Introduction

To round off the first season of the Flourish podcast, we speak to Sagarika Bhatta, an environmental scientist, climate activist and social entrepreneur based in Kathmandu. We explore how cultivating female and youth leadership in climate action is necessary for a just transition; and discuss the disconnect between the realities of “developed” or “developing” economies in how they mitigate, adapt to and are impacted by the climate crisis.

Sagarika Bhatta is environmental scientist, climate activist and social entrepreneur based in Kathmandu. As Chairperson and Founder of activist NGOs PowerShift Nepal and ERST-We Care Nepal, she encourages female leadership and agency building for climate justice. Her work, introducing urban rooftop agriculture to women in the increasingly urbanized Kathmandu Valley, was recognised by the DO School in Berlin, and awarded the Climate Action: Race to Zero Innovation Award 2021. Sagarika was runner up for the NASO Women in Science Award in 2020. She was recently nominated for the Gender Just Climate Solutions Award and is both a former Climate Tracker 2016 Fellow, participant in the Asia Climate Leadership Camp 2019 and recipient of a Korean Green Grant.