This youth charter on Climate/ Climate Change is the outcome of the first Hyderabad Youth Summit on Climate Change held in the Deloitte Campus in Gachibowli, Hyderbad on June 20, 21^st ’09. The summit was organized by the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) with the support of WWF-India, Deloitte and APEC.

Since the charter is quite extensive, I have mentioned only the sailent points. For details on any of these, the charter can be downloaded from here.

• Climate change is undeniable and immediate action has to be taken with relevant actors involved.
• Hyderabad is a growing metropolis. Sustainable development has to be defined and adopted in Hyderabad.
• Urban planning has to be under public purview and public forums on issues of urban development need to be identified and encouraged.
• Dedicated transport lines and creation of sustainable mass rapid transit systems.
• Creation of platforms for architects, builders and scientists to begin adopting green solutions in buildings. Ex: CGBI
• Business ethics need to be rethought and reframed with environment as a priority.
• Renewable energy needs to be encouraged and green jobs should be introduced in industry.

• Student education and awareness through methods of footprint calculators, science experiments and field trips.

• Religions and different faiths need to be respected and environment should be expressed as an offshoot of religion.

• Communication and outreach of policies under public purview and also effective usage of RTI and other forums.

• Traditional/ eco friendly ways of living need to be documented and encouraged via market mechanisms and incentive based approaches.

• The level of damage due to Industrial pollution and industrial usage of water should be compensated under the principle of Polluter pays.

• Youth needs to be given a recognized platform to discuss social, political and environmental issues.

• Campaigns need to base on sound science and the urgency of climate change needs to be considered in every aspect of urban development.

• Community based solutions on energy, transportation, waste and water should be encouraged with more emphasis on youth.

• Climate change affects all actors in society and all of them need to be included to create a groundswell of massive response to this problem.

Finally, ACT NOW!! YOU ARE THE SOLUTION!

Cross-posted from thoughtPosition

The 2-day Hyderabad Summit on Climate Change (HySocc’09) on 20th & 21st June by IYCN was a unique affair: one that created impact, invoked inspiration and involved diverse actors from the society: students, IT professionals, Green analysts, activists and most importantly individuals and organizations which ‘did something about it’. It involved in-depth analysis of issues such as Urban Planning, Water, Waste and Energy & Transportation, from the perspective of the youth. One could sense the energy and the urgency of the messages, as the speakers talked of their experiences. It was a heady mixture: speakers from the AP Forest Dept., Sukuki Exnora, Prayas Pune, WWF-India, MV Foundation and even a farmer!! All of them had well-researched ideas, tried-out plans and personal experiences on the Environment to share.

The opinions of the youth present, made the discussions extremely interactive, and the Group Discussions were a treat in terms of the quality of ideas and suggestions. We ended up drafting a Youth Charter on Climate Change, which not only highlighted personal steps for action, but also our recommendations to the Government and Corporatations. The entire spirit was: there are precious environmental resources which we’re squandering thoughtlessly at present, simply because they are abundant now; but if we continue this way, it’s clear that we’ll start finding ourselves in dangerous territory few years down the line, and it’ll become very difficult to undo the damage. We can make tremendous difference by being conscious of these issues, and by taking simple, but crucial steps.