Our founder, Rafael Nicholas Angouw, a rising high school senior in Jakarta Intercultural School, led 7 student delegates in the UN World Oceans Day 2023 Conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The students are Youth Fellows of Learning Planet Alliance, a joint venture between Learning Planet Institute and UNESCO.
Rafael learned valuable lessons from the speeches and fireside chats of various prominent figures in the marine world such as Dr. Sylvia Earle, Titouan Bernicot, Ray Dalio, Jason Momoaand many more. The most important lesson from the conference he learned was to always put the ocean first when making decisions that impact the environment. The ocean acts as a life support system for the entire globe; all forms of life depend on the ocean for survival. It produces the most oxygen, absorbs carbon dioxide emissions, provides food and income for coastal communities, and shares intimate relationships with many indigenous people.
Our founder hopes that this achievement can inspire other young people like himself to start acting now for the ocean. He believes that age is only a number, and anyone can be a change-maker. He encourages the youth to stop thinking and start doing. The more efforts we have in protecting our ocean, the faster we will see results.
