Sahana Kaur

Sahana Kaur is a 19-year-old Malaysian passionate about climate action, youth empowerment, and sustainable development. She currently attends Yale University, where she plans to major in Political Science with certificates in Climate Science and Human Rights Studies. Sahana is an Aspen Institute Future Leader, a Diana Award recipient, a 30 Under 30 in Environmental Education honouree, and one of Tatler’s “7 Young Malaysians who are Catalysts of Change.” She has spoken about climate action and youth activism to 5,000+ people at events by the UNFCCC, UNDP, UNICEF, and more.

As Chair of the inaugural Amnesty International Malaysia (AIM) Youth Committee, Sahana led the development of a Human Rights Academy, establishment of a youth network with monthly trainings, creation of a School Outreach Programme, and other youth-centric initiatives. At the age of 17, she became the first teenage Board Member in AIM’s history.

Sahana currently serves as the youngest member of the Advisory Group to the Greening Education Partnership, a UNESCO-convened coalition of 70+ governments and 700+ organisations driving green education. She is also part of the Steering Committee of the Children & Youth Pavilion at COP28, the foremost platform for children and young people at the annual UN climate conference. Sahana has previously advised the U.S. Agency for International Development on protecting children from digital harm, and the UNFCCC Race to Zero on accelerating the path to net-zero.

At Yale, Sahana is co-authoring a report on the university’s sustainability progress for the Yale Student Environmental Coalition. She works part-time as a Social Media Producer for Yale Climate Connections and previously worked as a Sustainable Development Goal Program Assistant for the Yale Office of Sustainability. This past summer, she received a grant to research city-based solutions for climate change and evaluate their transferability to New Haven.

To me, the most important aspect of making an impact is ensuring that there are tangible and measurable changes for the better.