Indian Youth Prepare to “Be the Change”

A week-long climate change camp kicks off this Saturday in New Delhi with the goal of empowering the next generation of South Asian climate activists. Organized by the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN), Badlaav 09: Be the Change will train young people with the skills of organizing, lobbying and campaigning to make their voices heard at the national and international level. The conference website notes:

“Our issues of the environment, poverty, social inequity, and development are all inextricably linked to the climate and world we live in. If we don’t care for the planet we depend on, humanity will diminish, something we’ve already seen this past century.”

Workshops will discuss equity, water resources, energy, agriculture and theories of change’both from an individual and governmental level.

India represents roughly 17 percent of the world’s population and accounts for approximately five percent of the world’s energy emissions. For comparison, the U.S. represents about 5 percent of the world’s population and contributes to over 20 percent of the world’s energy emissions. But climate change is a global issue that requires a global response.

The youth of the Subcontinent will be directly impacted by climate change, and Badlaav 09 aims to apply Gandhi’s motto, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” to climate activism.

IYCN is also recruiting “Agents of Change” to be part of a youth delegation representing India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma at the international climate treaty negotiations in Copenhagen this December.

You can keep track of the happenings in Delhi this coming week via Twitter or Facebook. More “Voices of a Subcontinent Grappling with Climate Change” can be found on the What’s With the Climate blog.