The Global Youth Climate Network (GYCN), an initiative of the World Bank Group, has appointed Talal Rafi as a Climate Ambassador for Sri Lanka. GYCN is part of the World Bank’s Y2Y Community, a network of young professionals dedicated to inspiring, engaging and empowering young people in global development. The initiative motivates young people to work together to develop and implement innovative programs alleviating climate change and to inspire, educate and connect with their communities to mitigate climate change.
Talal Rafi is a Sri Lankan entrepreneur and consultant who works across multiple fields in developing entrepreneurship. Talal has been an advocate on the topic of climate change through his work in entrepreneurship development; he mentors and advises startups in ensuring that their business models are environmentally sustainable and mitigate climate change. Talal was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
“As Sri Lanka was previously ranked the second most vulnerable country in the world to climate change, there is a real urgency to tackle the issue,” said Talal Rafi. “Being appointed as a World Bank GYCN Climate Ambassador gives me the platform to engage with national stakeholders, entrepreneurs and industry leaders on developing forward-thinking environmentally sustainable businesses.”