Hundreds of Youth echo the call to “Consume with Care” at Dubai summit on 1st June

Dubai, June 4, 2015: Green Hope, the youth sustainability organisation, conducted an epoch, day long, conference as a buildup to World Environment Day . Hosted by the GEMS New Millennium School – Al Khail, it brought under one roof 170 budding environmentalists from schools in Dubai , Sharjah, Ajman and a delegation of students from Indian School Muscat who flew in for the day , all the way from Oman. This unique student led initiative was supported by Cummins ME.

The overarching theme of this conference revolved around the theme of the 2015 World Environment Day (WED ) “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet.

Consume with Care”. Launching the summit, 14 year old Kehkashan Basu, Founder President of Green Hope & the Global Coordinator for Children & Youth- UNEP said that “It is time for civil society to introspect and take urgent action to reverse the trend of environmental degradation before it is too late. Our planet’s finite resources are depleting at an alarming rate and this in turn is putting our future in jeopardy. A sustainable future can be realized only if its three pillars work and grow in harmony. The current trend of economic growth at the cost of environment and society must be stopped. We have an obligation to protect our natural resources and ensure that we leave the natural and human environment in at least the same good condition as it was received.”

To commemorate the event, the attendees planted 150 Jetropha saplings as an emphatic green statement. The conference featured a panel discussion graced by several prominent sustainability experts.  They enlightened the audience with their experiences and views on sustainable consumption, the impacts of waste, examples of   environmental degradation and the ways and means for civil society to move to  zero waste by imbibing the philosophy of consuming with care. The panelists were – 

a.    Mr Ibrahim Al-Zu'bi, the Senior Adviser for Sustainability at the Dubai Land Department- Government of Dubai , part of  Top 100 Thought Leaders in Europe and the Middle East in 2011 by Center for Sustainability and Excellence in the US; 
b.    Ms Elena Weber – CEO/Founder of ICONS Coffee Couture , internationally renowned fashion model and a sustainable lifestyle proponent
c.    Ms Anne Russel – Educator at the American Community School , Abu Dhabi and a vastly experienced mentor to hundreds of youth on sustainable development.
d.    Ms Aruna Narayanan – the head of marketing and CSR at DULSCO
e.    Ms Fatima Martin – the principal of GEMS New Millennium School – Al Khail and a well-known proponent of sustainability amongst students

The panel discussion concluded with a hugely engaging and interactive question & answer session where the experts answered a wide range of queries on the environment and sustainability from the students.

Green Hope believes in providing youth with a platform for sharing their views and aspirations on sustainable development and the panel discussion was followed by a public speaking competition on the topic  “Sustainable Consumption-Getting More Out of Less” for the Junior category & “The Greatest Threat to Our Planet Is..........” for the seniors. Different speakers from the attending schools demonstrated exemplary flair, knowledge and passion as they exhorted civil society to correct the imbalance between the three pillars of sustainable development , avoid economic growth at the cost of the environment and move to a sustainable , zero carbon lifestyle.  12 year old Megan D’Souza from Indian School Muscat was the winner in the Juniors category, while Fatma Rashid from the North American International School took the top spot in the seniors category. 

In line with the theme of WED2015, the participating schools displayed models of “Waste Recyclers in the year 2050” which showcased the ingenuity, creativity and vision of the students.

The conference concluded with the participants writing their pledges for a sustainable future on leaves which were stuck on the cut-out of a tree, aptly named as the “Tree of Hope”. This summit highlighted the aspirations of youth, who are the “Future Generations”, to overcome challenges of resource inefficiency by promoting sustainable consumption and upcycling at every level of civil society. The resounding call was to “do more with less by consuming with care”