Copenhagen calling

The UN Climate Change Conference that opens today in Copenhagen will have a small but firm voice from the Indian youth in the form of the 20-member delegation from IYCN (Indian Youth Climate Network). Among them is Bengaluru’s own Arun Patre, an IYCN volunteer who was selected based on the work he has done with city NGO Arghyam. The 26-year-old IIM-B graduate who gave up his career in corporate finance, researches, advocates and communicates with Arghyam’s knowledge portal on water.
“We can think of this conference as India’s first date with the Annex 1 countries, i.e. the developed countries. India is the girl in this relationship and it is the boy’s duty to take the first step, which means we should wait for the developed countries to take the first step towards mitigation of climate change,” says Arun.
“Arun is one of the most dedicated youngsters on the team,” says IYCN Karnataka co-ordinator Brinda Gourav. “We are a group of young professionals and college students. However, it says a lot about a person when he gives up a high-paying job as a financial analyst to work with an NGO.”
In fact, Arun has always wanted to do his bit for the environment, adds his younger sister Shruthi. “When he was doing his B.Com from Jain College he joined a movement against plastic. Later with Arghyam, he worked on the India Water Portal. He has inspired one of our cousins, Mayur who is an MBA student, to follow in his footsteps,” she says.
In Copenhagen, these youngsters are calling for energy equity, an equal sharing of the earth’s resources. IYCN national co-ordinator Chaitanya Kumar explains, “We are calling for a legally binding commitment which ensures that the emission level will be brought down to the safety limit of 350 parts per million from the present global average of 390.” Arun adds, “We would like to see India get there post 2020.”