 Hello and welcome to the uplink daily. I'm your host Imanuela Orsini joining you from the Sustainable Development Impact Summit here at the World Economic Forum headquarters in Geneva. When we talk about climate action we know that young people are at the forefront of this movement. This new generation of change makers from all over the world are calling for an end to all new coal, oil and gas explorations and developments in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the most devastating effects of climate change. To contribute to this fight, uplink in partnership with the Global Sheepers Community and the Climate Reality Project is delighted to announce the launch of the Youth Climate Action Challenge, a global call for innovative solutions led by young people that give us the best possible chance to avoid catastrophic levels of global warming. We're going to speak to experts who can tell us a little more about the challenge and the kind of solutions they want to hear about. But before then, let's watch this short video. Joining me now in the studio to talk more about the Youth Climate Action Challenge is Wadia Ait-Hamza, head of the Global Shapers Community at the World Economic Forum. Welcome Wadia. Thank you. Now tell us a bit more about the Global Shapers Community. Who are they? The Global Shapers Community is a network of young people in their 20s working together to address local, national and global challenges. The community was created back in 2011 with the mission to empower young people. In each city, a group of Global Shapers come together to launch projects and today we are proud to have more than 450 hubs around the world with more than 14,000 members and alumni. Oh, that's huge. And now why are you launching this challenge? Basically because protecting the nature and climate change is one of the main priorities for young people. During the Global Shapers Survey, young people have been clear that protecting nature is priority number one. During the Davos lab, Global Shapers came again together to address the needs of policymaking in protecting the nature. And with this challenge, we are looking for innovative ideas so that we can come together and solve this big problem. Now what kind of solutions are you looking for? We are basically looking for solutions in green cities, in civic engagement, in climate justice, in circular economy, in order to protect our nature. So you need to be under 30 years old, submit your solution either from a startup or individuals. And we're looking for 15 to 20 solutions that will be put in a cohort of Global Shapers where they will be scaled through mentorship and through also the help of our partner, Climate Reality Project, who are supporting the Global Shapers in dealing with this topic. Okay, well thank you so much for being here today, Wadia. Thank you for having me. Now let's speak with two Global Shapers from the Boulder Hub, Risalat Khan, and from the Beijing Hub, Lucy Tong. A big welcome to the both of you. Now, Risalat, let's start with you. The Davos Lab Youth Recovery Plan told us a lot about the climate action that young people are demanding from governments, financial institutions, and all of society. Can you share the insights and recommendations with us? Just to share how the Davos Lab project started. It started in the aftermath of the pandemic when we saw governments mobilizing trillions of dollars to meet the urgent crisis facing us. But one thing became clear. This response to the pandemic could either accelerate action on the climate emergency or it could lock in fossil fuel projects that make our climate goals out of reach and bring catastrophic impacts on communities across the world. So that's why the Davos Lab Youth Recovery Plan started. And what we found is that there is a huge base of support all over the world in all of the surveys and insights that were collected through dialogues that happened in hundreds of communities across the world. For example, 82% of people that were asked said that governments should make accelerating climate action a key goal of the economic recovery. And across the board, we saw this again and again. Now, what came out in these insights as well as through the painstaking work of global shapers from around the world who were working to put together this recovery plan is that people really expect, particularly young people, expect powerful countries, economies of the G7, G20, and so on to rapidly shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, invest in energy efficiency, ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture practices, innovation to unlock the next generation of technologies that will take us to net zero by 2050, which is what the science demands. But even more urgently, this is the decisive decade of action. Scientists have said in the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, that this decade we need to cut emissions in half. That is an extraordinary scale and speed of transition that must be led at all sectors through government policy, through financial institutions, stopping investing in fossil fuels and unlocking renewable technologies, as well as business playing its part in really making sure that they're cutting emissions in line with the science of 1.5 degrees, because anything beyond that will be too much for communities to bear. So there is a real moment of accountability here where young people can continue to challenge and agitate for action that is in line with the science, that is in line with the best interests of children and young people and future generations, but also everyone. We have seen that no one is immune to the summer of hell, like we are seeing wildfires and floods and hurricanes, devastate communities everywhere. And even those who thought they might get away with not facing some of the impacts of climate change are now facing it at their doorstep. So right now it's a moment for a call to action for everyone. And young people have a particular role to play there because ultimately it is young people that will face the worst of these consequences over their lifetimes. So I think young people are already involved and they will continue to be. And I hope that through this initiative more people will come on board and really make this decisive decade the transformational moment that it could be for humanity and all of life on earth. Thank you, Risalat, for your insight. Now, Lucy, this challenge is out to set the record straight. Young people are not only demanding climate action, but are leading desperately needed solutions to climate change. What is the call to action? And what kind of solutions does this challenge call for? Who should apply? So the hard line eligibility is actually quite simple. It's anybody within the age of 30 by December 1st, 2021. And they may be founders working in a startup. They may be working for a corporate or they might be a student. We're looking for solutions in one of the five focus areas. So there are civic engagement, climate justice, green cities, nature, and circular economy. A total of 10 to 20 submissions will be selected through the application process and they will be met through a six month program facilitated by the global shepherd community and also the climate reality which are the co-organizers of this entire initiative. And you will get, you know, thank this resources like targeted support, your networking and mentorship opportunities. And you also will have growth opportunities because this is a very rare platform for you to showcase your solutions on. Thank you, Risa Lat and Lucy for joining me here today. Now our last guest today is Jill Linus from the Climate Reality Project, a longstanding partner of the global shapers community. And one of the partners helping us to run the Youth Climate Action Challenge. Welcome Jill. Thank you for having me. Now what role is climate reality playing to support youth mobilization? We educate youth through our trainings and our events. For example, at our climate reality leadership core trainings, we often have youth led sessions and also spaces for youth to network and in person, even gather to talk with one another. In the United States, we also have been doing a training series through our inconvenient youth initiative where we hosted a series of webinars, to train youth on civic engagement, environmental justice and activism. And our branch offices internationally are also engaging youth. The Climate Reality Latin America Branch is training young people across the continent how to engage with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Process and is even bringing a cohort of young people to COP26 as part of their country's delegations. In Indonesia, our climate reality branch there has trained thousands of young people on the climate crisis through their youth leadership camp on climate change. So we're really excited for this uplink challenge, which is kind of going to be that next step for us when it comes to youth engagement. And a great way to kind of bring all these different things that we do together in one global challenge. Why should young people apply to this challenge? And what do you hope this challenge can achieve? Applying for this challenge is a great opportunity to get exposure and then also to meet other young innovators like yourselves. I think one of the hardest things when you're a young person and you're working in the climate space or the innovator space is you often end up a bit siloed. You're often in rooms with a lot of people that are older than you or working in a different space than you. And through this challenge, you're really going to have the opportunity to end up in a room with other like-minded people, other young people who are also working towards a common goal of solving the climate crisis. Thanks for joining us here today, Jill. The Youth Climate Action Challenge on uplink is now open and you can submit your solutions for this challenge on the uplink platform. And if finding solutions to climate change is a topic that is close to your heart, join us again for more sessions tomorrow from the Sustainable Development Impact Summit, where the key theme of the day is climate action. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time.