British Council’s Youth Climate Ambassador Program in SL

Various programs are underway globally to bring knowledge about climate change to different communities and bring forward collective action for climate action. Accordingly, a similar program was recently initiated in Sri Lanka by the British Council of Sri Lanka.

32 youth leaders from across Sri Lanka were selected based on their experiences and talent as Youth Climate Ambassadors (YCA). These youth were selected, so there was at least one participant from each of the provinces in Sri Lanka. A 7-day training series was conducted from March 30^th to April 5^th at Mahaweli Reach Hotel, Kandy. 

Climate Fact Checks intern Dinesh Balasri was selected as an Ambassador representing the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. And we hope to bring you updates on his progress with the program. 

YCA is the British Council’s youth network of community climate leaders and activists in the country. They are a cohort of youth leaders from around the country who are up to date on the climate emergency and can lead/support sustainable local climate action while being globally connected.  The mission of this program is to empower youth to advocate and catalyze positive social change, which will be achieved through learning, teaching, and providing the opportunity to advocate for climate change-related local, regional, and global issues on high-profile platforms.  

Consultation for this is provided by Earth Lanka, which provides a training program designed for maximum effectiveness. The 7-day training mainly focused on the global issues of climate change and Sri Lanka’s climate change policies and issues related to the law. 

It is noteworthy that Prof Buddhi Marambe, Dr Ranjith Punywardena, Dr Anandha Mallawatantri were guest speakers in this programme. It also needs to be highlighted that the participants were taken on an excursion in the Mahaweli River to explore the severity of plastic pollution. 

At the end of the training program. the youth ambassadors were to submit their proposal to implement a project in collaboration with the environmental organizations operating in their provinces. The British Council will provide the network required for the ambassadors to fulfill the task. These projects will be completed by the participants in collaboration with networked companies. The British Council also plans to take the youth ambassadors on field visits in selected provinces in the future. The youth will also be provided with guidance on research and projects virtually.

At the end of this program, the participants will have to present their research findings at the Youth Climate Conference scheduled in June 2023.