Why is climate change important to you? Why are you at the COP?

I graduated from University of Nottingham in Malaysia with a degree in Environmental Sciences. I started my interest in climate change by getting involved with local NGOs, youth organizations, school projects, and volunteer programs in my country. I am really interested in seeing how science interacts with policy in dealing the problem of climate change. As a youth representative of my country, I believe youth is an important part in getting involved with climate solutions, and I am hoping to see the impact of youth in dealing with climate issues.

– Jasmin Irisha Jim Ilham (left)

I am a fourth year student at [the] University of Nottingham in Malaysia, but I am originally from Sri Lanka. What got me into climate change was that my parents were naturalists–my mother was a bird watcher–and I grew up being influenced by them. Currently, I am conducting research on the relationship among elephants, humans, and climate change in Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the densest population of elephants. In certain areas in Sri Lanka, there are more elephants than humans. Because of the big flood in Sri Lanka last year, elephants started coming to villages near their natural habitats and competing resources with humans, which became a huge problem in my country as a result of climate change.

– Dulanga Witharanage (right)

by Jennnie Sun http://climate.emorydomains.org/cop22/humans-of-cop22-youth-delegates-from-malaysia/