15/12/2009

Get Onboard!

Under the banner of a Global Rethink, GlobalFOCUS joined the Swedish Youth Organization (LSU) and the Swedish Assosication for International Affairs (UFS/SAIA) on December 13 in organizing a panel discussion on youth leadership, taking the climate dialogue during COP15 to a rather unusual location: the quaintly bedecked hull of the beautiful Briggen Tre Kronor ship in the central harbour of Copenhagen.

The panel was moderated by Jakob Rutqvist and Hanna Helsingen and the panelists were David Andersson from Ecoera, Kyle Gracey from SustainUS, Michaela Hogenboom, a youth representative at the UN CSD and Komalirani Yenneti from IYCN. During the hour-long session the panelists described how they through entrepreneurship have mobilized youth in the fight against climate change. The audience consisted of about 40 young leaders and the purpose of the discussion was to bring experiences and lessons learned from best examples worldwide to these leaders that hopefully will be put into practical use. The panel had more than enough experience to go around and have been working in social movements, politics as well as business and educational institutions.

A few things discussed were the importance of creating easy to understand and easy to unite behind symbols of the action and message you want people to engage in and how resistance to progressive action in older generations must be understood as a difference in experiences rather than a clash of values - most people prefer not to ruin the planet and what we have to do is provide opportunities, hope and inspiration to others in order to make them pull in the right direction. If the global climate action movement could just deliver enough evidence for people to make them see that a sustainability transformation is actually possible - the world might very well unite!



From left to right: Jakob Rutqvist, Hanna Helsingen, Komalirani Yenneti, Kyle Gracey, Michaela Hogenboom, David Andersson

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