[ASK-Y] Session 2: Why Should Youths Care About the Environment? Young People vs. Environmental Issues

Asia Society Korea held the second session of the 2022 Asia Society Korea Youth (ASK-Y) panel discussion on youth and environmental issues.

The second session, Why Should Youths Care About the Environment? Young People vs. Environmental Issues aimed to identify the various effects of climate change, pollution, and waste while also highlighting the potential solutions that could prevent further damage to our society and environment. The panel, moderated by Ritu Tripura, Masters in Education at Asian University For Women (AUW), was joined by mentor Nazifa Rafa, ASK-Y 2021 co-winner and Doctoral candidate in Geography at the University of Cambridge, to discuss the various subcategories within the environmental discourse that urgently require the youth's attention, as well as how to address them on personal and collective levels.

Each ASK-Y participant presented a variety of potential solutions, such as genuine youth inclusion in major decision-making processes and strengthening consumer and corporate responsibility in reducing carbon emissions. Participants emphasized crucial issues central to the discussion, namely the lack of legal sanctions for "climate villains" and policy implications for various industrial sectors responsible for most global carbon emissions. Furthermore, participants stressed the importance of youth providing innovative ideas to improve the environmental landscape across several sectors toward sustainability, which incorporates targeted boycotting and active recycling.

2022 Panel Sessions and Topics