As a part of India’s G20 Presidency, the Youth 20 (Y20) group’s Y20 Consultation was held at University of Kashmir from May 10– 11to consult the youth of the nation on ideas for a better tomorrow and draft an agenda for action on ‘Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life’, one of the five Y20 themes.
The Y20 Consultation was inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor and Chancellor, University of Kashmir,
Manoj Sinha.
The event was also attended by Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, J&K; Pankaj Kumar Singh, Director, Department of Youth Affairs, GOI; Prof. Nilofer Khan, Vice Chancellor, University of Kashmir; Prof Manzoor A. Shah, Y20 Chair, University of Kashmir and Guru Prakash Paswan, Senior. Faculty, Patna University.
In his presidential address, LG Sinha said the vision of India’s G20 Presidency is the vision for the future of humanity.
“The theme One Earth, One Family, One Future is the vision of shared responsibility to tackle two great challenges of next 25 years i.e. protecting the climate and promoting sustainable development.”
Earlier the inaugural session and welcome address was delivered by Prof. Manzoor A. Shah.
He spelt out the broad objectives of the Y20 Consultation’. It was followed by an address by. Pankaj Kumar where he gave a brief context of Y20, which set the tone of the Y20 Consultation.
On the occasion, Guru Prakash Paswan, in his remarks, highlighted the importance of the Y20 Consultation.
“The new capital is not going to be the economic capital alone; it is going to be the social capital and the capital of ideas. And Youth20 is one such platform for youth to share their ideas and contribute to policymaking on the important themes chosen for Y20 Consultation,” he said.
Akash Jha, Secretary, Y20 India also spoke and mentioned that “it is important that the voice of youth should be heard in such global decisions because it impacts the youth stakeholders the most. India’s Presidency has not confined these discussions to the elite class, it is a people’s Presidency where Y20 is a leading partner.”
Vice Chancellor Prof.Nilofer Khan said University of Kashmir chose the theme of climate change for Y20 Consultation “because if anyone has more at stake in this fight against climate crisis, it is the youth.
“If anyone can strongly help address this crisis, it is the youth who are the future of the nation.” She thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, AnuragThakur, and Chancellor Manoj Sinha for giving the University a chance to be part of country G20 Presidency through the Y20 platform,” Prof. Nilofar said.
Four panel discussions were held on the theme: ‘Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life’.
First plenary session was held on the theme ‘Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Human Well-Being’, which was moderated by Prof. Shakil A. Romshoo, Vice Chancellor, Islamic University of Science and Technology, J&K.
Speakers in this panel included Dr. Robert Pal(Montana Technological University, USA) USA highlighted that climate change is impacting biodiversity in multiple ways. He stressed upon devising ecological restoration strategies based on the multiple species, rather than monoculture plantations. Dr. Ruchhit RD (National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India) talked about the increasing incidence of extreme rainfall events seen in Indian Monsoon.
He called for awareness among the farmers, particularly reorienting the sowing season as per changing climatic patterns. Dr. Wazida Rahman (Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, India) talked about the concept of environmental justice, which is akin to climate justice pitched by India vociferously during recent negotiations at multilateral forums.
Dr Remya, from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala, India spoke on the issue of glacier melting in the Himalayas. She informed that fast pace of snow melting has resulted into drastic decline of agricultural production in the hilly and downstream plain areas. Ghulam Mustafa Ali, a student activist, cautioned about the likely impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss on the tourism section in the region. He called for efforts to be made towards a sustainable and responsible tourism by taking into consideration the carrying capacity of the tourism destinations.
The second plenary session was held on the theme of ‘Disaster Risk Reduction for Safe Tomorrow’, which was moderated by Prof. M. Sultan Bhat, University of Kashmir, J&K. Speakers in the panel included Dr. Akhilesh Surjan (Charles Darwin University, Australia); Dr. Ajanta Goswami (Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India); Dr AshimSattar (Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India; Dr Sandip Singh (Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India) and Ms Farhana Bhat, an alumnus from University of Kashmir. It was a very engaging session on diverse aspects of the theme.
The third plenary session was on the theme ‘Green Energy- Innovations and Opportunities’, which was moderated by Prof. SeeminRubab, National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, India. The panellists were Dr. Akhilesh Surjan (Charles Darwin University, Australia); Dr. Siddhartha Khare (IIT, Roorkee, India); Dr. Sharmistha Banerjee (IIT Guwahati, India), Prasiddhi Singh, social entrepreneur and environmental activist and Shri Vikas Pandey, entrepreneur with expertise on clean energy, who discussed very important aspects related to the theme and gave their valuable inputs.
The fourth plenary session was held on the theme ‘Water Resources: Challenges and Prospects’, which was moderated by Dr. G. Balachander, Krishi Bounty Biotech, Nandi Hills, Bangalore. The panellist were: Dr. Julia Osterman (University of Gothenburg, Sweden); Dr. Vamsi Krishna Vema (NIT, Warangal, Telangana, India); Dr. Sunil Gurrapu (National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand); Dr. Shruti Singh (Sharda University, U.P, India) and Shri Khalid Jehangir (Chairman, ICPS, Srinagar). The session saw insightful discussions on the theme with critical interventions by the panellists.
The concluding ceremony ended with distribution of awards and certificates to the winners of poster and painting competition. It also included concluding remarks by VC Prof. Nilofer Khan, which was followed by an evening of enthralling performances that represented the local culture of Jammu and Kashmir.
A Sustainability Exhibition, live painting and poster competitions were organised by the University as part of the Y20 event. The Y20 Chronicle of the University and Youth20 and Urban 20 Integration were launched during the inaugural session.
Prof Parvez Ahmad from University of Kashmir delivered a formal vote of thanks.
On May 10, a heritage tour to Mughal Garden Nishat and Pari Mahal was organised by the University followed by a group dinner.