Young voices resonate for a One Young World

India’s young climate activist, 23-year-old Madhav Datt, founder of ‘Green the Gene’, one of the world’s largest youth-run environmental non-profit organisations, joined the One Young World summit last week.

Featured in an article in The Guardian, 23-year-old Madhav Datt – who founded ‘Green the Gene’ from the small environmental club he had formed in his school when he was eight – joined more than 2,000 young people from across the globe for this forum, which was the 10th annual summit of One Young World, a UK-based not-for-profit organization.

The Guardian article also pointed out that Green the Gene has projects in 62 countries and has mobilised over 7,000 young people under the age of 24 to create tangible solutions for communities beleaguered by the acute climate crisis.

Datt has also created technology and data projects to address specific problems, like low-cost water filtration units, providing safe water to more than 40,000 people in rural Tanzania, recycling 3,000,000 plus litres of swimming pool water annually in Haryana in India and planting more than 1,500,000 trees in Gambia and 600,000 in India.

To reduce the energy used by home heating/cooling systems during peak demand times, Datt has developed machine-learning algorithms for Nest thermostat energy demand response programmes as well, while he was a software engineering intern at Google.

Datt is the Global Coordinator for Children & Youth, UN Environment (UNEP). He plays a major role in facilitating the involvement of children and youth worldwide at UNEP on policy and programmatic levels. He is also a member of the UNEP Major Groups Facilitating Committee, with the purpose to strengthen the connections between UNEP and one of its key stakeholder — children and youth.

The annual One Young World Summit convened the brightest young talent from every country and sector, working to accelerate social impact. Delegates from 190+ countries were counselled by influential political, business and humanitarian leaders such as Justin Trudeau, Paul Polman and Meghan Markle, amongst many other global figures.

Delegates participated in four transformative days of speeches, panels, networking and workshops. All delegates had the opportunity to apply to give keynote speeches, sharing a platform with world leaders with the world’s media in attendance. As well as listening to keynote speakers, delegates could challenge world leaders and interact with and be mentored by influencers. Delegates made lasting connections throughout the Summit, celebrating their participation at social events and the unforgettable Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

The One Young World Summit 2019 saw the global forum for young leaders return ‘home’ for the first time since the inaugural Summit in 2010.

The aim of the summit is to “identify, promote and connect the world’s most impactful young leaders to create a better world, with more responsible, more effective leadership”. At the end of the Summit, delegates became One Young World Ambassadors. They returned to their communities and organisations with the means and motivation to make a difference, accessing the global network of 10,000+ young leaders to accelerate existing initiatives or establish new ventures. Between Summits, the One Young World Community participated in an ongoing programme of opportunities including caucuses, funding, peer-to-peer mentoring, media exposure, and speaking engagements.

One Young World Ambassadors are working to help progress all 17 Sustainable Development Goals in countries around the globe. The Social Return on Investment (SROI) has been calculated for each of these projects. For every $1 invested, One Young World Ambassadors deliver $13 of social value.

Young leaders are selected to attend the Summit via competitive selection processes, based on proven leadership ability and impact. Building a diverse international community is One Young World’s priority with a wide range of scholarship schemes available. In 2018, 50,000+ applications were received by One Young World.

One Young World has also partnered with London Business School, to create the One Young World & London Business School Scholarship. This unique collaboration will provide a life-changing opportunity for a high-achieving young person to attend one of LBS’s world-renowned Early Careers programmes for the 2020/21 academic year. The study options include LBS’s Masters in Financial Analysis, Masters in Management or Masters in Analytics and Management.

The scholarship will be awarded on a needs and merit basis to a member of the One Young World Ambassador Community who embodies the principles of both organisations and is committed to leveraging responsible business practices to realise positive social change.