The world context is changing in many ways and especially climate. That is affecting key sectors such as development, agriculture, disease in both rich and less rich countries. The next generation of decision makers - in other words- you have to bring about change. One of the ways to drive forward change is to build sound and scientific evidence and bring data to inform policy around the world. We need sound analyses on how climate extremes affect human communities. How do heat waves affect construction workers or agricultural labourers in the rice fields. Are climate disasters really increasing in numbers or are their effects on humans increasing?
We need the youth to explain these processes and work on practical and applied solutions for people who are in the frontline of disasters. We are counting on you and you can count on us.

Prof. Debarati Guha-Sapir
Founder Director of the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Université Catholique de Louvain,
Senior Fellow, Centre for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Recipient of the Asahi Glass Foundation Blue Planet prize 2023