Growing up in somewhat conservative upbringings, two friends began writing about the difficulties they faced as Asian environmentalists in August 2020. Eventually forming the Asian Environmental Youth Network (AEYN) we see today, a thriving community of over a hundred young voices advocating for our future. AEYN is now providing a platform for environmental enthusiasts to stay posted with the latest continental news and an array of opportunities to get involved in regional initiatives.

Ariane Desrosiers, the co-founder and core team member of AEYN, recalls her journey when beginning this cluster, she said

“My friend from college, Ha Tran Nguyen Phuong, and I were thinking of ways to bolster the environment in Asia. As of the current situation, much is going on, but so little is centralised and connected. People are pursuing initiatives of a very similar nature, but it would be much more effective if they could learn from each other and pull together resources for larger impact.”

She reinstated her concerns where

“there is a huge gap in terms of representation of Asian environmentalists in general. If you think of the top five climate activists off your head, such as Greta Thunberg, they are probably people from the US and Europe. None are from Asia, and that is a big problem.”

Jacqueline Koay, core team member of AEYN quoted Marinel Sumook Ubaldo, the climate activist from the Philippines, at the Global Just Recovery Gathering panel. An event that AEYN co-hosted with a climate and advocacy organization, namely 350.org, in April 2021.

“The framing of Asian climate activists to the Westerners is often such that we are victims. We are those victimised by climate change and in need of Westerners to be our saviours and to suggest policies as if it was a very top-down approach from the global north to the global south; when vulnerable communities have their forms of adaptation. What is needed is more bottom-up approaches to create space for them to speak.”

Asia represents over half the world’s population, and it has already become one of the world’s most hard-hit areas alongside Africa. Due to the history of colonisation, marginalisation, and racism, Asian traditions and cultures of sustainable practices often get overshadowed by white initiatives. Hence, Asians need to take charge of sustainable development for once. Our stories have to be heard in a non-Westernised context.

Unfortunately, it sounds harder than it is. Ariane listed the five major constraints youth environmentalists in Asia face compared to those in the US or Europe:

Political Barriers: It requires creativity when putting forward an initiative. Direct protests are not as effective in many Asian countries because democracy isn’t as widely accepted, and much flawed. Many other tactics have to be used to circumvent that issue. For instance, in the Philippines, protesting holds a certain risk, and it is the most dangerous place for environmentalists.
Funding issues: There is a general lack of resources compared to the European countries, where the governments are hugely supportive. For instance, international initiatives such as the Group of 77 (G 77) Summits. Whereas in some Asian countries, lack of resources are invested into emerging economies where initiatives are most needed to be upscaled.
General Awareness: The lack of general education in some Asian countries results in the ignorance of our peers. Making it hard to get people together to work on it.
Bad framing: The most important and Leading problem. Conservation mindset does not seem to be influential in many Asian countries as they may prefer more tactical and practical solutions. Thus, messages from Western environmentalists are often difficult to get through.
Connecting across countries: Asia is a diverse region with distinctive cultures, languages, and specific problems facing each country. Such diversity makes it is hard to branch out to international initiatives.

On a personal level, both Ariane and Josephine expressed some thoughts as individuals born and raised in Asia.

Ariane stated that Hong Kong lacks formal education on environmental awareness. She explained that what truly deters the movement from going forward are political barriers.

“When the government isn’t doing anything, and democracy is at a blurred stage, it is a lost cause. It is hard to connect with people from the outside when you have no support. You lose motivation when you know anything you do isn’t going to happen.”

Likewise, Josephine echoed the lack of awareness in Malaysia.

While we are all accustomed to receiving signals from the western media, Asians are more practical about that. It is harder to relate to the ideals from the West when there is “no economic or monetary resonation”, areas that Asian political leaders care about. Unlike in Europe, not many Southeast Asian leaders have the mindset that sustainability is important. The lack of political will, together with Covid-19 and the political turmoil in Malaysia, drives environmental projects downhill.

Members of the Asian Environmental Youth Network

What are AEYN’s plans for the future?

AEYN hopes to continue supporting other initiatives, particularly those in Asia. They hope that by seeking more representation globally, they can keep uplifting individuals and make positive impacts on the environment. As mentioned above, funding for environmental projects is still lacking compared to countries in the West.

“We hope to set up our funding and operations so that people can apply for grants to start up their projects. Also to give them necessary training and skills on networking to gauge their initiatives.”

Another major issue they face is language barriers. Language barriers prevented them from expanding to certain countries.

“We only have very few members from Southeast Asia, so we hope to grow our network in places we haven’t been able to reach presently. Such as Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar.”

AEYN recently designed task forces including Outreach and Opportunities groups to reach out to sustainability spaces and climate professionals using the LinkedIn database to expand beyond regular activism.

They hope to see more individuals get involved in local environmental NGOs, to grasp the opportunity to collaborate and think into the frame of mind of others. It is believed that learning from and getting inspired by people is the best way to get in-depth with many issues. Progressing further, they anticipate policymakers starting locally, as the impact would be much more significant than drawing up overly ambitious country-wide plans.

For more information on the Asian Environmental Youth Network, please visit their website: AEYN

This article stems from an interview with Ariane Desrosiers, the co-founder and core team member, and Jacqueline Koay, core team member at the Asian Environmental Youth Network.

By Ottilie Cheung

First of Its Kind - A Pan-Asian Online Space for Youth Environmentalists