New correspondent: Lizaveta Myshko from Warsaw, Poland

Today our team was joined by a new ambassador, this time from Poland. Her name is Lizaveta Myshko, master student at Warsaw School of Economics. She’s a very ambitious student, active on different levels and platforms. For instance she just returned from UNFCCC simulation negotiations in Barcelona, where young people as future leaders exercise themselves in the merits of climate policy. She’s also motivated to help unroll our initiative. This means assist us find suitable subjects to be featured in her country. But first we asked her to answer some questions.

Lizaveta, can you introduce yourself?

My name is Lizaveta Myshko, currently I am a 2^nd year Master student at Warsaw School of Economics. My interest in making the world a better place started with working on a scientific project in the high school. I have been granted an award for the best presentation on improving local ecosystems in the National Academy of Science of Belarus. Later, during my Bachelors, my thesis was written on topic of Corporate Social Responsibility in Fashion Industry. At the Master studies level I am expanding my knowledge on global warming by pursuing courses during my program. For example, I took part in Model UNFCCC negotiation simulation in ESADE, Barcelona, and broadened understanding of regulatory frameworks, climate policy, and their impacts on the future of business.

Currently I am a CSR ambassador in Responsible Business Forum in Warsaw. I am spreading the values of sustainable business among students and high school pupils and participating in events focused on non-financial reporting standards and general CSR and Human Rights issues.

What motivated you to choose for the study that you’re doing?

I am majoring in CEMS International Management, however there is a second Master I am a part of, which is International Economics. In my opinion, there is a strong influence of business activities on global warming and climate change in general. Since community awareness about global problems is rising, there is a growing need from industry and government for next generation leaders to be different from those in the past – more inclusive and socially oriented. By becoming a well-educated ethical leader, I am getting bigger influence on business environment and therefore can have a significant impact on future of our only planet.

What are your ambitions? How would you like to develop your future career?

I aspire to achieve high influence on the economic activity worldwide which could be done two ways. On the one hand, being a top-manager in the company one has a direct impact on how the activity is conducted and strive for continuous improvement of existing processes. On the other hand, by becoming a NGO representative or UN-body member one can influence international regulations. I do not see my career as sprint, but marathon, so I am patiently trying different options the life offers me.

Do you see any consequences from climate change in your region? If yes, can you give an example?

I had a chance to live in 4 countries by now. In Belarus climate change is mainly characterized by the reduction of the snow cover, while Poland is struggling with more frequent heat waves. For the Netherlands significant increase in mean precipitation (25-35 % for last 100 years) is an issue. It causes flooding which cannot be mitigated with the current infrastructure.
Sweden is influenced by climate change relatively less. Still, the weather is becoming more extreme with, for example, reaching one of the lowest average winter temperature in 2016 and rising precipitation. In summer a temperature increase affects health because the population is adapted to a cooler climate, which people perceive to be the optimal. Recent research has shown that warm periods lead to both increased mortality and morbidity in Sweden.

What do you consider is a strong quality of the Cool Down The Planet formula?

In my opinion shared economy is getting more and more important, and so are ideas of crowd-knowledge and information-sharing. In the times of crisis human capital is the only effective tool and by getting the questions answered and solutions proposed by people we can sustain the current situation and fix it. Cool Down the Planet is a helpful solution to bring incremental change into life.