Q3 from C3 is a platform where we collect feedback and insights from Chennai folks from diverse backgrounds on climate change and more specifically, climate action.
In this post, we provide the insights from Shaikh Khazir, a research scholar at IIT Madras.
Chennai Climate Consortium (C3) thanks Shaikh for his valuable inputs.
Like elsewhere, Chennaites are bombarded with information on threats from climate change, but they are told very little about what they can do. How can a strong awareness be created about climate action so that the average Chennaite gets involved?
Every startup founder who is contributing to combating climate change are change makers. However, climate change cannot be solved without the involvement of normal people as well. We should come up with new ideas or make our products more sustainable and at the same time, encourage people to shift to these habits. Only then can we see a change in people’s mentality towards solving climate change.
Our specialty focus areas include 
What are your recommendations for Chennai to become a role model for climate action for cities worldwide?
To become a role model, we should start with at least college level students by arranging events on climate tech issues such as hackathons. More social startups must collaborate with young minds by giving them a chance to collaborate with them and offer their ideas which will induce a sense of entrepreneurship in the mind of a student and encourages them to come up with more ideas that are impactful. Further, to spread awareness, we should follow a ‘Clean Indore’ type of model. We should work on case studies on how they have managed to maintain the cleanliness of their city and understand how they implemented their ideas to becoming the cleanest city. We should also think about how we can implement certain rules in our city for everyone to take up an initiative to decarbonize the environment without anyone else forcing us.
Personally, what types of climate action or sustainability projects would you like to be involved in?
I’m interested in learning more about the Web 3 space these days and how this evolving area help us in solving climate change. I also want to contribute in the decarbonize mission through startups.
