Press release from Business Wire India
Source: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Wednesday, December 03, 2008 02:18 PM IST (08:48 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Environment; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Education & training, Financial Analyst
Release no: 18655
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British Council in Partnership with TERI Launches International Climate Champions 2009 to Inspire GenY in India, Sri Lanka
New Delhi, Delhi, India, Wednesday, December 03, 2008 -- (Business Wire India) -- British Council, in partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), launched The International Climate Champions 2009 -- a youth oriented programme that aims to inspire young people, especially students, to spread the word about Climate Change, its effects and what can be done to mitigate them. Sixty young Indians and five Sri Lankan students will be selected as ambassadors for communicating the message of Climate Change, and work towards mitigating its effects in India.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the British Council and TERI to jointly manage and implement the 'International Climate Champions Programme' across India and Sri Lanka.
Highlighting the relevance of the young ambassadors, Dr RK Pachauri, Director General, TERI and Chairman IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), said, "Catching the young minds and orienting them towards environmental stewardship is our ultimate goal. This programme has an enormous potential for transforming Indian society towards greater environmental consciousness and support for sustainable development."
Dwelling on the synergy of the programme, Dr Pachauri said, "The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has come a long way in strengthening human and institutional capacity on nature conservation and environmental protection, with the help of environment education and allied activities."
Lauding British Council's initiative, Dr Pachauri pointed out, "It is really the youngsters of today who will be the leaders of tomorrow, and in their role as 'Climate Champions' they would be major agents of change for a sustainable future."
Mr Les Dangerfield, Acting Director, British Council Division, British High Commission addressing the audience said, International Climate Champions is an important part of the British Council's global work to encourage awareness and action on climate change. We are delighted to be working in tandem with TERI on this initiative in India.
Training and Awareness Building workshops will be jointly conducted by TERI's Environment Education and Awareness (EEA) Area, supported by the Institute's office establishments across India , and the British Council offices. British Council alongwith TERI will design, implement, manage and monitor the programme.
The Indo-Sri Lankan exercise is part of the British Council's international programme conducted in the G8+5 countries (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, UK and USA). Last year, 20 Indian Climate Champions were selected through a rigorous country-wide competition. Three of these young champions were later chosen as International Climate Champions 2008, and represented India at the London meets and G8+5 summit in Kobe, Japan.
Selection
Young people aged between 18-21 years are eligible to enter the competition. The selection process consists of two phases. In Phase 1, applicants will be shortlisted based on their online applications. Selection during Phase 2 will be based on the proposals and interviews of the shortlisted applicants.
For more information and to apply, visit www.britishcouncil.org.in, http://edugreen.teri.res.in
Notes to editors:
Young people are the future leaders of tomorrow and hence they play a key role in mitigating the effects of climate change in India. The aim of the programme is to provide multiple opportunities to the climate champions, which will enable them to develop a plan of action for mitigating climate change; and also interact with policy makers, leaders and media to communicate the urgency for a positive action against climate change.
Climate Change related training camps and field visits will be organized to build the capacity of these Climate Champions. The Champions will be visiting UK to interact with experts. Their first hand experiences will further prepare them to conceptualize an action plan for communication, adaptation and mitigation of Climate Change for India.
Climate Change is one of the most important challenges the world is facing. People all around the world live their lives mostly by burning fossil fuels for energy and this along with the cutting down of forests is increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is affecting the climate in extreme ways, such as heat waves and flooding. The vast majority of scientists agree that to avoid radical changes in India's weather in the future, we need to act together, now. The first step is to help people to start thinking about climate change as a problem that affects us all, how it is caused and what we all can do to help tackle it.
British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Our purpose is to build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the UK and other countries and increase appreciation of the UK's creative ideas and achievements. The British Council is active in 109 countries and 227 towns and cities worldwide.
For further information on the International Climate Champions, please contact:
For any query on the programme, please contact:
Dr. Sudhanshu Sinha
Head, Regional Climate Security Project (LCF)
British Council Division, British High Commission
17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001
Tel: +91 11 41497237 (Direct)
Tel: +91 112371 1401 (Ext. 7237), Fax: +91 11 23710717
Mobile: 981077-9159
e-mail: sudhanshu.sinha@in.britishcouncil.org
Website: www.britishcouncil.org.in
For media related queries, please contact:
Anjoo Mohan/Angeles Micah
British Council Division, British High Commission
17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001
Tel: +91 11 41497335 (Direct)
Tel: +91 112371 1401 (Ext. 7335), Fax: +91 11 23710717
e-mail: anjoo.mohan@in.britishcouncil.org; angeles.micah@in.britishcouncil.org
Website: www.britishcouncil.org.in
Environment Education and Awareness (EEA) Area at TERI has dedicated itself to the task of creating an informed group of young citizens who will become the leaders of tomorrow and for whom environmental issues will become a part of their daily lives. It has conducted several projects on issues related to water, air, climate change, energy, etc. The Area develops and disseminates resource material (both print and electronic) for effective communication, besides networking with like-minded institutes, for wider outreach at the national and global platform.
The EEA Area targets mainly students and teachers and through them the community. To bring about a spirit of participatory competition for addressing environmental concerns innovative projects and activities are undertaken such as conferences, interactive sessions and discussions. An annual international environmental examination - GREEN Olympiad for middle and senior school students is conducted in association with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India that culminates in the TERRAQUIZ, the first environmental quiz programme for school students on Indian television. School Health and Hygiene programme is being carried out in the government schools of Haryana (Gurgaon, Sonepat and Panipat) and Delhi under the Yamuna Action Plan - II. Workshops, seminars, training programmes and educational field trips on environmental issues are organised for teachers and students at regular intervals.
To know further details about the programme, contact :eea@teri.res.in
CONTACT DETAILS
Ranjeeta Buti, EEA, +91 9811254223, ranjeeta@teri.res.in
Dalvinder Kaur, TERI - The Energy and Resources Institutes, +91 9891377700, djkaur@teri.res.in
Tushita Mukherjee, TERI - The Energy and Resources Institutes, +91 9871204990, tushitam@teri.res.in
KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENVIRONMENT, MARKETING, EDUCATION, Financial Analyst
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