THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF YOUTH IN SHAPING CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY AND ACTIVISM. BY - ISHITA CHOUDHARY

THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF YOUTH IN SHAPING CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY AND ACTIVISM.
 
AUTHORED BY - ISHITA CHOUDHARY
 
 
Introduction.
There is sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.
-Mohandas K. Gandhi
Environmental Protection can be defined as a framing and execution of various policies for the protection of environment by individuals, groups, or governments. With an objective to conserve the natural resources and natural environment, and to protect, repair or rebuild the diminishing resources. In the modern era the natural resources are diminishing day by day this can be due to pressure of over consumption, increase in population, technological development, deforestation, and erosion. Some of the natural resources are even degraded permanently. The necessity of environment protection was recognized by many environmental activists and government that protection of environment is a need of an hour, and steps must be taken, thus in the year 1986 Environment Protection Act was enacted which came into force on 19 November 1986. The decision regarding these were taken at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in June 1972, in which India participated to take the necessary and appropriate steps for the protection and improvement environment, the basic purpose behind the enactment of this act was to provide the protection and improvement of the environment and matters related to environment.
 
Apart from this in the history of Environment Protection various landmark judgements has been also passed by the Hon’ble courts which acts as the precedent in proving the legal framework for the protection of Environment. Some of the leading case laws are- In this leading case[1] Hon’ble Supreme Court of India critically analysed the relationship between environment and development. In this case the petitioner filed a Public Interest Litigation under Article 32 of Indian Constitution the reason because the large-scale pollution caused to River Palar due to the discharge of untreated effluents by the tanneries and other industries in the State of Tamil Nadu, and River Palar is the also main source of drinking and bathing for the people residing in the nearby areas. The major question arose before the Hon’ble Supreme Court was whether the factories should be allowed to continue to operate at the cost of lives of lakhs of people.
 
The court admitted that these factories play the major role for the earning of Foreign Exchange and provides employment to thousands of people, but at the same time it poses a health and environment hazard. The Court delivered its judgement in Favor of petitioners and directed all the Tanneries to deposit a sum of Rs. 10,000 as fine in the office of collector.
 
In this leading case[2] M.C. Mehta filed a Public Interest Litigation under Article 32 of Indian Constitution, it was observed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court that water of River Ganga was highly toxic near Kanpur city- as the factories near the holy river were discharging the waste materials in the water, also nine nallahs were discharging sewage effluents and sludge into the river and even the dead bodies and half-burnt bodies were also been thrown into the river. The Court highlighted the importance of protecting the environment as mentioned under Indian Constitution Article 48-A and Article 51-A and Court also recognized the significance of the (Prevention and Control of Pollution Act, 1974).
 
In this leading case[3], the petitioners- industrial units have challenged the action taken by the State Government under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, that gave them directions and orders to stop production activities and take necessary steps to make the waste water being discharged by the units to conform and fulfil the standards specified by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, and to restart any production activity without the permission of State Government and Forest and Environment Department. In this case the petition was dismissed the court also agreed that State Board has all the powers to impose condition upon the industries in the light of Section 25 of the Water Act, 1974. The petitioners were directed to comply with the direction of the State Government.
 
All the above provided cases are the evidence that how awareness for the environmental protection has increased and developed day by day, the necessary steps are always being taken by the induvial, government, groups, and societies for the prevention of environment, but even after these decisions and guidelines the environment is degrading and giving red signals to all that now this is the high time to protect the environment. This is leading to various adverse effects and consequence over the society, some of the consequence include-
·         Overcrowding.
·         Famine.
·         Species loss.
·         Chronic medical illness.
·         Loss of wildlife.
·         Loss of natural habitat for animals.
·         Loss of natural resources.
·         Climate Change or extreme weather condition.
 
Climate Change
Climate change refers to the phenomena of long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts can be natural, or can occur due to change in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But since the 1800s, as the human activities and population is continuously increasing day by day, these activities become the main source of climate change, primarily due to burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas as the burning of fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions which act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the suns heat, and raising temperature. The main greenhouses gases include carbon dioxide and methane which causes climatic changes. The carbon dioxide generally generates because of clearing land and cutting down of trees., and agriculture, oil and gas operations are major source of methane emissions. Energy, transport, industry, buildings, agriculture, and land use are among the main sector causing greenhouse effect.
 
Factors Causing Climate Change-
There are many factors that drives the climate change, some are the natural factors whereas some are man-made factors-
1)      Generating power- Generating electricity and heat by the burning of fossil fuels causes a large chunk of global emissions. Today also the electricity is generated by burning coal, oil or gas which causes carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, these are the powerful greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the suns heat.
2)      Manufacturing goods- As the manufacturing industries produces emissions, mostly from burning of fossil fuels to produce energy for making things like cement, iron, electricity, steel plastics, clothes, and other goods. Industrial processes such as mining also release gases, as does the construction industry. Machines used in manufacturing processes often run on coal, oil, or gas, and even some materials like plastic are made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels, the manufacturing industries are the one of the largest contributors to greenhouse emission worldwide.
3)      Cutting down forests- Deforestation is one of the biggest causes of climate change, trees act as the temperature regulator, since the activities of cutting trees in name of development such as highways, parks, hotels, buildings, farms etc are increasing day by day this factor is leading into major cause of climate shift. Each year approximately 12 million hectares of forests are destroyed, since forests absorb carbon dioxide, destroying trees also destroys the nature’s ability to keep emissions out of the atmosphere.
4)      Using transportation-Most of the cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. This makes transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide emission. Road Vehicles plays a major role on this factor because they majorly function on the consumption of petroleum-based product. Similarly, the emission from ship and aircrafts continue to grow.
5)      Producing food- Production food causes emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and other green house gases in various ways, including through clearing of land for agriculture and grazing, deforestation, digestion by cows and sheep, use of energy to run firm equipment or fishing boats, the production and use of fertilizers and manure for growing crops. All these activities play major contributor of climate change.
6)      Consuming too much- Your use of power, consumption of energy in your home, how you move around, what you eat, how much you throw away all contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. So does the consumption of goods such as clothing, electronics, and plastics. Our lifestyle has a profound impact on our planet, a large chunk of global greenhouses gas emissions is linked to private households.
 
Effects of Climate Change-
The phenomena of Climate Change have various negative consequences, some of the consequences are-
1)      Increase in Temperatures- As an effect of climate change it leads to increase in temperature of the surface of the earth, as the greenhouse concentration rises, so does the global surface temperature. Since 19800s each decade has been warmer than the previous one. All land areas experiencing more hot days and hot waves. The evidence of this is 2024 summers in India, in some areas such as Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh the maximum temperature reached to 50 degrees Celsius. Higher temperature increases heat- related illness and make working outdoors more difficult. Continues, heat waves cause heat stokes, because of High temperature the wildfire start more easily and spread more rapidly when conditions are hotter.
2)      More severe storms- As temperature rise, more moisture evaporates, which exacerbates extreme rainfall and flooding, causing more destructive storms. Destructive storms have become more intense and frequent in many regions. The regions such as Mumbai, Bengal, Tamil Nadu almost each year faces intense storms, causing heavy destruction to humans, resources, and wildlife. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons feed on warm waters at the ocean surface, such storms often destroy homes and communities, causing death and huge economic loss.
3)      Loss of Species- Climate change poses a great risk to the survival of the species, on land and marine species. Because of climate change, the world is losing species at a rate 1,000 times greater than at any other time recorded in human history. Due to forest fire, invasive pests, extreme weather, one million species are at risk of becoming extinct within the next few decades.
4)      More Health Risk- Climate Change is now becoming a red alarm for the health issues, it is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. Climate impacts are already harming health, through extreme weather events, pollution, disease, forced displacement, and increased hunger and poor nutrition in places where people cannot grow or find sufficient food. Every year, environmental factors take the lives of around 13 million people. Extreme weather events increase deaths and make it very difficult for the medical system to keep up.
5)      Poverty and displacement- Due to climatic changes such as flood, extreme weather, these factors increase the factors that put and keep people in poverty. Floods may sweep away villages and slums, destroying homes and livelihoods, continuous heat waves make it very difficult to work in outdoor jobs, apart from this water scarcity make affect the crops, it also expected to have major health impacts in India, such as increasing malnutrition and related health disorders such as child stunting.
6)      Not enough food- Changes in the climate and increases in extreme weather events are among the reasons behind a global rise in hunger and poor nutrition. Crops, fisheries, and livestock are either getting destroyed or getting less productive. Changes in snow and ice cover in many Arctic regions have disrupted food supplies from herding, fishing, and hunting.
 
Initiatives or Steps must be taken-
In 2015, world leaders signed a major treaty called the Paris agreement to put the solutions of climate change in practise, core to all climate change solutions is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which must be zero as soon as possible, the mains steps to put emphasize are-
·         Keep fossil fuels in the ground-Fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil, and more that are extracted and burned, all these activities will lead to worse climate change. All countries need to move their economies away from fossil fuels as soon as possible.
·         Switch to sustainable transport-All the vehicles such as cars, bikes and planes and ships uses fossil fuels because they run on petrol. Reducing car use, using public transportation, switching to electric vehicles, and minimising plane travel will not only help to stop climate change, but will also reduce air pollution.
·         Invest in renewable energy-Changing our main energy sources to clean and renewable energy is the best way to stop using fossil fuels, this includes using of wind, solar, wave, tidal and geothermal power.
·         Afforestation- The main cause of climate change is deforestation, trees play a very important role, to control and regulate the temperature, afforestation of trees can play a vital role of control climate change.
·         Protect forests like Amazon-Forests play a crucial role in the fight against climate change, and protection them is the ultimate solution to overcome climate change, cutting down trees on an industrial scale destroys huge trees which would be sucking up huge amount of carbon dioxide.
·         Protect the oceans- Oceans also absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which helps to keep the climate stable, many oceans are overfished, use of oil and gas drilling is threatening for the marine life, protecting oceans and the life in them is the ultimate way to protect ourselves and environment from the climate change.
·         Reduce Plastic- Plastic does not break down quickly in nature, a lot of plastic is burnt which contributes to emissions Plastic is made from oil, process of extracting, refining, and turning oil into plastic is surprisingly carbon-intense. Unfortunately, the demand for plastic is rising very rapidly, plastic is mostly used by people to carry their belongings, rather using the plastic bags, biodegradable bags must be used.
·         Reduce how much people consume- Our choice of fashion, food, transport, and other lifestyle choices all have different impacts on the climate, the consumption of products which have an adverse effect on the climate such as plastic, fossil fuels must be reduced as far as possible, so that effect on climate can be reduced.
It is easy and natural to feel and consider that climate change is the big deal to handle, but this problem can be solved we already have the answer, now the question is how to make it happen, to solve the problem of climate change it requires a strong cooperation between government and businesses, as well initiatives must be taken by the youth, and it is the well known fact that the youth of India is actively participating in shaping climate change policies and activism.
 
Role and Responsibility of Youth in shaping climate change policies and activism-
Youth activists plays a very important and crucial role in raising awareness about environmental issues, through various ways such as advocacy campaigns and educational initiatives youth empower their peers and communities about climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable practises. Youth is the future, their ideas, thought process, views, actions whether positive or negative have a long-lasting impact on the society. Thus, their initiatives and measures to control climate change and save the environment really matters.
 
Various ways in which measures can be taken by the Youth in shaping climate change policies and activism-
*      Innovation and Technology- Youth is the catalysts for change, in the modern era of technology, young activist can take this opportunity of innovation and technology to deal with environmental issues, whether through developing apps, utilizing social media for advocacy, or promoting eco-friendly apps. 
*      Community Engagement -To control the problem of climate change, it must not only be limited to international agreements, but it must also start at local levels, young minds must actively participate in community-based projects that promote sustainability, such as by implementing tree planting initiatives, waste reduction program.
*      Policy Advocacy- Policy advocacy basically means influencing the decision taken by the decision makers in the positive manner, youth activists must engage with policymakers to shape environmental policies that align with sustainable practises. Through Public Interest Litigation, petitions, meetings, and participation in international forums, young advocates must ensure that their prospectives are considered, in the decision-making processes. This process helps to bring fresh ideas rather than following the rigid process.
*      Awareness Campaign’s- Awareness campaigns play a very crucial role to aware people about climate change issues, youth must engage themselves and participate in various awareness related activities such as nukkad nataks, rallies, door to door campaigns, road shows, organizing various workshops, visits in various schools and colleges, online awareness programs, all these activities have a long-lasting impact on the minds, and may play an active role in awareness programmes.
All the above provided are the measures and initiatives which can be taken by the youth to shape the climate change policies, as they play a very crucial role to shape these polices, and to actively participate in environment related problems.
 
Role of Youth, with some real-life examples-
Around the world, young minds are leading to fight against climate change, as well as involving governments and corporations to take actions to protect our planet and take corrective measures to ensure that the various polices can be initiated and can be undertaken for the protection of the climate.
 
There are number of young minds those are playing a crucial role for the policy making and activism regarding climate change.
 
·         IIyess EI Korbi- Born in Ukraine, llyess was grew up in Morrocco,llyess wanted to take part in climate movement protests in 2019, she discovered a very innovative movement in Ukraine known as Fridays For Future Ukraine, and she is now the board secretary of Fridays For Future Ukraine, now with other activists she is raising awareness about the situation in Ukraine and climate crisis.
"It's not just about Ukraine anymore. It is about Syria and other countries around the world," says 25-year-old Ilyess, "We have to demand change together. People need to come out to the streets on Friday and strike together with us[4]."
·         Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti- She is the award-winning Kenyan environment activist, she founded the Green Generation Initiative in which she planted over 30000 tree seedlings in kenya, and encourages young people to care and discover nature.
When I was younger, I had an opportunity to spend time in nature, in the central highlands of Kenya, but along the way, I witnessed deforestation firsthand. The wild forests I liked to play in were cut down. The streams I used to drink from are now polluted or drying up.[5]
·         Leah Namugerva- She is the young environment activist, and has become known for celebrating her 15th birthday by planting 200 trees, and she went on to found the Birthday Trees projects so other can also follow the same, as well as her tree planting campaign, which started a petition to enforce a plastic bag ban in Ukraine.
·         Tori Tsui- Bristol-based Tori Tsui is a climate activist, speaker and writer from Hong Kong and New Zealand.
Tori told us: “Climate justice for me is about survival and a very rudimentary and basic love for the planet and its inhabitants. Climate justice is a chance for us to rewrite and transform our relationships with one another and campaign for reparative actions that benefit society is most marginalised. It is essential in tackling the climate crisis.”[6]
·         Fatou Jeng- She is a youth climate activist in Gambia, focused on education related to conservation and planting trees, she is the founder of Clean Earth Gambia, her major motive is to plant trees on Sundays as well to also aware others to plant trees on their free days.
·         Greta Thunberg- A global figure and key name in the climate conservation is Greta, a Swedish activist, she originally began as a solo protest outside of her school, and now actively participate into Fridays for Future, also in 2019 she attended the UN climate conference.
"We kid most often don't do what you tell us to do. We do as you do. And since you grown-ups do not give a damn about my future, I will not either. My name is Greta and I am in ninth grade. And I am school striking for the climate until election day."[7]
·         Ridhima Pandey- She is an Indian environmental activist who advocate for actions against climate change, she has been likened to Greta Thunberg since long time, even she was nine years old, she filed a suit against the Indian government for not taking even steps and initiatives to combat and fight against climate change, she is also one of the complainants to the United Nations, against several nations failure to act against the climate crisis.
·         Archana Soreng- She belongs to the Kharia tibe in Odisha, which is an indigenous community, like they make only 5 percent of the world’s population, but they protect more than 20 percent of our planets land 80 percent of its biodiversity.
Over the years, generations of us indigenous communities have been told that we are underdeveloped, we are savage, we are backward because of our own traditions, because of identities, because of our cultures,” says Archana whose name means “rock” in her native language.[8]
 
Responsibility of Youth in combating climate change.
Since youth is the upcoming generation, they hold a major responsibility towards the earth and conversion of natural resources it is the duty of the youth to take responsibility of the natural resources, so that any scarcity of the resources or problems such as climatic change does not prevail in the future.
 
As the inheritors of a planet is very rapidly changing, young generation have a unique chance to ensure that our planet remains healthy and safe for future generation, youth play a critical role in combating climate change, and their perspective and qualities plays a core role and are essential to create a sustainable future. Young minds are very creative and passionate about the environment and the future of the planet, and they bring a sense of urgency and energy to the climate change conversation. Young people are often more comfortable with digital technology than previous generations. These technologies can help the youth to cope up with the changes easily. Youth brings a unique set of qualities and perspectives to the climate change debate.
 
Youth movements for climate justice are an important force in the fight against climate change. These movements are often led by young people who are passionate about the environment and the future of our planet, and are demanding actions from the governments and corporations to address the urgent threat of climate change, some of the best examples of how the young minds are understanding their responsibilities are- One of the most prominent youth-led climate movements is Fridays for Future, started by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. Fridays for Future began in 2018 as a school strike for climate action, and has grown into a global movement with thousands of youth-led demonstrations around the world.[9]
 
Another, youth-led movement is the Sunrise Movement, a U.S.-based organization focused on fighting climate change and creating green jobs. The Sunrise Movement has been pushing for the Green New Deal, a comprehensive plan to address climate change and economic inequality.
 
These youth movements for climate justice are often characterised by their passion, creativity, and willingness of the youth to take direct action to demand change regarding increasing problem of climate change. They use social media and other digital platforms to amplify their message and organise mass protests and other events, which serves as a core way to establish the networks of awareness[10]
 
In addition to organising demonstrations and direct action, youth movements for climate justice also engage in advocacy and lobbying efforts to push for policy changes at local, national, and international levels, so that these policies can be implanted in all three levels. They work to build coalitions with other environmental and social justice groups to create a broader movement for climate action.
 
Youth movements for climate justice are an important force in the fight against climate change, and are bringing much-needed attention and urgency to this critical issue. It is essential that all people continue to support the voices of young people in the climate change conversation, as they are the ones who will ultimately be responsible for creating a sustainable future for the planet.
 
Conclusion
March 20 marked the release of the final instalment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), an eight-year long undertaking from the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change. Drawing on the findings of 234 scientists on the physical science of climate change, 270 scientists on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, and 278 scientists on climate change mitigation, this IPCC synthesis report provides the most comprehensive, best available scientific assessment of climate change.[11]
 
Some key findings of the research that should be considered.
·         Already, with 1.1 degrees C (2 degrees F) of global temperature rise, changes to the climate system that are unparalleled over centuries to millennia are now occurring in every region of the world, from rising sea levels to more extreme weather events to rapidly disappearing sea ice[12].
·         About half of the global population currently contends with severe water scarcity for at least one month per year, while higher temperatures are enabling the spread of vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, West Nile virus and Lyme disease. Climate change has also slowed improvements in agricultural productivity in middle and low latitudes, with crop productivity growth shrinking by a third in Africa since 1961. And since 2008, extreme floods and storms have forced over 20 million people from their homes every year.[13]
·         Climate policies in at least 170 countries now consider adaptation, but in many nations, these efforts have yet to progress from planning to implementation. Measures to build resilience are still largely small-scale, reactive, and incremental, with most focusing on immediate impacts or near-term risks. This disparity between today’s levels of adaptation and those required persists in large part due to limited finance. According to the IPCC, developing countries alone will need $127 billion per year by 2030 and $295 billion per year by 2050 to adapt to climate change. But funds for adaptation reached just $23 billion to $46 billion from 2017 to 2018, accounting for only 4% to 8% of tracked climate finance.[14]
·         The IPCC finds that there is a more than 50% chance that global temperature rise will reach or surpass 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) between 2021 and 2040 across studied scenarios, and under a high-emissions pathway, specifically, the world may hit this threshold even sooner — between 2018 and 2037. Global temperature rise in such a carbon-intensive scenario could also increase to 3.3 degrees C to 5.7 degrees C (5.9 degrees F to 10.3 degrees F) by 2100. To put this projected amount of warming into perspective, the last time global temperatures exceeded 2.5 degrees C (4.5 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels was more than 3 million years ago.[15]

[1] Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India, AIR 1996 SC.
[2] M. C. Mehta v. Union of India (Ganga River Pollution Case), (1997) 2 SCC.
[3] Narula Dyeing and Printing Works v. Union of India, AIR 1995 Gujarat High Court.
 
[4] Sarah Francis, 12 Climate Activist inspiring us to fight climate change, rescue.org, 19 April, 2024
https://www.rescue.org/uk/article/12-climate-activists-inspiring-us-fight-climate-change#:~:text=Greta%20Thunberg&text=What%20originally%20began%20as%20a,attend%20the%20UN%20climate%20conference
[5] Supra.
[6] Supra.
[7] Sarah Francis, 12 Climate Activist inspiring us to fight climate change, rescue.org, 19 April, 2024
https://www.rescue.org/uk/article/12-climate-activists-inspiring-us-fight-climate-change#:~:text=Greta%20Thunberg&text=What%20originally%20began%20as%20a,attend%20the%20UN%20climate%20conference
[8] Supra.
[9] Tellus, What is the role of youth in combating climate change, whatcanyoudo.earth, 15 May, 2023.
https://whatcanyoudo.earth/tellus-blog/what-is-the-role-of-youth-in-combating-climate-change/
[10] Supra.
[11] SophieBoehm and Clea Schumber, Report on Climate Change, wri.org, 20 March, 2023
https://www.wri.org/insights/2023-ipcc-ar6-synthesis-report-climate-change-findings
[12] Supra.
[13] Supra.
[14] Supra.
[15] Supra.