EARTHDAY.ORG’s My Future My Voice Initiative and the Gujarat Youth Forum Co-Host Inspiring Dialogues for Environmental Action Series (IDEAS)

EARTHDAY.ORG joined hands with the Gujarat Youth Forum to discuss the ways youth can ‘Invest In Our Planet’ – the theme for Earth Day 2022. Additional partners included UNICEF, YuWaah, and Elixir Foundation. 

The event was curated and moderated by EARTHDAY.ORG’s My Future My Voice (MFMV) Youth Ambassador Madhish Parikh. It formed part of EARTHDAY.ORG-India’s continuing series of Inspiring Dialogues for Environmental Action Series (IDEAS). 

At the inaugural session held on February 28, 2022, the Hon’ble Minister of State, Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Government of Gujarat, Jagdish Vishwakarma (Panchal), reiterated the strong support his government provides to youth so that they grow to be stewards for the environment. Mr Tom White, Chief, Emergency & Disaster Risk Reduction, UNICEF, spoke about the imminent disasters society will face if we neglect to rein in climate change. ‘Climate change is the most significant crisis of our time’ he emphasized. Karuna Singh, Regional Director Asia, EARTHDAY.ORG, expanded on the Earth Day 2022 theme ‘Invest In Our Planet.’ She called to action – businesses, governments, citizens – all –  to be a part of a partnership for our planet that is at a critical stage of runaway climate change, overloads of pollution and plastic waste, as well as a rapid reduction in natural wealth. “Today, a healthy planet is not an option—it is a necessity,” she said.  

The session that followed featured many speakers including: Luis Alberto Camargo, Founder & Director of OpEPA; Elizabeth Gulugulu, Environmental Scientist & Climate Change Activist from Zimbabwe; Shyam Dave, WASH Specialist, UNICEF; Shwetal Shah, Technical Advisor, Climate Change Department, Government of Gujarat; and Peter Cook, British Deputy High Commissioner, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Each one of the participants reiterated that the time is now for all who inhabit Earth to do their bit for a cleaner, greener, and less-polluted planet, where natural resources are protected, waste is managed, and the switch is made to cleaner energies. 

Watch the Inaugural Session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmPas7VL1fM
Watch the Dialogue Session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yDdmk6Qu-4

ABOUT EARTHDAY.ORG:
EARTHDAY.ORG’s mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day (1970), EARTHDAY.ORG is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in 192 countries to build environmental democracy. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Learn more at www.earthday.org.