Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Archana Soreng has been selected as one amongst seven members of Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change established by the United Nations as a part of its youth strategy.
On 27th July 2020, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had announced the names of seven young climate leaders July 27, 2020 including that of Archana. All the seven are between 18 and 28 years old and will advise Guterres regularly on accelerating global action and ambition to tackle the worsening climate crisis.
“We are in a climate emergency. We do not have the luxury of time,” the Secretary-General said in a video announcing the establishment of the ‘Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change’.
“We need urgent action now – to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic, to confront injustice and inequality and address climate disruption. We have seen young people on the front lines of climate action, showing us what bold leadership looks like. “That is why I am launching the Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change – to provide perspectives, ideas and solutions that will help us scale up climate action,” the UN Secretary General had stated.
The others who have found a place in the panel are, Nisreen Elsaim (Sudan), Ernest Gibson (Fiji), Vlaidslav Kaim (Moldova), Sophia Kianni (United States), Nathan Metenier (France) and Paloma Costa (Brazil). Incidentally Archana is a member of the Khadia tribe and hails from Sundargarh District of Odisha.
Archana has done her Masters of Arts in Regulatory Governance from Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. She is currently working as Research Officer in Vasundhara, Odisha. Her writings have been published in the several national and international youth websites. She has been engaged with various youth groups at the regional and national level and is actively involved in the ‘Indigenous Youth Groups to Preserve, Document and Promote the Traditional Knowledge and Practices of their Communities’.
This representation in the UN Secretary General’s ‘Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change’ will be an important landmark for the Odisha and the adivasi and forest dwelling communities who have been protecting nature with the traditional conservation knowledge and practices.