Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav thanked the 4 Young Scholars selected by UNDP and UNICEF for taking climate action.
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, November 6, 2022: Four young Indians took center stage during the launch of the India Pavillion at UNFCCC COP27. The winners of the first group of the COP27 Young Scholar Program launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) earlier this year were awarded. thanked by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.
Nikhil kumar Panchal, from Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Suhana RH, from Trivandrum, Kerala; Prachi Shevgaonkar, from Pune, Maharashtra; and Elizabeth Eapen, from Pathanamthitta, Kerala, shared their stories of climate action, from mobilizing communities, to using mobile applications and new technologies like blockchain to tackle pollution and help people to reduce their carbon footprint.
The COP27 Young Scholar Program was launched on September 15 this year, calling on young people to share their climate action initiatives. More than 350 youth from 27 states across India sent their entries for the program, giving them the opportunity to attend and make their voices heard at COP27. After a rigorous, month-long selection process, four young people were shortlisted.
Speaking about the program, Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India, said, “Youth are leading climate action. They have ideas, innovate and find scalable solutions to combat climate change. Their approach to solutions-based encourages bolder climate action from people, communities, and governments. Together with MoEFCC and UNICEF, UNDP is committed to providing platforms for young climate scholars and leaders to showcase their action that will secure the future of our planet.”
Climate change poses a serious risk to people of every age. Extreme weather events and their impact on food and water insecurity, loss of livelihoods, famine, and forest fires exacerbate inequalities and disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, youth, and children. The 27thUnited Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, comes at the end of a year in which we witnessed extreme weather events from record-breaking heatwaves to floods and droughts.
The Young Scholar Program complements the Government of India’s flagship Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative, first announced at COP 26, Glasgow and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Kevadia, Gujarat early October this year. It shows how everyone can take action to protect our only planet, Earth.
The 4 youths represent different ideas to deal with some of the most pressing environmental issues in the country. Nikhil kumar Panchal is the founder of “GREEN AADHAAR,” a digital infrastructure for the plastic waste management sector. It uses machine learning and blockchain technology to create an aplastic credit model for the industry. Suhana RH mobilizes communities towards better solid waste management.
Prachi Shevgaonkar is the founder of a community-led app for climate action that encourages people to make small lifestyle changes that can have big impacts on the climate. It has 30,000 users from 110 countries, who have collectively avoided 2 million kg of Greenhouse Gas Emissions through the App, equivalent to planting 1,00,000 trees. Elizabeth Eapen led the business that produced paper bags.