Varanasi youth, 21, to attend 27th UN climate conference in Egypt

VARANASI: A 21-year-old youth from Varanasi, Naman Kapoor will attend the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (CO) scheduled in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 6 to 18.
He is the youngest and only Indian among the 14 top 'Global Youth Ambassadors' selected to be a part of the 'Youth Delegation' to represent the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The GAUC was formed in January 2019 in Davos, Switzerland. Hailing from a family of businessmen, Naman is pursuing his graduation at Sciences Po, France after completing his schooling from Varanasi and Dehradun.
The 15 members of GAUC, include the Australian National University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Tokyo, Tsinghua University, Stellenbosch University, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Indian Institute of Science, Sciences Po. (France), Columbia University, the University of Oxford and Yale University.
Hailing from a family of businessmen, Naman is pursuing his graduation at Sciences Po, France after completing his schooling from Varanasi and Dehradun. Currently, he is on a year-long exchange programme at the Reichman University in Israel. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he was involved with various projects to provide basic needs like food, medical supplies and sanitary pads to the people of Varanasi.
“I wish to put forward the views of the youth and the developing world,” Naman told TOI over phone, adding that only 150 students were selected from GAUC’s 15-member universities in nine countries to be a part of this programme. Out of them, 14 were selected to be a part of the 'Youth Delegation' to represent GAUC, he added.
His primary focus is in climate finance and governance. As a GAUC’s Global Youth Ambassador, he hypothesised a platform that democratises green bonds to connect green projects with a broader base of capital markets and investors to channel capital towards sustainable development.
Naman maintains a keen interest in business, science and technology and is a United Nations Millennium Fellow and a holder of the prestigious Emile Boutmy Scholarship.
Naman said he was the only non-European youth invited to the Hambach Conference in Germany by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation to discuss European policies and democracy with Members of European Parliament and other high-ranking officials from the EU.
Why youth delegation?
According to him, with 1.2 billion young people aged between 15 and 24 years, the youth accounts for 16% of the global population. Yet, the youth remains underrepresented on policy making platforms and are usually categorised homogeneously by age. This overlooks the heterogeneity of youth as a group, by missing its intersection with other factors such as nationality, gender and class.
“The Global Youth Ambassadors at GAUC represent a diverse group of students with unique experiences, priorities and needs. The youth delegation can bring forward unique local knowledge to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation,” he added.