Speakers at Jagannath University urged youth, media, researchers and state institutions to work together on climate action, highlighting data-driven journalism, awareness, resilience and environmental protection.
A seminar at Jagannath University on Sunday called for stronger action by young people, the media, researchers and state institutions to confront climate change, warning that no lasting solution is possible without a coordinated response.
Titled Combating Climate Change: The Role of Media and Youth, the seminar was held at 10:00 am on June 28 at the university’s central auditorium under the initiative of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism. Around 250 students from the department took part.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Md. Ruis Uddin attended as chief guest, while Treasurer Professor Dr. Sabina Sharmin was present as special guest. The keynote speaker was Shah Ishrat Azmeri, chairman of Children Watch Foundation and chief executive of the Environmental Innovation and Research Network. The lead discussant was Pinaki Roy, environment journalist and chief reporter, country, at The Daily Star. The event was chaired by Professor Dr. Md. Ashraful Alam, chairman of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism.
Speakers at the seminar said a sustainable response to the global climate crisis would remain out of reach unless young people, the media, researchers and state institutions worked together. They said Bangladesh must build a greener, safer and climate-resilient future through greater awareness, data-driven journalism and stronger youth leadership.
In his keynote address, Azmeri said tackling climate change was not only the responsibility of experts but of every citizen. He said the innovation, leadership and volunteerism of young people could play a vital role in responding to the crisis. He added that objective and reliable reporting by the media on climate change helps verify information spreading across social media.
Azmeri also said children, women and older people are among those most at risk from climate change. He stressed the need to deepen youth engagement in disaster management, volunteer work, tree plantation and environmental protection. He said people must act from their own positions as responsible citizens rather than relying solely on the government.
In his address as lead discussant, Roy said climate change was not a crisis of the distant future but a present-day reality in Bangladesh. He said its effects were visible in different ways across the country.
In Rajshahi, he said, declining rainfall and rising temperatures were pushing farmers away from agriculture and toward mango cultivation because of irrigation shortages. In Khulna, salinity means that although water is available, it cannot be used for farming. In the Sylhet region, he said, early flooding is putting farmers at risk of losing their only crop.
Roy said it was the responsibility of the media to present these realities to the public and to convey the true picture of the climate crisis across the country. He said that when the problems faced by people in different regions are highlighted in the media, researchers and policymakers have a better chance of identifying effective solutions.
Announcing a tree plantation and campus clean-up drive at Jagannath University, Vice-Chancellor Ruis Uddin used his speech as chief guest to issue a strong warning to those who destroy the environment, calling them enemies of the nation.
He urged both the youth and the media to play an uncompromising role in meeting the challenges of climate change and emphasized the need for social resistance to stop the grabbing of public land and the cutting of trees in order to preserve environmental balance.
The programme ended with a tree plantation campaign on the campus.
