Don’t sleep through the climate crisis, take action today: GYLC founder

Dr Dean Williams, former Harvard professor of leadership, took a masterclass for the delegates on the final day of the three-day Global Youth Climate Summit, which brought together 500 youth virtually and 150 youth in person at Khulna's CSS Ava Center. 

Dr Williams shared with the delegates essential leadership skills and strategies that can help youth to be effective in mobilising others for action, reads a press release. 

However, in the pursuit of creating change, he said, it's important for youth to be committed but not to be a crusader. 

Change takes time and overwhelming people with information and asking them to make too many changes too quickly may be counterproductive, he added. 

Therefore, it's important to pace the work and invite people to bring about small behavioral changes to reduce their carbon footprint. 

Following the session by Dr Williams, community organising expert Mais Irqsusi conducted a workshop on public narrative and organising. 

She asserted that "organising is leadership that enables people to turn the resources they have into the power they need to make the change they want." 

She added, "Leadership is accepting responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty."

Founder and CEO of GYLC Ejaj Ahmad ran a session on developing an action plan for the delegates in the second half of the day. 

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, sit back and comment on others. It's easy to sleep through a problem like the climate crisis and feel powerless, but I urge you to take responsibility and take climate action, both at the individual and community levels," he said. 

In the closing ceremony of the summit, Speaker of the Parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Dutch Ambassador Anne van Leeuwen, Sir Christopher Ball, and youth activist Sohanur Rahman delivered remarks. 

In her address, Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said, "I'm delighted to see a global initiative like GYLC, which will mobilise youth from climate vulnerable countries in Asia and Africa to take climate action, is being launched from Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a hotbed for innovation and the world has a lot to learn from the climate resilience and adaptability of our communities."

10 global climate champions were each awarded $1,000 for their climate action projects. 

The award winners are Abishek Pradhan from India,  Ademilusi Emmanuel from Nigeria, Akash Pandey from Nepal, Ananya Pathak from India, Cheick Simpore from Burkina, Hasibul Hasan from Bangladesh, Jonah Kirabo from Uganda, Raisul Safkat from Bangladesh, Samantha Ramadhanti from Indonesia, and Tseenyam Davasuren from Mongolia. 

Grameenphone is the title sponsor of the Global Youth Climate Summit, while the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, FHI360, and Sir Christopher Ball and Lady Ball are the gold sponsors. Silver sponsors include Paragon Group, UCB, BRAC, and Daraz. Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) is the implementing partner. BEDS and YouthNet for Climate Justice are the community and outreach partners of the event respectively.