Webinar on “COVID-19 and Climate Change: Global Perspective”

The Team NEPO Baitadi, Nepal in collaboration with The International Society for Research on Children and Youth (ISRCY) successfully hosted the International Webinar on “COVID-19 and Climate: Global Perspective” on 30^th September, 2020 amidst the pandemic, together with Paschim Paaila, Nepal, The International Institute of Knowledge Management, Sri Lanka (TIIKM), Team NEPO Kathmandu and Sustainability Week Kathmandu, Nepal as collaborative partners. The webinar witnessed the participation of more than 70 youth activists from Nepal.

The primary objective of this event was to provide an overview of the current scenario of climate change and COVID-19 and to build awareness among youth, their responsibility towards the environment to tackle climate change. Mr. Manjeet Dhakal (Nepal), Head of LDC (Least Development Countries) Support Team at Climate Analytics and Ms. Marie-Claire Graf (Switzerland), Youth Advocate and Change Maker for Sustainable Development and Climate Solutions facilitated the webinar while it was well moderated by Ms. Anjila Pandey, Publicist at Team NEPO Kathmandu. Different aspects of climate and major determinants of climate change especially in Switzerland and Nepal were elaborated well by the panelists of the respective country. Ms. Marie mentioned the factors like overconsumption of fossil fuels and industrialization were major determinants of climate change in Switzerland while Mr. Manjeet described how the traditional agricultural techniques and transportation sector is contributing to the climate change in Nepal. In addition to these, different legislative actions taken by the countries were highlighted by respective panelists. The session turned out to be highly fruitful for the participants and they seemed to be determined to tackle this possible future problem of climate change.

Most of the solution-oriented problems were discussed during the webinar with the message to act now rather than we regret later. The closing remarks were made by Mr. Duminda Koralagamage (The Deputy Secretary General of ISRCY). Special thanks to our Global Volunteer Amrit Bist (Nepal) for organizing this remarkable event.