Pune: The Pune International Centre (PIC), in collaboration with Climate Collective Pune (CCP), hosted the second edition of the YouCAN (Youth Climate Action Nexus) Fest on March 7. The event brought together students, climate experts, and policymakers to discuss critical environmental challenges and explore solutions for a sustainable future.
Prof. Amitav Mallik, event convenor and a founding member of PIC, emphasized the urgency of addressing climate change. He warned that humanity has already crossed six out of nine tipping points identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Prof. Mallik highlighted that excessive fossil fuel consumption has driven the planet toward irreversible environmental thresholds. “We crossed the critical limit last year,” he said, referring to the IPCC’s 1.5°C global warming target for 2030. “We cannot afford to wait until 2030,” he cautioned, stressing that the term ‘global warming’ has now been replaced by ‘global heating.’
Pointing to Pune’s changing weather patterns, including unusual dry, rainy, and cold spells, he warned that without immediate intervention, the city risks losing its environmental advantage. He urged young people to drive climate awareness instead of relying on government action, emphasizing that climate change also threatens national security by reducing productivity.
“The climate crisis is a man-made problem, and it can be corrected by human efforts,” he stated, advocating for local ecological restoration as a priority over carbon footprint reduction. He also called for replacing GDP as an economic indicator with a “Green GDP” that measures planetary health.
Youth Engagement in Sustainable Development
Poonam Mehta, Joint Commissioner of PMRDA and the event’s chief guest, engaged in a discussion with Prof. Mallik, urging young people to take an active role in civic and environmental matters. “Change begins with us, and there is no better force than the youth to lead this movement,” she remarked.
Mehta cited the Netherlands as an example where citizens actively participate in governance by staying informed and questioning policies. She also highlighted initiatives such as Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyan, a sustainability-focused city-ranking competition, and called for greater public involvement in environmental governance.
