Young Pinoy environmentalists join London summit

Three Filipino students are among the 60 young people currently in London for the weeklong Global Youth Summit to exchange ideas and best practices on global issues, like environment, poverty and education.

Cris Raymund Viray of St. Paul University Quezon City, Colleen Caryl Leslie Torres of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan and Laurence Lumagbas of Ateneo de Manila University, all 19 years old, were chosen from some 2,000 students from around the globe.

The summit, part of the British Council’s Global Changemakers initiative, ends on November 19.

Summit participants, aged 16 to 25, were handpicked for their “significant track record as social entrepreneurs, social activities and volunteers,” the British Council said in a statement.

During the week, they were expected to “share best practices on activism, and work together with experts and other young social activists on how to best address the issues they are facing…in their home country,” the British Council said.

Viray, who leads youth environmental camps in his hometown in Rizal, said the summit would be a chance to bring the Filipino youth’s voice before an international forum.

“I’m very happy because somehow, our projects got attention…. In representing my country, I also represent the Filipino youth whose voice and needs are not heard,” said Viray.

The mass communication student was among four Filipino Bayer Young Environmental Envoys who went to Germany last month under an international youth program organized annually by global corporation Bayer and the United Nations Environment Program.

“We will share our activism on our chosen issues and talk about the impact our activities have had on our school and community,” Viray said in an online interview.

After the summit, a smaller group of changemakers will participate in high-level meetings “to act as advocates and to raise decision-makers’ awareness of key issues on the global agenda.”

The Global Changemakers was launched at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in 2007. It had sent youth leaders to participate in key world gatherings, including the annual WEF, Clinton Global Initiative, Global Humanitarian Forum and G20, the British Council said.