Role of Youth in Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change for Sustainable Livelihood

A Commonwealth Asia Regional workshop on the ‘Role of Youth in Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change for Sustainable Livelihood’ was conducted successfully in Dehradun, India from 13-18 October, 2008. The workshop was organized by the Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre in collaboration with the Department of Youth Affairs, Government of India, the Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology (UCOST) , the Forest Research Institute of India and The Energy Research Institute. Thirty-two youth from Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Maldives, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka participated in the six day workshop aimed at enhancing the knowledge of the participants about  the phenomenon of  climate change, its  deleterious impact, the challenges of adaptation and mitigation and the skills required to cope with the problem. The participating youth were also expected to share their respective country experiences and to draw up action plans to mitigate the impact of climate change for a sustainable livelihood.

Dr. Ramesh Pokharial ‘Nishank’, Cabinet Minister in charge of  Science and Technology of the State Government delivered the inaugural speech. He stressed the importance of the involvement of youth in tackling the problem. “I hope, the workshop would have multiplier effects and the youngsters participating in it would act as resource persons and spread the knowledge they gain from the workshop”, he added.

“Climate change is causing death of around 1,50,000  people every year which will double by 2020”, said Dr. Rajendra Dobhal, Director, UCOST in his welcome address. He dwelt  on the fact that women, children and  the poor will bear  the major impact of its adverse conditions.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Raj K. Mishra, Regional Director, Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) Asia Center reiterated the Commonwealth’s commitment to environment protection and said that the Commonwealth was one of the first international organizations to raise the issue of climate change, and has more recently come up with an action plan of its own.

The workshop involved interactive technical sessions conducted by eminent resource persons from universities and national level institutions on various subjects such as the impact of climate change on ecology and environment, agriculture and livelihood,  glaciers/disasters; poster competitions, country presentations, case studies and field visits. As a result, the participants came up with innovative ideas and recommendations to mitigate the effects of climate change and resolved to ensure that they follow up on the recommendations on  return  to their respective countries. Some of the recommendations made were:

promoting sustainable lifestyles, formation of eco-clubs, youth groups and exchange programmes, creation of networks of individuals/groups across the globe, implementation of laws and policies, offering incentives for people to act, adoption of energy efficient systems and green technologies and introduction of climate change as a subject in educational curriculum.

Sifat from Bangaladesh captured the mood of the workshop when she said, “We have come out naturally motivated to change our life styles at an individual level to set an example for others to follow.”

Vaidehi Hemant Shah, a participant from Singapore opined, “Best part of the workshop was the variety of topics covered, and some of the lectures were very relevant and interesting. We also learnt about the perspectives of the other countries on the issue and of course, in the process made some very good friends!”

Mr. Jagdish Kishwan, Director General of the Indian Council for Forest Research and Education was the chief guest in the valedictory function on October 18 and gave away the certificates to the participants. Dr. H.S. Kaparwan, member, Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivered the key-note address on ‘Protection of the Ozone Layer & Global Atmosphere’.