New Delhi, (Asian independent) Starting June 1, the Embassy of Sweden in Delhi and the Swedish Alumni are launching a ‘Seven Day Challenge’ to encourage students to design a #MyClimateCommitment plan, framing a more sustainable ways of eating, moving and living for seven days in the run up to the all important Stockholm+50 event.
Stockholm+50 is an international meeting convened by the United Nations General Assembly to be held in Stockholm, Sweden on June 2-3 to commemorate the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, and celebrate 50 years of global environmental action.
The ‘Seven Day Challenge’, whose submission deadline is June 10, will be evaluated by the Embassy personnel. This initiative is being taken up through a partnership with the Heritage International Xperiential School, Gurugram, to engage youth in dialogue on climate change and raising awareness of environmental issues in South Asia. The aim is ultimately to inspire youth to take action in their local communities for environmental protection.
While launching the programme, the school on Thursday invited select students to participate in an interactive panel discussion — ‘South Asian Youth Perspectives ahead of Stockholm+50’ — focused on the wellbeing of current and future generations to highlight the youth perspective.
The crucial Stockholm+50 global meet will initiate climate talks under the theme ‘A healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity’. The international discourse will follow months of consultations and discussions with individuals, communities, organisations, and governments around the world, ensuring the wellbeing of current and future generations.
Gautam Bhattacharyya, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Sweden, said: “I wish the younger generation will be able to find a new way of living which is better and away from the old practices as a lot was wrong with those; practices which are more beneficial and wholesome for all the lives including animals and plants dwelling on the planet.”
Speaking on climate change and environmental protection, Spokey Wheeler, director and head, Heritage International Xperiential School, said: “There is a desperate need for us as adults to provide our children with a planet which they can inhabit and value. It’s the younger generation that is going to achieve that, as our generation and the previous one have not paid adequate attention to this issue, maybe due to self-interest or simply due to lack of farsightedness.”
