|
Climate change is rapidly altering our environment. Glacial melt in the Himalayas causes flooding and endangers the livelihoods of tens of millions of people in south Asia. Rising sea levels threaten 25% of the land mass of Bangladesh. But public understanding remains low — both in the region and the high-polluting West.
We have selected 10 young climate champions for Nepal: young people who have proved they have drive, the capacity for leadership and the ability for forward thinking on climate issues.
Ms. Paula Middleton, Country Director, British Council Nepal gave away the certificates and a reward letter of £1000 to each of the Climate Champions. This amount will serve as seed money to help them implement their project ideas in their community.
These Climate Champions will be exposed to various training and opportunities to meet Government and International representatives and experts on Climate Change and will also network with International Climate Champions around the world.
They have attended a South Asian Youth Summit for climate change at Dhulikhel on 3-6 September.
British Council is providing them an opportunity to attend a training on climate change from 10 - 16 November in Dhaka, where they will meet 15 climate champions from Bangladesh. The training will be delivered by Bangladesh Centre of Advanced studies(BCAS). They will be also visiting areas where the community is affected by climate change.
We have also selected 2 International Climate Champions from Nepal Kanchan Shrestha and Amita Thapa Magar who will represent Nepal and other champions to the COP-15 Summit during December.
Manjeet Dhakal aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using gas emitted from household waste as an alternative fuel resource for cooking through his project ‘Initiative for Zero Waste Community’. With a team of four members, he plans to set up two bio-gas plants, as a demonstration site, under the bridge at Ratopul.
Sushila Pandit intends to create media awareness on climate change issues though trainings, workshops and dissemination of information. She also plans to develop a network of youth journalists, a digital library and provide media fellowship awards to three youth journalists for an in-depth research on climate change and its impacts in Nepal.
Rojesh Shrestha, a member of the rock sensation X-Mantra, plans to sing his way through to raise awareness on climate change issues among the citizens of Nepal. Similar to his single Hariyo Banai Ho Nepali Ko Dhan, Rojesh will be composing a special song on the impacts of climate change which will be used as a primary tool to spread the message.
Sundar Layalu through his project ‘Carbon Neutral Nepal’ plans to conduct research on the carbon footprint of Namo Buddha Monastery, to measure the ecological footprint of the monks and to motivate them to live a carbon neutral life.
Pragati Shahi, a journalist by profession, plans to conduct media workshops, talk shows and interaction programmes on climate change impacts to raise awareness among journalists from Kailali district. With plans to reach out to the mass population, she intends to make maximum use of the seven FM stations and one community radio in the district.
Tshering Sherpa through his project, aims to sensitize his community on the impacts of climate change in the Khumbu region and also to create awareness among the policy makers in the government to provide immediate attention to the current situation of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in the region.
Kriti Shrestha primarily focusing on Solid Waste Management plans to produce briquettes from solid waste and introduce it as an alternative source of fuel for household cooking in villages. She also plans to create awareness on the use of solar energy.
Kanchan Shrestha with an aim to develop the Namo Buddha Monastery as a model project plans to organize various sensitization programmes among the monks and motivate them to develop a safer environment by planting trees, managing solid waste and maintaining hygienic conditions.
Niraj Tamrakar plans to educate the Yoga Gurus, Fathers and Nuns, Buddhist monks and Hindu Priests about the impacts of climate change and its link with human health and encourage them to spread the message among their followers. Orientation programmes, fliers, reports, slide shows and presentations will be used to disseminate information.
Amita Thapa Magar considering children to be the contributors of tomorrow, plans to educate the students of 20 schools in Kathmandu on climate change issues. Along with conducting participatory meetings targeting students of grade 8-10, Amita also plans to develop training modules for teachers.
|
