Snapshot from the G20 Brasil Youth Pre-Summit 2024 and UNESCO MGIEP’s TAGe 2024 — Youth. Climate. Emotions. in Belém-PA, Brazil
Namaste!
I am elated to share that I was invited to participate in the G20 Brasil 2024’s Youth Pre-Summit and TAGᵉ: Youth.Climate.Emotions. — Talking Across Generations on Education’s Panel Dialogue on “Climate Change Anxiety Among Youth and How it Can Be Tackled through Social Emotional Learning (SEL)” as a Youth Panellist representing India. The Youth Pre-Summit was held from 17th to 19th June 2024 and the ‘TAGᵉ: Youth. Climate. Emotions.’ Panel Dialogue took place on the 18th of June 2024 in Belém-PA, Hangar Convention Center, Brazil. The panel discussion was organised by UNESCO MGIEP in partnership with the Y20 Secretariat of Brazil and brought together six youth representatives and three decision-makers from across the world to empower youth to drive positive change through meaningful conversations.
In order to ensure the logical conclusion of all the carbon footprint left behind in travelling to join the global platform that enabled the coming together of a cohort of an insightful and diverse set of people from across the world that facilitated intersectional and intersectoral cross-learning that shall go a long way, I, to the best of my ability, tried engaging and learning about new perspectives and approaches about ‘climate change and emotions’ and shared my lived experiences, research findings, and perspectives from the Indian context.
During the TAGe Panel Dialogue, I had the opportunity to talk about the Impact of Climate Change on our Well-being, the Interplay between Climate Anxiety and Social Media, and the Recommendations for the Way forward. Therein, in my introductory comment, I highlighted how Climate Change acts as a ‘Threat Multiplier’ aggravating our pre-existing intersectional vulnerabilities and having a multi-order impact that triggers the Domino Effect with disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities (especially, persons with disabilities), concerning Climate and Accessibility Anxiety, Cost of Living Crisis, Quality of Life, Disability-adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Climate Refugees, etc.
![Picture of Adv. Abhishek Kumar of The Sangyan [India] speaking during the TAGe Panel Dialogue session in a blue kurta.](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*u-retGE9HAPkGEPjA7IczQ.jpeg)
Furthermore, concerning the interplay between Social Media and Climate Anxiety, I underscored different positive and negative externalities and how Social Media has a Net Positive impact by enabling dissemination and awareness of information, creating an environment of seriousness about the need for urgent Climate Action, and so on. Ultimately, I recommended Access to Accessible Climate Education and integration of the ‘Nothing Without Us’ Principle in Climate Action, in my concluding remarks.
I also had the privilege of attending the Official Opening Ceremony, Cultural Presentations, Thematic Working Groups, Plenary Sessions, Technical Visit to Usina da Paz, and Integration and Exchange activities at Ilha do Cumb and other beautiful places of Belém in Brazil.
I thank my co-youth panellists — Ana Moreno from Spain, Christy Zakarias from Indonesia, Juan Francisco Petrillo from Argentina, Paleni Iyer from South Africa, and Ana Opre from Romania as well as three decision-makers — Chido Cleopatra Mpemba from Zimbabwe, Rui Oliveira from Portugal, and Ronald Sohhiso from Brazil, who enriched my perspective on the theme of discussion and beyond. I’m also grateful to Richa Bansal and Anurag Deep, PhD from the UNESCO MGIEP Team for beautifully curating the session and providing a positive environment that enabled meaningful conversation.
I also extend my heartfelt thanks to the Y20 Pre-Summit organizers — the Y20 Secretariat of Brazil (especially, Chairperson Marcus Barão and Co-Chairperson Ingrid Siss) and the UNESCO MGIEP Team (especially, Fazola Nasretdinova, Richa Bansal, Anurag Deep, PhD, and Manpreet Kaur Rishi, among others involved) for providing me with the platform and their constant support throughout my participation in the conference. I deeply appreciate the team’s commitment to inclusion and climate justice. Last but not least, I would like to thank the people of Belém and Brazil who gave one and all wonderful hospitality throughout our stay, both personally and professionally.
~ Adv. Abhishek Kumar, The Sangyan
Picture Credits: Cleydson for the G20 — Y20 Brazil Organizing Team
About the Event: TAGe: Youth.Climate.Emotions: https://mgiep.unesco.org/tage-climate-emotions-youth
TAGe 2024 Livestream Proceedings: https://www.youtube.com/live/wWKTmDIc3-c?si=zI5RmPjc5I1x25tJ
Visual/Image Description [Alt Text]:
Image 1: Collage of four pictures on a green picturesque image of the Amazon in the background along with the following texts: — “Snapshot from the G20 Brasil Youth Pre-Summit”, ‘Building A Just World And A Sustainable Planet’, “TAGe: Youth.Climate.Emotions. — Climate Change Anxiety Among Youth and How it Can Be Tackled through Social-Emotional Learning”, and “Highlights from the Participation in the TAGᵉ — Talking Across Generations on Education’s Dialogue Panel by UNESCO MGIEP in partnership with the Y20 Secretariat of Brazil at Belém-PA, Brazil dated 18th June 2024.” Image descriptions of the four pictures are provided individually afterwards.
Image 2: Picture of the Opening Ceremony of the G20 Youth Pre-Summit 2024 at the Theatro da Paz (Peace Theater) in the Praça da República (Republic Square), Belém, Pará, Brazil.
Image 3: Picture of Adv. Abhishek Kumar of The Sangyan [India] speaking during the TAGe Panel Dialogue session in a blue kurta.
Image 4: Group picture TAGe Dialogue Panel Group (Abhishek Kumar, Christy Zakarias, Juan Francisco Petrillo, Richa Bansal, and Anurag Deep) during the Cultural and Integration Event with the standing façade of the Y20 Pre-Summit.
Image 5: Group picture of Abhishek Kumar, Ana Moreno, Christy Zakarias, Juan Francisco Petrillo, Paleni Iyer, Ana Opre, Chido Cleopatra Mpemba, Rui Oliveira, Ronald Sohhiso, Ingrid Siss, Richa Bansal, and Anurag Deep after the ‘TAGe: Youth.Climate.Emotions.’ Panel Dialogue.
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