Idaho high school student, school board trustee sent as delegate to UN Climate Change Conference

Boise High School senior and school board member Shiva Rajbhandari is in Egypt as a delegate for the League of Women Voters of the United States to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, according to a press release.

Rajbhandari, 18, received a scholarship from the League of Women Voters to attend the meeting as one of 18 of its delegates from across the U.S. in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The League is an officially designated observer to the United Nations and has worked on global issues since the founding of the organization in 1920, the release said.

The conference ends today, and attendees will discuss ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build resilience and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, according to the U.N. website, as well as issues related to financing climate action in developing countries.

“I’m grateful to the League of Women Voters of Idaho for actively supporting my nomination for attendance at COP27 and honored to have the opportunity to represent the League and my Boise community in Sharm El-Sheikh,” Rajbhandari said. “I look forward to working with other youth leaders from around the world to advocate for our collective future, and I’m excited to apply what I learn to our organizing right here in Idaho.”

Rajbhandari, a member of the League, is an organizer for a local “green schools” initiative, and is the youth engagement coordinator for the Idaho Conservation League, where he leads youth coalitions and advocates for climate action, the release said.

Rajbhandari is also a founding member of Babe Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan youth voter advocacy organization which partners with the League’s Education Fund for voter education and registration.