Global Youth Climate Summit starts in Bangladesh from October 20

The Global Youth Leadership Center -GYLC, an international non-profit, will launch its first program – the Global Youth Climate Summit in Bangladesh on October 20. The three-day summit will be held in Khulna, the most climate-vulnerable region of Bangladesh, bringing together 650 young people from 70 countries to explore how today's youth can lead the fight against climate change. In a press conference organized in Dhaka on Tuesday, Ejaz Ahmed, founder and CEO of Global Youth Leadership Center, said, “Climate change is the biggest crisis facing humanity today. After training Bangladeshi youth for the past 14 years, I am now launching a global organization to mobilize youth, especially from the Global South, to tackle the climate crisis. To address a complex challenge like climate change, we have to work globally and at scale. The mission of GYLC is to expand youth’s knowledge about climate science, equip them with leadership skills to take individual and collective action, and enable them to launch businesses that contribute to climate mitigation or adaptation.” To empower youth to take climate action, he said, 10 delegates to the summit will receive a grant of US$1,000 to implement their climate mitigation or adaptation projects. While speaking at the press conference, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Grameenphone Hans Martin Hoegh Henrichsen said, “As part of our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint, we have set a science-based target to reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 in comparison to our 2019 levels. We believe in the power of youth and the Global Youth Climate Summit is an excellent platform for us to engage with youth and raise awareness about an urgent cause.” BYLC executive director Tahsinah Ahmed and young climate activist Shakila Islam also spoke at the press conference. Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, Prime Minister's International Affairs Adviser Dr. Gauhar Rizvi, Member of Parliament Nahim Razzaq, former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government Sir David King, former Oxford Professor Sir Christopher Ball, former Harvard Leadership Faculty teacher Dr. Dean Williams, ICCAD director Dr. Salemul Haque, British High Commissioner Robert Chatterton Dickson, BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh and Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman will speak at this summit. Grameenphone is the title sponsor of the Global Youth Climate Summit, while the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, FHI360, and Sir Christopher Ball and Lady Ball are the gold sponsors. Silver sponsors include Paragon Group, UCB, BRAC, and Daraz. Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) is the implementing partner. BEDS and YouthNet for Climate Justice are the community and outreach partners respectively.