NEW YORK: Twenty-four hours before the high-profile Climate Action Summit, the corridors of the United Nations headquarters are swarming with impeccably dressed top diplomats, negotiators and distinguished climate activists. All that reaches your ears are intense deliberations on what to expect from the big day on Monday.
Amid the high-profile attendees stands a 15-year-old from India. He might get easily missed in the crowd but his demands are unmissable. Std X student Aditya Mukarji wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “protect forests, wetlands and ban tree-felling in the name of development”.
A full-time volunteer at the New Delhi-based Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, Aditya was nominated by the NGO to participate in the summit based on his 18-month work done to eliminate 25 million plastic straws and other single-use plastics from the ecosystem.
With Modi slated to deliver a speech on Monday, the countrys young voices presently in New York are loud and clear.
“Apart from implementation of green protocol in government institutions and encouraging circular economy, the Prime Minister should rope in youth-led initiatives in the country. To date, we are suffering from lack of funds and technical expertise. Not just strikes, youth initiatives can be helpful at many actionable levels,” says Keralas young climate activist PR Vishnu, who is among 100 youngsters across the world to get the special green ticket for participating in the first UN Youth Climate Summit held on Saturday.
UN young leader for sustainable development goals, 25-year-old Kartik Sawhney of Haryana NGO I-Stem is hoping for PMs commitment towards engaging the countrys youth in not just coming up with innovative solutions to achieve climate goals but also providing a platform for them to co-create the true impact.
“I am looking forward to see how the youth can get further involved in consultations. Given the focus on climate change and universal health care this United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), I also hope to see an accelerated push to make progress on these targets, ensuring that we especially pay attention to the most under-represented communities that are impacted by this,” says Sawhney.
As per the UN schedule, Modi is in the 8.10pm (IST) slot along with New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern, Marshall Islands President Dr Hilda C Heine and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel. The four have been allotted 15Original Article
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