Meet the young leaders driving solutions for nature and climate in Davos and beyond
Young people (like Xiye Bastida, Co-Founder, Re-Earth Initiative above) shared their perspectives on climate and nature at Davos 24. Image: World Economic Forum / Boris Bal
- Young changemakers around the world are trailblazing new approaches, perspectives and solutions to tackle the climate crisis and biodiversity loss.
- Twenty-two youth delegates at Davos 2024, this year’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, brought ecopreneurship, innovation, advocacy and education to help safeguard and restore the planet.
- Find who they are and what they said.
Davos 2024 was the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. Under the theme “Rebuilding Trust,” this year’s meeting had a clear mission: to restore collective agency and reinforce the fundamental principles of transparency, consistency and accountability among leaders.
A key focus within the programme was to identify pathways towards a long-term systemic approach to a net-zero and nature-positive world by 2050. At the heart of this dialogue are the voices of young people most impacted by decisions made by business, government and civil society leaders.
To ensure their involvement, Davos 2024 will convened 22 youth delegates, including from the Global Shapers Community, 1t.org’s #GenerationRestoration Youth Hub and UpLink. Through engagement in their communities, these young innovators, activists and indigenous leaders are critical to advancing entrepreneurship, building awareness around the urgent climate crisis, influencing policy locally and globally and propelling new solutions to safeguard and restore planetary health.
Nature and climate youth leaders at Davos 2024
Tariq Al-Olaimy serves advisory roles with the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champions Race to Resilience and the Forum’s 1t.org #GenerationRestoration Youth Hub, Global Shapers Community and Faith in Action Committee. He founded 3BL Associates, a people and planet strategy consultancy. He is also one of the first 100 biomimicry specialists in the world and a leading academic in de-growth economic policy.
The Global Shapers community also works with the 1t.org GenerationRestoration Youth Hub which sits under the UN Decade and there we find a very interesting aspect of future-proofing.
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Xiye Bastida is a 21-year-old Indigenous climate justice activist from the Otomi-Toltec Indigenous community in Mexico.
She is Co-founder of Re-Earth Initiative, an international youth-led organization that focuses on highlighting the intersectionality of the climate crisis. Bastida is a member of 1t.org Global Advisory Council at the World Economic Forum. She is also a member of the Planetary Guardians, an independent collective elevating the science to make Planetary Boundaries a measurement framework for the world. She was the recipient of the 2018 UN Spirit Award, and the TIME100 Next 2023 List.
- Open Forum: Sustaining Life on Earth, Wednesday 17 January, 12:30-13:30 CET: How can unprecedented collaboration between science, business and policy safeguard life and livelihoods on the planet?
I would love my generation to be the last one dependent on fossil fuels. Let's change the world not because we want to or we need to, but because we must.
”Noura Berrouba is president of the National Council of Swedish Youth Organizations, which collectively mobilizes 80 national organizations and 650,000 children and young people. Previously, she served as a member of the Governing Body of the European Youth Parliament and Co-Chair of the Forum’s Annual Meeting in 2019. She is a member of the 1t.org #GenerationRestoration Youth Hub at the Forum, lecturer, panellist and commentator, and is ranked among Sweden’s top ten future policy-makers.
Ahmed Slim Bouakez is an engineer and ecopreneur focusing on tackling water insecurity across the Middle East and North Africa. He is the founder of WaterSec, an organization shaping more responsible water consumption behaviours using cutting-edge technologies.
Luona Cai is a partner at Xishi Magic Bag and the co-founder of Circular Pie, two non-profit organizations combating food waste and promoting circular innovation. She is an ecopreneur accelerating a circular economy for food and agriculture in China.
The kind of AI that truly deserves our attention: ancestral intelligence
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Ann Dumaliang is a conservationist and geotourism advocate fighting to protect pinnacle karst formations in Baras, Rizal. She is the co-founder and managing trustee of Masungi Georeserve. She is accelerating sustainable forest restoration, responsible geopark tourism and rural development in the Philippines. She is a member of the Forum’s 1t.org #GenerationRestoration Youth Hub.
- Earth’s Wisdom Keepers, Friday 19 January, 10:15-11:00CET: How might intergenerational dialogue inform a path that is simultaneously guided by a realism to see the world as it is and an optimism that there is hope and possibilities in a challenging and uncertain future?
Philipp Engelkamp is co-founder and CEO of Ineratec and an UpLink entrepreneur. Ineratec is producing climate-neutral e-fuels and chemicals for the mobility and transportation sectors. A pioneer in e-fuel and power-to-liquid applications, Ineratec produces sustainable e-fuels and synthetic chemicals to replace fossil crude oil.
Every sustainable livelihood has to be done in a participatory way: indigenous communities have to be seen as partners not as beneficiaries.
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Alfonso Escolar González is an engineer who evaluates and audits sustainability strategies related to mining, oil and agriculture. He builds awareness and advocates for efforts to combat the harmful effects of climate change on fragile communities and ecosystems. He is a 1t.org #GenerationRestoration Youth Hub member at the Forum.
- Forests as a Climate and Livelihood Solution, Tuesday 16 January, 16:15-16:45 CET: With such immense potential, what are the new science, corporate and government commitments to safeguard forests both in land and coastal ecosystems and protect local livelihoods?
Jessica Gaba is accelerating digital transformation in Benin. From 2019 to 2022, she was appointed by the minister of digital as the coordinator of the National Fund for Digital Entrepreneurs. In 2022, she became a programme manager for Dream VC while pursuing her PhD. She is also the founder of SAAVA, a platform to support and mobilize funding for female entrepreneurs.
- How to Believe in the Future Thursday 18 January, 17:30-18:15 CET: What will it take for business leaders and politicians to build a vision for the future that young people can believe in?
Capacity-building is essential. Supporting young people with the scientific knowledge and understanding is a crucial starting point but its not sufficient.”
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Marie-Claire Graf is the co-founder of Youth Negotiators Academy. She is a climate justice activist fighting for a just transition to sustainable development and ambitious climate action. She was the youngest negotiator from Switzerland for any UN climate negotiations and is training young diplomats for multilateral processes. She is a member of the 1t.org #GenerationRestoration Youth Hub at the Forum.
- Earth’s Wisdom Keepers, Friday 19 January, 10:15-11:00 CET: How might intergenerational dialogue inform a path that is simultaneously guided by a realism to see the world as it is and an optimism that there is hope and possibilities in a challenging and uncertain future?
Nyifamu Manzo is the founder of Farmatrix, a technology company that solves agricultural challenges through innovative solutions. Farmatrix offers a web platform using artificial intelligence (AI) and customer purchasing algorithms to connect buyers and farmers in real time.
Marek Miltner is a researcher and software engineer applying AI super tools to accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions. His research at Stanford University outlines how AI can help build the green energy grid of tomorrow and power the electric vehicle revolution.
Salma Melissa Mohammadiyan is a social entrepreneur leading a beauty brand focused on circularity and sustainability. She strongly advocates for adopting circular economy principles to reduce waste and increase social value among enterprises in Mexico.
Jodie Padilla Lozano is a researcher and engineer focused on accelerating gender parity. Her research is at the intersection of climate, crisis and gender. She is raising awareness of the exacerbating effects of climate change on violence against women and girls.
- Open Forum: Medicine and Women Tuesday 16 January, 12:30-13:30 CET: Where is gender research headed and what are the most promising applications in research, prevention and care?
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Nidhi Pant is a co-founder of S4S Technologies and an UpLink entrepreneur. S4S Technologies is a decentralized agri-processing platform serving shelf-stable, nutrition-rich and convenience foods to industrial kitchens and packaged food companies. At the heart of the S4S business model is the solar-powered food dehydration system operated by women micro-entrepreneurs.
Paula Pirinen is an associate lawyer at Roschier Attorneys, focusing on capital market law and regulation. She is a climate innovator unlocking equitable environmental solutions by leveraging financial markets for global decarbonization, particularly in emerging economies.
Renata Koch Alvarenga is founder of EmpoderaClima, a multilingual initiative based in Brazil that advocates for gender equality in climate action, with a Global South perspective.
- Open Forum: On Thin Ice, Thursday 18 January, 12:30-13:30 CET: What is needed to respond appropriately to increasing climate volatility unlocked at the poles?
Joao Rocha is an urban engineer specializing in territorial planning. He is a prominent climate activist and was instrumental in declaring a climate emergency across Brazil and implementing climate education into school curriculums in Rio de Janeiro. He is a PhD candidate in Climate Change Policy at the University of Lisbon.
Pranidhi Sawhney is a development economist and a climate policy specialist at the World Bank. He focuses on international trade, regional integration, investment promotion and value chain development, with a geographical focus on South-East Asia.
Hosana Silva is a climate activist and TV presenter building awareness of the communities most vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis. She advocates for inclusive solutions to resolve the systemic barriers preventing climate justice for all.
- Earth’s Wisdom Keepers, Friday 19 January, 10:15-11:00CET: How might intergenerational dialogue inform a path that is simultaneously guided by a realism to see the world as it is and an optimism that there is hope and possibilities in a challenging and uncertain future?
Rita Steele is the founder of the BIPOC Sustainability Collective and leads Simon Fraser University’s operational response to the climate crisis. She is responsible for developing a net-zero roadmap, setting science-based targets for the institution and implementing university-wide climate mitigation and adaptation planning initiatives.