World youth leaders share views on coping with climate change at World Youth Development Forum

(ECNS) – A number of world youth leaders shared their views on the role of the young people play in dealing with climate change during the Roundtable Dialogue of the Thematic Forum for Climate Action and Green Development of the World Youth Development Forum held in Beijing on Friday.

Neeshad Shafi, founder of the Youth Network for Climate Action of Arab, said he wants young people to learn more about climate change through the platform and make contributions to climate change

Shafi pointed out that the foundation of the organization is closely related to the fragile climatic conditions in tropical countries where the temperature can reach 50 degrees Celsius, and it took youths in the regions a long time to achieve international cooperation.

More than half of the population in the Middle East region are under 25 years old, and these young people are well educated, said Shafi, adding that these young people can use their knowledge to provide their solutions for climate change as technology becomes more and more important in energy transformation in the region.

Mulindwa Moses from Uganda, founder of Believe Youth, discussed how to improve people’s living standards through his efforts on sustainable development and policies.

This organization tries to establish sustainable projects to empower young people to supply their wisdoms in communities in Uganda, said Moses.

Liu Jichen, one of the youth leaders of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, talked about how science and technology promote green transition regarding his practice.

Citing an example of a mini app targeting the young group he launched in 2018, the young man said artificial intelligence plays an essential role in dealing with food waste.

Young people can take part in the “Clear your plate” campaign through the app. By taking pictures of their actions and uploading them to the mini app, they can get gifts or give a donation to children in need. This mini app has attracted millions of users over past few years, especially college students, and saved hundreds of tons of grains, Liu said.

He Chaoxin, chief youth officer of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate as well as a postgraduate who was educated at Tsinghua University, discussed the role of the alliance. In his opinion, the alliance has built a platform which allows young people from all over the world to put forward innovative and sustainable solutions for climate change.

Xie Canyang, head of the Zero-carbon Future Association, a student organization of Tsinghua University, gave a brief introduction to the organization and shared his original intention of establishing it.

He said he hopes it can empower youths, enabling them to voice for climate change.

Therefore, he gathered students from different majors such as earth science, environment, public administration, and international relations, hoping to contribute to zero-carbon transformation through interdisciplinary cooperation.

The World Youth Development Forum opened in Beijing on Thursday and will end on Saturday.