Do young people only know how to protest, and not know how to take initiative? That’s not it. As the threat of climate change becomes increasingly imminent, in addition to protests, young people rise and push for concrete action. In order to let this passionate age group be seen, CSR Channel of CommonWealth Media Group will host "Earth's New Voice - You are the key generation that will reverse the climate crisis!" International Youth Forum, stimulating the possibility of planet rebirth through intergenerational dialogue with governments and businesses.
As we head into the summer of 2020, in addition to the coronavirus epidemic raging all over the world, more and more people have noticed, "It’s so hot this year!". On July 19th, the temperature in Taipei was as high as 39 degrees, the second hottest temperature ever recorded across all 124 years of The Taipei Meteorological Station’s establishment.
In the past few years, news of forest fires, the melting of glaciers, and species extinctions are reported unceasingly. Earth is really in crisis.
CSR Channel of CommonWealth Media Group also conducted online surveys on high school and college students. More than 90% of students think that Earth is already overwhelmed! What they are most worried about is climate change (65%), followed by the air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels (50%), and marine life suffering caused by marine debris (48%).
The teenage girl Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist who was selected as TIME’s Person of the Year in 2019, called on 1 million students from 100 countries around the world through Fridays For Future to boycott classes and actively respond to climate change. The editor-in-chief of Time Magazine, Edward Felsenthal, said that Thunberg embodies the activist spirit of young people.
However, as opposed to peacefully sitting and protesting, this group of young people clustered around 20 years old (Under20, U20) are more eager to actually solve the problem!
In Taiwan, Audrey Tang, the political councillor responsible for social innovation and youth participation, observed from her own experience that the age that proposes most frequently on the public policy network participation platform is around 15 years old.
We have also noticed that when adults stand under the spotlight and spearhead their careers, U20s are not slacking off. They care for and love the earth, and not only have innovative ideas, but also outstanding execution and action to continually fight for environmental sustainability; sometimes, what they lack is just some attention and resources.
Earth's New Voice, let the new generation speak, let the earth be reborn
Therefore, for the new generation of U20s, CSR Channel of CommonWealth Media Group will host "Earth's New Voice - You are the key generation that will reverse the climate crisis!" International Youth Forum, to let U20s project their worldview loudly, allow their actions to be seen, and to gather people in charge of resources such as governments and businesses, in order to generate the power to reverse the climate crisis, and give back U20s a beautiful, sustainable future through intergenerational dialogue.
In addition, "Earth's New Voice - You are the key generation that will reverse the climate crisis!" International Youth Forum expects to invite outstanding young consultants who already hold achievements in the field of sustainability, to interact face-to-face with groups who have signed up, during workshops preceding the forum. This, as well as business visits and other itineraries, allow U20s to better understand aspects of company sustainability practice.
When the climate crisis alarm bell starts ringing, as the future generation, you can choose to cover your ears and act like you don’t hear anything, or you can gather partners and do your best to take action together from now on, for your own future and for the earth to be reborn.
