Climate Action
India Joins Hands with the Gujarat Youth Conclave
February 18, 2022
India supported the Gujarat Youth Conclave 2022, held online on February 13, 2022. Over 300 young changemakers participated in the event. The Conclave, inaugurated by Gujarat State’s Minister of State, Home, Sports, Youth Service, and Cultural Activities (I/C) also heard from the British Deputy High Commissioner for Gujarat. Sharing the platform were young entrepreneurs who have set up green businesses and officials from UNICEF.
Speaking at the occasion, EARTHDAY.ORG’s My Future My Voice Youth Ambassador Madhish Parikh, the convenor of the Conclave, said, “I strongly believe that children and youth can lead the way in reimagining the world of tomorrow.” Madhish echoed the sentiment of EDO’s initiative My Future My Voice that believes in the ability of youth to lead us in the fight against climate change. My Future My Voice provides a platform for successful youth environmentalists to dialogue across borders and continents to accelerate efforts. The youth ambassadors share best practices and link together as a network that brings climate-focused individuals into the larger fold so that single efforts get replicated, multiplied, and translated into a global wave of action.
At the experts’ session, Nishu Kaul, EARTHDAY.ORG’s Director of Earth Day Asia, elaborated on My Future My Voice. “Launched on Earth Day 2020, (our 50th anniversary), My Future My Voice has already brought together some 200 youth from 6 continents to connect, share best practices, and provide support to each other. Many youth ambassadors are successful entrepreneurs, educators, and heads of environmental NGOs often heard at global conferences and within their countries. It’s amazing to learn about the tremendous work they do. Some have succeeded in getting laws legislated to ban the use of plastics for packaging by giant eCommerce companies, while others are happy to see their efforts to ban the use of plastic straws restaurants in India’s capital city, New Delhi, are now supported by court orders.”
Nishu also spoke about EARTHDAY.ORG’s global theme for Earth Day 2022, Invest In Our Planet, with the Young Earth-prenuers Awards (YEA) initiative. The competition provides college and university students in India an opportunity to demonstrate their skills, interests, and passion to Invest In Our Planet. They can do so by developing and driving initiatives to combat climate change; restore natural resources; reduce the burden of pollution; change mindsets so that environment-friendly practices become a natural and intrinsic part of human nature. It will help them become job providers, not mere job seekers.
To view the panel, click here.
