A lot of talk these days is on greenhouse gases, global warming, future of the resources available on our lovely planet in fact on the future of the planet itself. Having reached a state of no return we need to identify the key factors which will help rescue our planet from its fate. Today many might just feel lucky( I sometimes do) to be born at a time when everything is available in abundance however this may not be the case in the future. Instead of trying to escape the question we need to think of the life our children would live.
Introspection followed by action is what is needed from all the stakeholders. In order to survive in the future all development needs to be sustainable. We need to ask ourselves how we can meet our needs today without diminishing our resources for the future.
Sustainable development to me means getting a long term perspective and then I ask myself, are future goals possible without dynamic youthful thinking. Young people today are not considered possible ‘development leaders’ and are often looked down upon for there ‘vain & hollow’ outlook on life, and possibility of them emerging as productive is condescended upon. However this perception needs to change and there is a need for inclusive thinking where the youth of today need to have a say as they are the future.
Going back to my previous point I feel that a long term perspective is impossible without youth involvement, in order for us to achieve sustainable development, we need the youth to understand and feel for the same. It is imperative that youth from all parts of the world participate actively in all relevant levels of decision-making processes because it affects their lives today and has implications for their futures.
In addition to their intellectual contribution and their ability to mobilize support, they bring unique perspectives that need to be taken into account. One of the ways to do so, is if each country creates and encourages youth forums to participate and brain storm on ways to improve the situations which we need to address today to achieve sustainable development. This can include forums and groups for environmental issues, the youth in these forums can work closely with specialist from around the world to get a more technical perspective, for specific issues if technicality and experience is one of our concerns.
A good example is Youth Parliament: Run by young people for young people. Youth parliament gives the young people a voice, which is heard and listened to by various local and national governments, providers of services for young people and other agencies who have an interest in the views and needs of young people.
The youth today needs to know what today’s world leaders have in store for them. For when they say all the non-renewable sources of energy will be depleted in another 50 years what are the plans to over come that, what are the alternatives, what steps needs to be taken to prevent the eventuality for it is they who need to start working today to have an impact tomorrow and conserve our beautiful planet .
Posted by varunchugh 
