Y20 Consultation Event at KU

Mohammad Numaan
As a part of India’s G20 Presidency, the Youth 20 (Y20) group’s Y20 Consultation was held at University of Kashmir from 10th – 11th May, 2023 to 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 J&K and Chancellor Kashmir University, Manoj Sinha. 17 Youth delegates from G20 countries like Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, Japan, Republic of Korea, United States, Brazil and Nigeria participated in the two-day Y20 Consultation at University of Kashmir in Srinagar.
After being honored to host the prestigious international event, the Kashmir University identified important departments across faculties to hold events on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified for attainment by G20 in the year 2023 and Kashmir University during the past few months has played an important role in creating awareness about the importance of the G20 summit.
108 students from University of Kashmir, 34 students from schools around Jammu and Kashmir, 57 students from colleges, 11 students from different colleges and universities of Jammu, 33 DoYA delegates, 25 Y20 Secretariat delegates and 25 student activists also participated in the Y20 Consultation.
The Y20 Consultation witnessed a healthy and interactive dialogue with all delegates present at the University’s Convocation Complex. As a part of the inaugural session, welcome address was delivered by Prof. Manzoor A. Shah, where he spelt out the broad objectives of the Y20 Consultation’. It was followed by an address by Pankaj Kumar where he provided a brief context of Y20, which set the tone of the Y20 Consultation. Earlier on May 10, 2023 a heritage tour to Mughal Garden Nishat and Pari Mahal was organised by the University followed by a group dinner.
Akash Jha, Secretary, Y20 India also spoke on the occasion 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 been confined these discussions to the elite class, it is a people’s Presidency where Y20 is a leading partner.”
Prof. Nilofer Khan, Vice Chancellor, in her address said the 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. And if anyone can strongly help address this crisis, it is the youth who are the future of the nation.” She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur, and Chancellor Manoj Sinha for giving the University a chance to be part of country G20 Presidency through the Y20 platform.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, advisor to Lieutenant Governor J&K who said that G20 Presidency gives every citizen of the country an occasion to celebrate India’s place in the world order. “Youth hold the key to the future as well as the present. It is critical to join hands to be able to achieve the goals that have been set forth and G20 is an opportunity to make planet Earth a safer place to live in. He said there is a greater emphasis on youth involvement in the G20 Presidency to address critical issues like climate change.”
Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor, UT of Jammu & Kashmir and Chancellor of University of Kashmir in his key address said that the vision of India’s G20 Presidency is the vision for 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.” He said the Prime Minister has made it clear that climate change cannot be fought from conference tables alone and it has to be fought from the dinner tables of every home.
The LG Sinha said the massive participation in this Y20 Consultation Conference signals the encouraging prospect of a new energy in a global partnership on environment, development and our collective effort to ensure equity, global prosperity and better quality of life for all.
“PM Narendra Modi has called upon the global community to transform the effort of tackling climate challenge into a mass movement and promote an environmentally conscious lifestyle. I firmly believe under the leadership of PM Modi, India will guide the world in building a sustainable society that will both be an economic powerhouse and a major contributor in restoring the delicate balance of Nature,” the LG said.
“By adopting ‘Green Growth’ as one of the seven key priorities (Saptarshi), the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown the world that India stands firm on its resolve to achieve the goal of Zero Carbon Emission by 2070,” he added.
At the Y20 Consultation, the Lieutenant Governor called upon youth to ensure ideas to create productive harmony between nature and human are translated into action and it contributes to a better world.
“Youth will lead the world in offering pragmatic solutions to climate & global challenges of 21st century. I believe the young generation will synergize innovative ideas and actions to preserve natural resources and also become stakeholders in policymaking for sustainable development,” he said.
In his address the LG Sinha talked about the vision of India's G20 Presidency and collective responsibility of the global community to nurture the nature for benefit of humanity.
“Vision of India's G20 Presidency focuses on our shared responsibility to tackle two great challenges- Protect climate & promote sustainable development. As one family, we need to nurture earth that sustains life and commit for inclusive development to transform lives of common man,” he added.
The Lieutenant Governor also highlighted the values and principles as enshrined in the ancient Indian scriptures on sustainable living and environment protection.
“The sustainable living is Indian way of life. Long before the global community realized the importance of sustainable living our forefathers dedicated Prithvi Sukta, in Atharv Veda to mother earth highlighting its resources and urging the people to utilize them in a sustainable manner. Thousands years before the term Sustainable Life Style was popularized across the globe, Yajurveda mentioned about harmonious living with earth, water, trees and to prioritize the use of natural resources,” the LG Sinha said.
He emphasized that the vision of our forefathers was not merely ideas confined to the books but were focused on action from the community as every ancient Indian scripture calls for selfless act.
“We must adopt a balanced & holistic approach between development and nature to manage the challenges of accelerated growth and ecological sustainability. Our rights on natural resources are not absolute, it is temporary. This thinking should become part of our daily habit to ensure prosperous earth for our future generations,” he further added.
The Lieutenant Governor also reiterated the UT Government’s commitment to support sustainable development and lead the action against climate change.
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) highlighted that the 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. Ashim Sattar (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. Seemin Rubab, 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 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 Khalid Jehangir (Chairman, ICPS, Srinagar). The session saw insightful discussions on the theme with critical interventions by the panelists.
Y20 Consultation at University of Kashmir was a successful event. It showcased policy measures ideated by the youth. 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 Kashmir University 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 paining and poster competitions were organized 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.
The repeated waves of the Covid-19 pandemic have eroded decades of progress made towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. During its G20 Presidency, India aims to use this powerful global platform to share the best practices to get the world back on track to achieve the stipulated targets. And to achieve this, there is a major focus on financial inclusion under India’s G20 Presidency.
In the past few years, India has harnessed the potential of digital technologies to accelerate financial inclusion, transforming itself from a cash-based economy to one that accounts for almost 40% of all real-time digital payments in the world.
Pertinently, when India attained the G20 presidency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, set a goal to involve the country’s youth power to spread awareness on 17 Sustainable Development Goals which concern people’s welfare across G20 countries.
All researchers, faculty scholars and students have been involved in organizing the Y20 event in the varsity. It has provided an opportunity for the youth to come forward and share their ideas on how they could contribute towards nation-building.
(The author can be mailed at: numaanmha@gmail.com)