Thank you for voting for the Photography, Blogging and Short Video competitions as part of the 2nd Edition of the Youth Climate Conclave (YCC) organized as part of the EU and German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) Strategic Partnership for the Implementation of Paris Agreement (SPIPA) project in partnership with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The YCC is being implemented in partnership with GIZ, TERI and CEEW This conclave is envisaged as a competitive and educative mode of action, wherein youth from across the country will come together to join hands and address the issues of climate change.

As part of the 2nd Edition of the Youth Climate Conclave (YCC); a series of online competitions were held (Photography, Blogging and Short Video) in age categories of 10 -18 yrs (A – Category) and 19-25 yrs (B – Category). We received an overwhelming response from youth reflecting their interest in addressing climate change. After a rigorous selection process, six entries from each category were shortlisted for the final stage of selection.

We are confident that it was a joyful experience for you to go through the shortlisted entries. We now present to you ‘the top three Winning Entries’ from the two age categories for all the three competitions based on number of votes received by the entries.

• Photos
• Blogs
• Short Videos

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Rabbani Kaur Grover

Spring Dales School, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi

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Vidhi Kasana

Amity International School, Vasundhara, Sector 6, Ghaziabad

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Ashwatth Churi

Purushottam Walawalkar Higher Secondary School, Mapusa

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Tarun Satya

Christ University, Bangalore

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Akanksha

Mount Carmel College, Autonomous, Bangalore

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Sneha Shahi

The Maharaja Sayajirao, University Of Baroda, Baroda

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Arnav Ranjan Choudhary

Laxman Public School, New Delhi

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Arkam Layek

R.L.J.D.M.C.D.A.V Public School, Raniganj

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Zehra Shoaib

Sunbeam School Varuna, Varanasi

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Prasanna Achari

Government First Grade College Kumta, Kumta

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Shashank Kumar Gond

Banaras Hindu University

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Pema Lepcha

Government Junior High School, Sangtok, North Sikkim

Sustainable Lifestyles : A Need of the Hour

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Ameeth Ram Y N

Amber Valley Residential School, Chikmagalur

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Ameeth Ram Y N

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Sustainable Lifestyles : A Need of the Hour:

India, a land of beauty and nature, has many wonders, one of them being its thoughtful citizens. We have the power to change, to develop and to repair. We have the potential to reduce global warming, and eventually to go green completely. We can invent - not necessarily complex - but simple structures that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the production of chlorofluorocarbons, to become eco-friendly and to help the ozone layer repair itself. We can use paper bags, or better still, cloth bags instead of plastic bags. We can campaign on how we can help nature, how plastic is harmful, how CFCs destroy the ozone layer, and how alternatives are better. Why use fossil fuels when we can use electric cars, cycles or even walk if it is a short distance. This will even help in maintaining a healthy body. Why use a plastic bottle? Isn't a metal or steel bottle better and longer lasting? Why use energy generated from coal while solar energy can meet the same requirements? Why waste food when we can give it to the poor? Why use chemical fertilizers when kitchen waste can decompose into wonderful fertilizers? Why clear forests when we already have a comfortable home? Why have multiple vehicles when one vehicle or public transport can meet the requirement? Why use firewood when we have the option of clean energy? Why use air conditioning when fans are just as efficient or even more so? It is said that a tree gives enough oxygen for two people throughout its lifetime. In just one day, more than a million people in India planted 220 million trees. In India around 30 trees are cut every day which is still a lot. Around 1.2 million people die every year just from pollution in India! Yet, we want more vehicles, more plastic and more cosmetics. The chemicals in cosmetics do account for a huge chunk of deaths. Formaldehyde is a promoter in the formation of cancer and is used in the production of nail polishes. Mercury, which can damage the kidneys and nervous system, is used in the production of skin lightening creams and in mascara. Oxybenzone is scientifically proven to deplete coral reefs and it is used in the production of sunscreens. I am a 100% sure that this is not beauty. Jewellery, gold, and diamonds, are beautiful to look at, yes, beautiful only to look at. While mining for gold, diamonds and other precious metals and stones, labourers might face long-term health consequences caused by exposure to lung-damaging particulates, mercury, and other toxic chemicals that are used while mining. Even worse is that child labour is involved in this huge industry. I am again a 100% sure that this is not beauty. Instead of buying jewellery and cosmetics, the same money can be spent on useful things or noble deeds. Time is running out. It is time to respond to the cries of nature and adopt a sustainable lifestyle.

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Sustainable Lifestyles : A Need of the Hour

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Ananya Bhargava

Delhi Public School, Patna

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Ananya Bhargava

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Sustainable Lifestyles : A Need of the Hour:

We are descending into a new era of climate change, The countries have now committed themselves to the Paris climate agreement and the sustainable development goals. While the heads have done their part, what duty do we have in sustainability? A common platitude often being heard is that the government needs to change so that the people can change and while this may seem apposite in the political arena, what we fail to acknowledge is the power of a community and it's people. There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about and unfortunately, at this moment we don't care about our climate. As Robert Swan once said " The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. " . Presently we are dependent on our leaders to make a change, which is both poignant and worrisome. But there's still time, we can learn and if we hope to create a decent future for ourselves and the posterity, we must learn. After all, a future emanated from a grim present isn't much of a future. So let's start by asking what does sustainable development mean? Sustainable development means maintaining the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. We need sustainability for a better future or to put it more blatantly , we need sustainability if we ever want a future. "We have not inherited the earth from our ancestors, we have borrowed it from our children " were the words of Emerson in the 19the century , if he could understand the need for sustainability 200 years ago , why can't we? It is high time that we acknowledge the fact that we have one planet to live in and the truth is we have grossly miscalculated the resources available in it. So to undo what we have already done, we need to inculcate the idea of sustainable living. Now that we have recognised the need for sustainability let's ponder upon what we can do to attain it . Though living in a world where waste is a norm can make achieving sustainability difficult, developing good habits and positive behavioural changes can help. By making small and prudent lifestyle changes you can make a substantial difference. At an individual capacity, we could start off small like prioritising public transports, conserving water , recycling wastes and finding an alternative for plastics . These are small steps for us humans but a huge leap for humanity . It is unequivocally clear that there's no time like present to alter our methods . After all , we must create a vision that's not only obtainable , but also sustainable. As Dumbledore once said , "there will be a time , when you must choose between what's right and what's easy.” Well the time has come and I hope you take the right decision.

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Local Actions for Global Impact

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Krish Raj

Delhi Public School, Patna

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Krish Raj

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Local Actions for Global Impact:

Whenever I see the old and withered mango tree in my courtyard, I always wonder about the memories attached to the tree. How it has seen different people come and go, how it has watched births and deaths, how it has witnessed villages turning into towns and towns into cities while it withstood the test of time. Some of the fondest memories I have of my grandfather were the ones under that very tree where he told me stories of his childhood. He is no more but that tree still stands, more withered than ever but yet reminding me of each story he told me. The tree might not bear fruits anymore yet the nostalgia hits sweeter than any mango in the summer season. For a long time, I felt disheartened for how could me planting a sapling in my little garden change the enormous amount of deforestation happening each year? How would me using a paper bag help the environment when major corporations continue to destroy it for their own selfish gains? How do I protect the tigers of the Sunderbans or the snow leopards near the Himalayas? The answer is: I can't. Well not alone, of course. When Mahatma Gandhi said " Be the change you want to be in the world”, I couldn't quite understand what to make of it. How do I change a world I have never seen? How do I do things that make an impact on people's lives everywhere from a little town in the middle of nowhere? It took me a long figure to finally figure out what he meant after all. What he said didn't mean to change the planet in a stroke of brilliance, it meant to change my community first. When we think like that, planting a sapling or using a paper bag is not a small step but a huge leap because it does impact our society. It reduces the amount of plastic in our community and creates an environment which benefits everybody. Local actions have forever spearheaded initiatives which have made long-lasting impacts in people's lives. Whether it be the Chipko movement in the village of Chambal or the silent valley movement in Kerala, local crusades for environmental justice have always yielded fruitful results for the better. Whether our paths might be different and our journeys difficult, our destination remains the same. To create a planet which we can all be proud of. To create communities which understand the importance of preservation of nature and biodiversity . So that even when we are gone and our names forgotten , our actions of today will stand as testament to the future generations that even when hope seems bleak , you need to stand up for what you believe is right because even the smallest of movements can start a revolution.

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Role of Youth for Climate Action

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Ashraf Nehal

Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, New Delhi

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Ashraf Nehal

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Role of Youth for Climate Action:

"Child is the Father of Man - William Wordsworth" Beginning with this quote I intend to highlight the potential and vision that the youth carries within, which is the foundation of creativity and newness alongside being a problem solvent for several of the pending global issues. Be it Greta Thunberg or Licypria Kangujam, their voices volume has echoed the core of climate change awareness in this generation more than any influential leader could have done and the kind of support that these voices have gathered has also proved that,'you don't need a portfolio to speak for Mother Earth all voices are are equally weighed for her'. The first thought that strikes my mind with Climate Change is Global Warming - where glaciers are melting, cities are being flooded, the fertile land is going barren and apart from this a question - 'what natural means are we leaving for our coming generation'? Would we ruin their natural protocol inheritance with all artificial means and introduce nature to them the way we were introduced to Dinosaurs ?' Maybe our generation will only run out of all the above mentioned phenomenon so no point of it being moved down to the next generation, however discussing on some possibilities of our actions let's see what we can do individually to tackle this Climate Change on an individual basis without cutting down much on our lavishing comforts. Starting with public transport, I know it's not healthy for all of us to prefer using the crowded transport modes, so what alternative suits better? Well today we have plenty of alternatives from shared eco friendly rickshaws to individually run eco friendly bikes and they are easily available and accessible too. Moving on we can at least try ensuring minimum plastic usage. In my college along with the help of the environment society we came up with a certification policy for everyone who used little to no plastic and the result was 80% of the plastic bottles used by the college members were now replaced. Considering the youth association with papers we should also acknowledge the importance of paper and hence minimize the wastage of it because papers are made of trees which are essential for storing greenhouse gas emissions, filtering air and water, nourishing soil, providing food and shelter and fostering ecosystems, so damaging trees is directly proportional to damaging Climate. Again I have one interesting episode to share. In my college campus during the campus elections there's huge wastage of paper and the road outside is covered all white with papers. So I decided to cast my vote to the one who uses little to no paper in the campaign and refused accepting any pamphlet or promotion book because I don't want a leader who can't consider environment and climate change is an urge of necessity action and I was later joined in my many peers to launch a rally in campus for a 'Paper-free Election'. Though the first year it didn't put up a good show but the following year the impact was felt in the campus and many preferred using one sided used paper too. Later we also partnered with WWF to use all the recyclable paper from our campus and make it into some stationary item. Our attempts though didn't give us a pollution free campus but we did walk a step towards making it Environment friendly and Carbon neutral. A lot of Climate Change positive initiatives are installed in our villages and they seemed to be more learned in this subject than the urban elites. A lot of our villages till date use solar panels or biogas for electricity purposes hence sufficiently cutting down on the Carbon emissions. Genetic modification has been in practice in the agriculture of our villages which bolster crops against the disruptions caused by Climate Change and a significant factor that our villages have in practice is the absence of cars and factories which emit sun-blocking particles into the air and stave off the worst consequences of climate change. So who is driving these mechanisms in our villages? Obviously our youth and considering the impact that would be created with this youth power being escalated to a centrally accepted blueprint I'm sure we wouldn't be short on eliminating the consequences of Climate Change, hence if not Pollution free we would definitely become Carbon Neutral. Let's do the minimum of it. Let's do only what we can do. Let's just only act towards the lessons of sustainability and environment that we have read and I firmly believe that with this we can let our planet lead in defeating Climate Change.

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Sustainable Lifestyles : A Need of the Hour

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Aparna Choudhuri

Army Institute Of Technology, Pune

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Aparna Choudhuri

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Sustainable Lifestyles : A Need of the Hour:

It is a Sunday morning, and despite the whole "lazy-Sunday" mood, you must accompany your mum to the Sunday vegetable market! Grabbing all your strength, you decide to go ahead, and finally reach the market. There you are amazed, how expensive vegetables are these days! Good heavens should not have thrown tantrums while eating! These incessant thoughts are interrupted as you are given a kg of potatoes to hold, wrapped inside a plastic bag. Soon you realize after coming back that with those vegetables, you also bought a whole lot of plastics. As you come back, you are also told today is the "Sunday-cupboard" cleaning day, and there your mood of lazy Sunday is wiped out with a sweat load of work. You open the cupboard; reluctantly start folding and arranging the clothes, and a huge pile of unwanted clothes come out. What were the first few thoughts that flashed in your mind as you read those lines above? Were they something on the lines of "hey I have been there”? If you actually do, you just qualified as one of the millions who contribute towards increasing carbon footprint on the planet. In short, you unknowingly are contributing towards its sickness, called climate change, global warming and many more. We are yet to accept that our poor lifestyle choices are responsible for harsh weathers, extinction of species, as we all are trudging towards becoming climate refugees. Let us understand this through a simple way. If one person in a week ends up accumulating around 5 plastic bags, that is roughly 260 plastic bags of contribution by one human on this planet. Now imagine the scale when billions are doing the same. Plastic pollution, alongside other forms of toxic pollutants that enter the ocean, is responsible for the deaths of over a million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals every year. Secondly, I hope you did not forget about your extra pile of clothes in the cupboard. As per a report by the World Economic Forum, 73% of our clothe waste ends ups in landfills, ironically there are millions that need proper clothing to survive on a regular day. These are just few of the harsh realities that reflect our poor "unsustainable lifestyles”. The earth is sick right now, and sustainable lifestyle is the medicine for the present and a vaccine for our future generations. A few simple acts such as carrying your own cloth bag, to the market would mean one plastic less in the ocean. Those unwanted clothes can be donated and recycled for reuse. By these small actions, you saved and nurtured a life and reduced your carbon footprint too. In a common citizens' language, you saved the planet from pollution, all through your small, daily choices. That makes us a sustainable hero! Therefore, sustainable lifestyle is not just willful choice; it is a choice for the survival of this planet. Because, you and I hold one future, a future created and painted by a sustainable lifestyle.

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Local Actions for Global Impact

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Vallari Jayant Yerande

MIT World Peace University, Pune

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Vallari Jayant Yerande

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Local Actions for Global Impact:

Hi folks, Local actions for a global impact, seems like an impossible tag doesn't it? But if I think of this thought rationally is it really that hard to do my bit for the environment? Of course not .Mother nature is the reason why we humans can sustain on this planet, and can we not even be thankful to her? People might wonder, "ek ke karne se kya hoga?” but yes, small actions of one single person, can pave way to the birth of a revolution. Dalai Lama says, "Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, actions of individuals can have far reaching effects.” So we citizens , are just one step away to create a change in the society, to create a better and less polluted place for us to live. The only power stopping us from doing so is our prejudice. I would like to share a real life incident which justifies the saying Local actions for a Global impact. It was a hot summer afternoon, and in India, summer is the season of mangoes. While relishing the taste of juicy mangoes me and my family members jokingly thanked the person who planted the mango tree. This small session of laughter left a remarkable idea! Why not save the seeds and plant them around monsoon! Thus it all started, getting fruits, eating them and washing and drying their seeds. Within a month or so we gathered seeds ranging from mangoes, java plums, custard apples and even guavas! Me along with my parents were able to gather a whopping amount of 2000 seeds by the end of July. We made seeds balls and embarked on our mission to do our bit for the environment. Understanding the fact that all of the seeds won't blossom, we considered that only 10% seeds will grow. The remaining seeds will decompose into the soil. Fair enough right, instead of planting zero trees and just cribbing I can at least be satisfied for doing my share for My mother earth! Even today, if we eat a fruit we save the seeds. If every family plans to plant saplings or at least save the seeds, small ripples like these can lead to the creation of massive waves. People of a community have the capability to do something as they have manpower. Manpower combined with the will to do something for the environment is a deadly combination! So what are we waiting for folks! More and more trees will mean, a better less polluted environment, a well balanced ecosystem, abundant oxygen. We citizens , can start by utilizing our resources efficiently. Conscious living is a term where we pay attention to what we eat, how we spend time, similarly let's be conscious towards how sustainably we use water. A simple way to use water effectively is that when throwing away leftover water from a tumbler, we can just water our plants with that. This is a simple step towards efficient use of resources! Concluding with a quote by Mother Teresa, " I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” This seed collection and planting initiative has been my stone which has inspired more and more people as they realized how easily we can contribute and enhance our own surroundings!

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