IYDC 2022 advocates for youth action on climate change

Prof Choong said, “This year we give our focus on climate change with the theme ‘Youth and Climate Resilience’. As the theme suggests, through this conference, held since 2018, we continue to provide a platform to involve young people in important issues, as well as to enable their voices to be heard. Therefore, I thank all participants of the conference for supporting this event. Your involvement is important because you will step into the roles of leaders in the future. As you engage in dialogues with your peers and speakers; share ideas, institutionalised approaches and initiatives, and promote innovative solutions at this conference, you are actually helping to carry the torch that was previously held by many climate change activists, advocates and pioneers. By doing so, you are also contributing to ensure that the benefits and sustainable impacts can continue to be fruitful, and enjoyed by the next and future generations.”

He added, “In UTAR, the continuous involvement of students in climate change issues is supported with many activities, including talks, competitions, community works, volunteering and research to enable them to remain updated and aware of the latest progress of climate change and to acquire necessary skills and experience to contribute more towards climate change. One of our most prominent student projects was the “R-Show in Kampar”, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project, organised by a group of 36 Bachelor of Communication (Honours) Public Relations (PR) students in collaboration with our local district council, Majlis Daerah Kampar (MDKpr). The project aimed to help the local residents solve the flash flood crisis caused by the accumulation of trash in the drains, as a result of poor waste management practices and waste segregation. The CSR project focused on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 13: Climate Action.”

He continued, “On a larger scale, UTAR has also collaborated with industry leaders as our commitment to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations (UN) in support of clean natural energy and working towards carbon neutrality. In Nov 2021, we collaborated with Ditrolic Solar to install approximately 9,000 pieces of solar modules at our Kampar Campus. This solar system can generate enough power for 75 per cent of peak power demand. Over its lifetime, the rooftop solar system will be able to generate about 108,142MWh of clean energy, enabling UTAR to avoid 75,699 tonnes of Co2 emissions. In March 2022, together with the Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC), we launched the ‘1 Student 10 Trees’ campaign at UTAR’s Agricultural Park at our Kampar Campus to plant 2,022 indigenous trees, which is also in line with Malaysia’s pledge in making its land area covered with 50% forest and trees. The trees planted within the UTAR’s Agricultural Park will be maintained by the university as an arboretum for future generations. It is also an effort to plant more trees to absorb greenhouse gases which have negative impacts on climate change. These three projects that I have highlighted also clearly demonstrated the importance of collaboration with related and essential organisations to achieve a common goal. Therefore, your presence here today is more than just participation; it is to also let the wider audience know that young people play a pivotal role over the next decades; and governments, corporations, and leaders should actively collaborate with young people in the global fight against climate change.”

Next to give her opening speech was IOI Properties Group Berhad General Manager of Corporate Communications and Sustainability Kristine Ng. She said, “We are honoured to be invited by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) for the fourth consecutive year to co-organise the International Youth Development Virtual Conference (IYDVC), which is themed Youth and Climate Resilience this year. On behalf of IOI Properties Group, we are delighted to support this conference as it reflects our commitment to strengthen youth engagement which is in line with our Sustainability Strategic Themes of Young Urbanites, one of the Group’s four Sustainability Strategic Themes, to build a better tomorrow by empowering youths to act for positive impact within their communities and nurturing a culture of sustainable living.”
She continued, “With IOI Properties Group being one the largest integrated property developers in Malaysia, we remain committed to achieving our vision of Trust in areas of conducting our business with integrity, empowering our people, safeguarding our environment, and building sustainable communities. Therefore, in line with today’s International Youth Development Virtual Conference, I would like to share with you our commitments to sustainability as well as to the development of our youth.”

Over the years, we have increased our sustainability efforts by embarking on a Sustainability Journey to incorporate sustainability within our corporate vision, mission and core values to build trust as we minimise the impacts of our business on the environment, safeguarding the planet for the future generations. Subsequently, we have also developed a climate action strategy as well as a roadmap aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). These endeavours reflect our commitment to practices and standards designed to promote environmentally and socially responsible operations that emphasise on enhancing the well-being of everyone whose lives we touch, including our employees and local communities.”

She also added, “In areas of property development, IOIPG integrates green design features into its building and township developments, conserving urban biodiversity and fostering harmonious co-existence between humans and nature. To further our Sustainability Journey, we will also continue to educate our employees and business partners on the importance of sustainability and environmental responsibility. IOI Properties Group recognises that the youth are our future. Therefore, we have been committed to supporting the growth of the next generation. We firmly believe that investing in youths plays an important role in developing sustainable communities through programmes and initiatives, namely IOI Connects to Earth, an ongoing programme that creates awareness on waste minimisation, biodiversity and climate change; IOI Active Citizens, an initiative that enables communities to act and create positive social impacts; and IOI Water For Life, a campaign aimed at providing clean drinking water to Orang Asli communities that do not have access to clean or treated water. In support of youth development in climate resilience, IOIPG takes pride in working with leading universities such as UTAR in making IYDVC 2022 to unite youths from different parts of the world to explore ways to make cities sustainable within their capacity. I believe the keynote addresses, workshops and parallel sessions by esteemed speakers and panellists will also broaden your perspectives and inspire you to play an active role in championing sustainability and leading sustainable lifestyles.”

The keynote address delivered by President and Co-Founder of Ecoknights Dr Yasmin Rasyid, on “Building Youth Resilience and Preparedness to Address Climate Change” shed light on the importance of resilience and on increasing youth adaptive capacity. She highlighted, “To avoid the much larger and more severe impacts of climate change, there is an urgent need for coordinated action to not only reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, but to also increase the adaptive capacity and resilience of our built environment and communities. Of late, the topic of climate change and what we can do as a community to be better prepared has raised in importance. We can build a resilient build environment with the technology we have, with the greener materials we make today, with better green financing and other tools. However, the resiliency of people is the most critical, and to build community or people resilience, and that includes youth, would be about increasing their adaptive capacity in key game-changing areas.”

She added, “Resiliency is important because communities are increasingly complex, and so are the challenges they face. Human-caused and natural disasters are more frequent and costlier. Factors like climate change, globalisation, and increased urbanisation can bring disaster-related risks to greater numbers of people. Addressing these threats calls for an approach that combines what we know about preparing for disasters with what we know about actions that strengthen communities every day. Community resilience focuses on enhancing the day-to-day health and wellbeing of communities to reduce the negative impacts of disasters.”

On increasing adaptive capacity, she shared, “From my perspective, the key dimensions that are important for you to think about moving forward in your education, career and passion are firstly assets or your Personal (mental and physical) health. For instance, living a healthy lifestyle and learning skills to manage stress; secondly, Flexibility, which aims to help you maintain connections to meaningful groups like families, places of worship and volunteer organisations. In other words, be liquid, adaptable and flexible. Thirdly is organisation or network, which helps you be informed, educated, and able to help neighbours, family, and friends. For instance, engage in community or neighbourhood preparedness activities. Fourthly, is learning, whereby you can take trainings like CPR, first aid, CERT, or psychological first aid. This also means embracing new knowledge, and skills, soft skills, for instance, to enhance and complement your acquired knowledge. The last key dimension is agency, or be an agent of change, whereby you can create evacuation and family reunification plans, prepare disaster kits, and provide shelter for 72 hours. You can volunteer, sign up, and offer your assets to help others.”

The keynote forum on “Climate Change Resilience” was moderated by Vice President of the ESG Association of Malaysia Joyline Chai. The panellists consisted of Director of Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Prof Dato’ Dr Aileen Tan Shau Hwai, Assistant Manager from Sustainability Services Department of KPMG Management and Risk Consulting Sdn Bhd Rachel Lim Ying Wei, and Chartered Town Planner from Malaysia Institute of Planner TPr Rene Fu Swee Yun. In the forum, they raised awareness on some global and local climate issues, shared ways used by organisations to resolve climate issues, tips on being resilient towards climate change, and explained the ways for young leaders to take part in the global fight against the climate crisis.

The workshop on “Narrative Approach: Storytelling of Climate Crises”, was delivered by Prof Dr Xiao Shizhen from GZNU. She enlightened participants on films that showcased climate crises, as well as real cases of climate crises. She also spoke on the physical science basis about climate change. She later elucidated on the impacts of climate change, and its impacts on world heritage, which then led her to talk about the actions that were taken, and need to be taken to tackle climate change.

Participants were further enlightened by the three following plenary sessions. The first plenary session consisted of speakers Conservation and Science Office of Sabah Wetland Conservation Society (SWCS) Mohd Nurazmeel Mokhtar and Senior Programme Officer of River Care Programme from Global Environment Centre (GEC) Sathis Venkitasamy, who spoke on “Unlocking Youth Potential in Climate Action”. In the second plenary session, Group Sustainability Manager of IOIPG Kelvin Diong spoke on “Engaging Youth as Climate Leaders of Tomorrow” while speaker Assistant General Manager of IOIPG Calvin Sew elucidated on “GBI-certified IOI City Mall – Minimising Impact on the Environment”. Lastly, the third plenary session shed light on “Renewable Energy – An Essential Solution to Climate Change” by speaker Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Solarvest Holdings Berhad Jack Tan.

A closing remark by DSA Sungai Long Head Loh Nyuk Leung, representing Prof Choong, marked the end of IYDC 2022. She said, “We have organised the IYDC since 2018 to empower youth’s involvement in pressing issues. This year, our focus was placed on addressing climate change because we know very well that it can bring adverse effects, such as crop infestation, air pollution, and extreme weather events. These are just a few of the effects, and more could appear if we don’t take action against climate change. At this conference, we have enabled dialogues to take place, which contributed towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Climate Action, and SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals. We also strengthened the role of universities, including UTAR, in implementing SDG 13, and more importantly, participants were able to share ideas on enhancing resilient cities, as well as adaptation solutions towards climate crises.”

She continued, “Although this marks the end of our virtual conference, I hope that all participants have benefited, and have understood the importance of collaborations in tackling climate change. Climate change is an issue that affects the whole world, so everyone should be doing their part in finding solutions to minimise the effects of climate change. I would like to take this opportunity to continue encouraging the young people here to actively participate in climate change activities, so you remain informed and gain necessary skills to help in any way you can.”