Good morning and welcome!
Today, you’re going to hear from 15 speakers or organisations, and the only three things all of us have in common is that we are young, are passionate about combating climate change and are Japanese nationals or residents!… While our similarities brought us together, it is our differences that make us interesting – some of us are high schoolers, others dedicated PhD. students, some are activists and others very niche researchers or leaders of student clubs. We come from different parts of the world and of Japan, but are united in our desire to significantly contribute to the global and local effort to combat climate change!

Wait, what is happening?
Apologies, I’ll explain. What you just read was the beginning of an exciting journey, one that started on the morning of 11th December, 2019 at the biggest conference for climate change - COP25 - in Madrid, Spain and one that needs your involvement for what is to come next.

Okay, so what did you exactly do?
We hosted a session at the Japanese government's pavilion titled "Youth in Japan in Action" which featured 15 diverse students and/or youth organisations from Japan.

Can you tell me why did you do this?
That’s a great question. This session was the first step towards an idea I have held close to my heart for a while. My passion for climate action makes me cross paths with different kinds of activists, initiatives, individuals and groups in Japan - all of them equally inspiring, and albeit divergent in their approaches, yet complementary in their goals. I also frequently meet individuals who understand the urgency of climate change, and would join some initiative if it matched their interests and skills. I want to connect these two sides, because by unifying our voices - the voices of the youth in Japan - we can achieve a lot. Our voices don’t just add to each other, they amplify our collective impact. It becomes much easier for individuals to find us, allows us to know our own counterparts within Japan better, and makes the sharing of our stories with the global youth much easier.

SO WHAT COMES NEXT? What can I do?
The short answer is - anything and everything that you want. First, skim through the section following this where you can find what each of our speaker’s youth organisation does. In case you find an initiative that remotely interests and you want to just learn more about them or join them, send me an email at amishiharrypotter@gmail.com It doesn’t have to be formal, and I will just connect you to the right person. Second, this article is one of the first steps in a longer process of information sharing and collaboration; if you’re aware of other initiatives working on climate change related goals, or could feature an article such as this in your publication/on your social media handle/on your website (print or online) do contact me. And finally, I am currently researching the ingenious ways civil society in Japan is responding to climate change, and want to develop a bilingual website (English and Japanese) as a unified source for such information. Using the footage we have from our session in Madrid, I also want to develop a short film, and both of these ideas will also need language translation support. If any part of the project sounds slightly appealing to you, do reach out to me. Your email does not have to be serious at all - just tell me your name and your initial thoughts, and we will see how it goes from there. I would also love to just hear your ideas. Once we have the film version, we will hopefully also release it on the web version of Komaba Times - one of the official newsletters of Todai - and add the social media handles of all these organisations along with it. So keep an eye out for that!

Students and Clubs within UTokyo

A number of efforts through clubs and individual students are currently underway in UTokyo. One environmental club you could join is First Access. They collaborate with embassies, companies, individuals and students to provide solar lanterns to children studying in non-electrified parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Another club is Echo - they decide their major theme within the domain of the environment at the start of every semester and work on both research and actual projects for the same. One of their current goals is to reduce the paper waste associated with receipts. They also have their own vegetable garden on campus, if you’re looking for some hands on experience. SUS+ student members collectively work to understand climate science, and also organise the delegation of students from UTokyo for COP every year. Equally laudable are efforts of students - Chris Clayton works with the Wakupro Foundation and after having attended one of their world congress events in Japan, organised a simulative learning experience for the Sustainable Development Goals in Australia. He now wants to expand the project in Tokyo. Ernest Carr has co-founded Tokyo Tutors and in collaboration with international schools in Tokyo they are developing and delivering weekly workshop lessons on the SDGs. Mahi Patki participated in the Cobis Global Social Leaders Competition and has extensive experience on tackling the issue of plastic consumption within educational institutions. After her previous experience in her high school, joining hands with her for something similar in your campus would be fun and adventurous. All six of these clubs and individuals are unique, and buzzing with energy. Joining them or working with them, I guarantee you, would be the experience of a lifetime.