British Council Delegation for COP18

Saurav is a British Council Climate Champion from Nepal who has more than a decade of experience as a journalist and storyteller. He primarily reports on public issues such as climate change and sustainability for media organisations that include, Vashuda Environmental Fortnightly, Kantipur Television, Nepal Info-park and Storycycle.com. The winner of the South Asian Climate Change Award (SACCA) Fellowship 2012 from Panos South Asia, Saurav recently completed a gruelling three-month, (99 days) 1,555 kilometre trek that took him and Apa Sherpa, a mountain climber who has reached the summit of Mount Everest 21 times, through some of the highest Himalayan passes in order to assess the impacts of climate change on the environment and on vulnerable populations. His current focus is on grassroots adaptation methods developed by mountain people in Nepal, the transmission of such techniques across the region and the socioeconomic impacts of climate change in South Asia. His goal is to produce extensive communication materials that the government and people of Nepal can use to showcase the impact of climate change on the Himalayas and Himalayan communities and to influence international climate negotiations.

 

 

Jade Neville recently completed an MSci in Environmental Geoscience at the University of Bristol, England. Whilst a student, she complemented her scientific studies by involving herself in community-based initiatives that tackle climate change and encourage sustainable living.  A British Council Climate Champion, Jade joined other young climate activists from the EU in a UNEP/British Council-led trip to the Wadden Sea region of Germany in March. Among other learning points, this expedition provided Jade with important insight into the international political dimensions that affect our global response to environmental challenges, and the consequent need to address climate change through a combination of local initiatives and a top-down approach. Jade looks forward to broadening her understanding of the UNFCCC process and the international climate negotiations at COP 18 in order to communicate this to young activists back home.  Jade has a particular interest in the effects of climate change on polar regions and the Himalayas, and will soon start an internship with a UNEP outpost at GRID-Arendal in Norway. 

 

 

An eco entrepreneur from Xi’an, China, Jianchao holds a Master’s degree from the prestigious China Academy of Sciences. After working for Microsoft as a developer and manager on such products as Exchange 2007 and Windows Phone 7, Jianchao co-created an eco-enterprise called Green Earth to facilitate waste recycling. Drawing on their IT backgrounds, he and his partner developed a system of colour-coded rubbish bags with bar codes to help residents separate their rubbish and help collectors efficiently recycle the contents. In less than one year, Green Earth has enrolled 20,000 households and achieved a 90% waste separation rate.  Jianchao is a member of the British Council’s E-idea programme, through which he has received training and mentoring to develop leadership, business, project management, technical, fundraising and marketing skills. At COP 18, Jianchao will present his eco enterprise at an event in the China Pavilion (China Youth in Action to Address Climate Change) and participate in the Sustainable Innovation Forum, which will bring together over 300 business as well as government and NGO delegates to analyse the solutions needed to encourage global sustainability and the green economy.

 

 

An alumni of the British Council’s Skills for Social Entrepreneurs programme and current member of its E-idea programme, Luhui is a graduate of Oxford University who hails from Beijing, China. While at Oxford, Luhui worked for the carbon consultancy Best Foot Forward, and when he returned to Beijing in 2011 he founded Tanzuji, an eco-enterprise and consultancy that developed China’s first carbon management and accounting software. Tanzuji currently helps over 50 clients calculate, analyse, manage, report and trade their carbon emissions.  At COP 18, Luhui will participate in several events including the China Youth in Action to Address Climate Change event in the China Pavilion and the Sustainable Innovation Forum. He also intends to make get in touch with fellow entrepreneurs who are developing carbon management/technology solutions in other countries. 

 

 

Mohammad Alsaif is a 32 year old banker from Saudi Arabia and co-founder (along with Mohammad Zaki Al Khabbaz) of the Hydrogen Atoms Company which develops and sells renewable energy solutions and services in the Middle East. As Mohammad explains, ‘Sustainable energy – especially solar power – must be harnessed to help the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reduce is fossil fuel emissions.’ 

 

 

A Saudi entrepreneur, sales manager and business developer who has worked for IBM, Cisco and SAP, Mohammad is the co-founder (along with Mohammad Abdulrazzaq Alsaif) of Hydrogen Atoms Company which develops and sells renewable energy solutions and services in the Middle East. He is also an active volunteer for several social and human rights initiatives and has helped develop partnerships between multinationals and Saudi organisations to support environmental causes.  

 

 

Prianka is from Bangladesh.  Her journey of social activism started off by being the Earth Champion Fellow of The Earth Champion Program (ECP) organized by Bangladesh Youth Environment Initiative (BYEI). ECP gave her the opportunity to make a network with 28 other high school students from around Bangladesh. It was 5 day camp on environmental leadership. With the help of BYEI she was able to establish GreenWorld Earth Club in her college, Greenherald and she is currently acting as the club’s advisor. Other than that she acted as the Public Relations Officer in Bangladesh's first National Earth Olympiad 2012, organised by BYEI. Currently she is undertaking a four month long leadership training under Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC). She hopes her journey in Cop 18 will help her know and understand more about the environment and how decisions are made by the world leaders to fight climate change. 

 

 

Chulani has promoted environmental causes in her native Sri Lanka for over 15 years. As a student, she enrolled in a programme run by the Central Environment Authority of Sri Lanka, serving as the secretary of her school’s environmental society. At university, she developed a waste management project to promote recycling on campus. After graduation in 2011, she recorded a song and produced a music video with the Green Again Youth Group that was used to launch the COP 17 summit in Durban, South Africa. Chulani became involved with the British Council in 2008 through the IDEATORS - Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs reality-TV programme; a national competition for entrepreneurs who must meet real-life business challenges. A British Council Climate Champion, Chulani has participated in the Sithen Intercultural Dialogue, and Make It Green Again (MIGA) youth project sponsored by the British Council. Chulani is now pursuing a master’s degree in business management at Liverpool Hope University where she founded Change Makers International, a student society that works on sustainable development projects. 

 

Michela Rais, an Italian student at SOAS, University of London, is a British Council Climate Champion who focuses on the political and socio-economic impact of climate change, notably the relationship between climate change and forced migration and its implications for development. Michela has organised a Model United Nations (MUN) conference on climate refugees and chaired its Human Rights Committee which dealt mostly with issues of climate displacement. She has also participated in other MUN conferences where she focused on developing countries’ approaches and responses to climate change. For Michela, attending COP18 is ‘a great opportunity to observe the process of climate change policy making, a challenging experience during which our delegation will be able to meet international experts and leaders, and share views on climate change policy responses.’ 

 

Rome-based Federico is a gifted public speaker with excellent media and youth network links who has attended numerous international climate gatherings. A third-year student of Environmental Engineering at University La Sapienza, Federico is a member of the Comenius Project, a coordinator of the Youth Section of the award-winning Italian Climate Network, and an environment consultant for an Italian senator and his association, ‘I-Think Italy’. Federico helped organise the Conference of Youth 7 during COP 17 in Durban, South Africa, where he ran a workshop on climate change science. In October 2012 Federico attended a COP18 preparation weekend in Brussels, and was selected as a facilitator for the Mitigation & Kyoto Protocol working group which aims to generate attention on the ‘dangers of short-term thinking’ at COP 18. Federico will also keep his country updated on the state of the negotiations via articles, his blog and social media and hopes to interview leaders. 

 

From the age of 16, Jelena has been an active volunteer in her community, helping people reduce their energy consumption. A British Council Climate Champion, Jelena is a graduate of Coventry University, where she earned an MSc in Environmental Management.  

After graduation, Jelena launched Green Resident; a project aimed at supporting the development of sustainable energy in the community and helping London residents limit their use of energy. The Green Resident received an O2 Think Bigger award.  Jelena now lives in Swansea, Wales and works for BRE Wales (Building Research Establishment), providing sustainable building consultancy and research. In June 2012, Jelena was selected to join the British Council’s delegation to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development. At COP 18, Jelena will track negotiations, participate in side events, blog and write articles. She also will network with youth from around the world and meet decision makers to raise awareness and take action, in order to amplify the voice of youth heard on issues that affect their lives. 

 

BBC Climate Asia Delegation

 

Climate Asia is a two-year project from BBC Media Action, funded by the UK's Department of International Development, and developed in partnership with the British Council. It will focus on the role the media and communications can play to support people affected by their changing environment.