Kehkashan Basu

No part of our planet is left untouched or unaffected by the impacts of its 8 billion+ residents and by the general apathy of civil society. Climate change, loss of biodiversity, overconsumption and wastage are stretching our finite planetary resources to the limit and threatening our future survival. The current generation of youth is the last one that has the opportunity to take actions to mitigate these challenges before it is too late - yet the children and youth fraternity continue to be ignored, under-represented and left behind while policy-makers continue to debate and procrastinate about the future of our planet. For over a decade now, Kehkashan Basu has been working to change this narrative through her social innovation enterprise, Green Hope Foundation and through her talk she will share her inspirational journey of redefining the role of youth as changemakers in creating a sustainable, equitable world.

In these unprecedented times, where humanity is confronted with multiple challenges on several fronts, the well-being and prosperity of current and future generations hinge on the realization of peace and sustainability. This process of rebuilding better is fraught with several obstacles, foremost being the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution that are accentuating pre-existing inequalities and exacerbating the divide between nations and communities. Through this talk, Kehkashan Basu will share her decade long journey with Green Hope Foundation, highlighting her grassroots lived experiences, the challenges and successes in driving transformational change through the localization of the sustainable development goals and by leveraging the power and passion of young people in creating a new world order where no one is left behind.

Climate change is “Code Red” for humanity. It is the greatest existential threat of our times and its impacts are now visible in every region of our planet. It is an inequality multiplier that exacerbates pre-existing vulnerabilities, disproportionately impacting those that are the least responsible for it, amongst them women and girls, who form half of humanity. For example, did you know that data gathered from successive climate change-fueled disasters reveal that women and children are 14 times more likely to die in a disaster and 80 percent more likely to be displaced by climate change? Addressing the climate gender nexus must therefore be a critical component of mitigation. Through this talk, Kehkashan Basu will share her decade-long journey with Green Hope Foundation, highlighting her grassroots lived experiences, the challenges and successes in building climate resilient communities by empowering women and girls, in all their diversity, as climate defenders.

Technology is rapidly improving how we live, work and learn. However, the implications of the technological transformations are vast and largely unknown, especially in the context of how it will play out in a world of 8 billion people confronted with systemic changes in our environment and economies. We live in a world where digital dividends co-exist with digital divides and the road to equitable progress is largely dependent on how governments, corporates, the public sector, civil society and all its stakeholders create and facilitate pathways of bridging this divide. Green Hope Foundation, a United Nations accredited, youth led global social innovation enterprise has been at the forefront of driving this change, leveraging innovative solutions built on the principles of sustainable development. Its Founder and President, 22-year-old Kehkashan Basu will share this journey of change that began over a decade ago, sharing best practices that serve as an inspirational template of action that is so relevant in the current scenario.

Women and girls, in all their diversity constitute half of humanity, yet even now, in the 21st century, gender parity remains a distant dream. This inequality manifests itself in all societies, but is more pronounced in economically vulnerable nations and regions, where lack of access to education, freedom of expression as well as archaic societal norms, all act as barriers to equitable progress. As a young woman of colour whose life’s mission , through her social innovation enterprise, Green Hope Foundation, is to create a world where inequalities do not exist, Kehkashan Basu will share her lived experiences, the challenges she has overcome and the successes she has achieved, often under the most extenuating circumstances, by adopting an intersectional approach that calls for women in all their diversity to be at the forefront of the sustainable development process.