief Executive of Centre of Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI); Dr. David Molden, director general of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development; Dr. José Joaquín Campos A. Director General of Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) and Dr. Setta Tutundjian, Director of Partnerships & Knowledge Management, International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), UAE.
It was 11,500 thousand years ago, we were once the hunters and foragers of the earth. We evolved and moved to an agricultural way of living that lead us to industrialization and green revolution. All these advancement lead to the unprecedented growth of human population and global greenhouse emissions that were projected to increase beyond the “safe limit” of 2 degree celsius targeted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Food security is a pressing issue when it comes with climate change. A hotter climate requires more resilient agriculture, food security, enhanced nutrition, environmental sustainability, shared knowledge and poverty alleviation.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda (SDA 2030) has provided a framework for sustainable development via 17 Sustainable Development Goals and many of which relate to agriculture. As yet, there is no plan on how agricultural diversification can contribute to the SDA 2030 for our future climate.
Today, Prof. Sayed Azam-Ali showed us how CFF helps to meet the needs of a hotter world and contribute to SDA which can be done via Global Action Plan for Agricultural Diversification (GAPAD). The purpose of GAPAD is to address the following specific SDGs including:-
- SDG 2: Zero Hunger
- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- SDG 13: Climate Action
- SDG 15: Life on Land
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals
As we learn that half of our diet comes from four major food crops including wheat, rice, maize and soybean, we also learn that these food crops are grown in a limited number of exporting countries which rely heavily on the high utilization of fertilizers and irrigation. Monoculture is not the solution to address food security, we need diversification.
In addition, when climate changes, people will look to mountains for food security and biodiversity. Animals and plants are migrating when the earth gets hotter. Mountain provides diverse physiology and endemic crops with huge amount of traditional knowledge. Sadly, these treasures are rapidly being replaced with major staple foods. Hence, there is a need of shifting to higher yields of mountain products starting now.
So far, we have identified half a million plant species on the planet and introduced a diversifying agricultural system that will help to strengthen the climate resilient platform for local markets, consumers and producers.
During the declaration, Dr. Trevor Nicholls has highlighted the importance of having agricultural diversification in Africa and South-East Asia regions as agriculture is their main source of income. The common challenges faced by farmers in these regions include lack of climate smart technologies to address new pests and diseases, and availability of fertile soil and water. For him, diversification is a risk mitigation measure. It diversifies one’s diet, and improves one’s income and reduces climate risks.
Dr. David Molden has also highlighted the importance of agricultural diversification in mountain regions especially Afghanistan, India, Myanmar, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and China. The highlands in these regions are the largest reserves of ice and snow which generate freshwater that helps to sustain 1.3 billion people living downstream. Notably, there are 3 to 4 billion people relying on these water sources for food production and diversification of agriculture shows to bring more opportunities for women in the mountains as a new source of income.
After listening to the experts, I wonder if we would still have any opportunity to choose in the future if we want to “Eat to Live or Live to Eat”?
“Today, agricultural diversification should not be seen as a choice but a necessity in the future. Climate resilient farming is the future.” – Dr. David Molden.
“Half of the species in the world have helped our ancestors to survive till now. Feeding the hotter world is very timely. We are convinced the benefits of this declaration, for the world” – Dr. Setta
In the end, I could not agree more with Dr. David Molden and Dr. Setta closing statements.
MYD members in support of The Declaration of Agricultural Diversification with The Honourable Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia and YABhg Tun Jeanne Abdullah.
Written by: Jolene Journe T.
![Developed vs Developing Countries on CBDR]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | MYD2015, UNFCCC
Prof. Gurdial on CBDR
Prof. Gurdial, Malaysian negotiator spoke on behalf of Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), has grabbed attention and applause for defending the rights of developing countries (mainly CBDR-RC). In 1992, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) establishes a principled basis for differential treatment of countries in the global climate regime with its core principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” (CBDR-RC). The UNFCCC explicitly notes, immediately following its statement of the CBDR-RC principle, that “Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof.”
LMDCs emphasized on the importance of having developed countries to fulfil their obligations, historical responsibilities, and accept countries’ differentiation and equity in global climate regime.
“On behalf of LMDC, we know you will not be persuaded by our speech. World changed, but historical emission does not change. Developed countries become prosperous because of historical carbon burning. The division of rich and poor has not change. Half of the world population are represented by LMDCs. Two-third of poverty is also our situation. We need convention that impose these realities. Acknowledge historical realities and differentiation” – Prof. Gurdial
The world has always been changing but developed countries have failed to fulfil the obligations imposed themselves especially in reference to Kyoto Protocol and contributions to Green Climate Fund that has been agreed to jointly mobilize USD 100 billion per year by 2020. As of November 2015, the Green Climate Fund has only successfully raised USD 10.2 billion equivalent in pledges from 38 countries.
Part 2: Post-COP21 Reflection on CBDR-RC
After the two weeks of intense negotiations and strong advocacy from various party groups like LMDCs, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), G77 and China, African Groups, Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and other vulnerable and developing countries; the adopted Paris Agreement has showed the inclusion of CBDR-RC in finance and capacity building.
For instance,
Article 9.1 states developed country Parties “shall” provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention.
Article 9.2 Other Parties are “encouraged” to provide or continue to provide such support “voluntarily.”
Article 13.9 Developed country Parties “shall”, and other Parties that provide support “should”, provide information on financial, technology transfer and capacity-building support provided to developing country Parties under Article 9, 10 and 11.
However when it comes to “mitigation”, CBDR-RC is not clearly defined.
Article 4.4 Developed country Parties “should” continue taking the lead by undertaking economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets. Developing country Parties “should” continue enhancing their mitigation efforts, and are encouraged to move over time towards economy-wide emission reduction or limitation targets in the light of different national circumstances.
It seems like rich and developed countries are not obligated to be responsible for economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets and there are no mentions in the text on responsibility of “historical emissions” or to “Annex I and non-Annex countries” – which is quite a victory for them as they insist everyone should be responsible on combating climate change. However, these issues I believe will be resurface again probably when the agreement take its effect in 2020.
Nonetheless, there is victory for developing countries as well in successfully maintaining CBDR-RC in some areas of the agreement such as finance and capacity building but not mitigation.
Written by: Jolene Journe T.
