Climate change is one of the greatest threats to a sustainable future, but addressing the climate challenge presents an opportunity to promote prosperity, security, and a brighter future. To mark Commonwealth Day 2022, JAAGO Foundation, with the support of British High Commission in Bangladesh and the Commonhealth, organised 15 round tables in 15 districts of Bangladesh. A webinar under the title of “Youth, Climate Action and Commonwealth” to generate discussion about youth engagement for climate action in Bangladesh and other Commonwealth countries was also arranged.
There was a series of roundtable meetings with the youth and community leaders in 15 districts of Bangladesh to discuss the outcomes of COP 26, Bangladesh’s commitment and youth engagement in climate resilience, adaptation, activism and solutions. The roundtables are being conducted in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Dinajpur, Bogura, Barisal, Comilla, Sherpur, Kushtia, Satkhira, Kurigram, Bandarban, Rangamati. 225 youths leaders participated in the conversation and pledged to work in their community to bring sustainable climate actions. The discussions also mentioned building a low carbon society in Bangladesh, building overall awareness at the community level utilising the largest workforce of the country, the youth. Furthermore, it focused on climate resilience, global and contextual issues and identifying youth roles to contribute to mitigating climate impacts. One of the participants mentioned, “As a responsible youth of this country, we would like to request all the commonwealth youth leaders to come together to address this issue where we are being affected without being directly involved in creating the problem.”