Natalie Chung, founder of environmental education organisation V’air, shares her decision to skip the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also referred to as COP26, and her upcoming trip to Antarctica with prominent marine biologist Dr Sylvia Earle
At 18 years old, Natalie Chung, who was then a student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, co-founded the social enterprise V’air with her fellow schoolmates Arthur Yeung and Johnny Yeung. The startup's goal is to promote ecotours as an alternative means of leisure for people in Hong Kong to reduce emissions and raise awareness of nature conservation.
Explaining the company's name, Chung says: “V'air [is a] homophone to ‘vert’, which means green in French, combined with the element of 'air travel' to reimagine the way of green travelling.” The trio created V'air after they joined the HK Tertiary Schools COP21 Challenge, a programme by the French Consulate in Hong Kong inviting local students to come up with solutions for climate change. “Arthur, Johnny and I sat in on a talk about aviation emissions and were shocked to find out that close to 25 percent of per capita greenhouse gas emissions comes from overseas travelling.”
V’air prioritises experiential learning, as the founders believe that first-hand experiences with nature are key to rebuilding the human-nature relationship. The startup has organised over 200 tours, seminars and workshops, and reached over 10,000 people.
Here, Chung shares more on the future of the company, why she didn't attend COP26—the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow this year—and her upcoming expedition to Antarctica.
You were selected as an ambassador to represent Hong Kong at the Antarctic Climate Expedition 2023. Can you tell us more about this initiative?
The Antarctic Expedition is led by the world-renowned marine biologist Dr Sylvia Earle, bringing together thought leaders in science, art, education, economics and young people on an expedition-cum-climate summit to formulate 23 resolutions for global net-zero emissions by the year 2050. I am honoured to be selected as a Key Opinion Ambassador on the mission representing Hong Kong.
I was personally inspired by a polar explorer to embark on the journey of climate advocacy. When I was 11 years old, I conducted a school project on "Climate Change—What Can We Do?" My teacher reached out to Hong Kong explorer Dr Rebecca Lee to do an interview with us. Dr Lee shared the analogy with us that "the earth is trapped in a microwave, with continually escalating temperature", and shared photographs of melting glaciers and starving polar bears. These powerful images have been engraved in my mind ever since and are what inspired me to develop an interest in planetary well-being.
Therefore, this expedition is crucial for me to expand my storytelling capacity, as I'll be witnessing the change in the cryosphere first-hand in the Anthropocene.
What do you hope to gain from this expedition?
An experience that will strengthen the stories that I share at conferences and seminars, which I hope will, in turn, inspire other young people to dedicate their lives to creating climate action. I also hope to form partnerships and coalitions with the other passengers at the expedition, to co-create innovative, interdisciplinary solutions to accelerate progress towards net zero.
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