Leadership Network member champions youth leadership at COP29
Leonardo Bolstad feels a responsibility to speak up for those on the frontline of the climate crisis. The newly-inducted member of the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Leadership Network is fresh from a surprisingly last-minute trip to Baku, Azerbaijan.
Leonardo was inducted into the Leadership Network as part of the 2024 intake
Leonardo was attending COP29, one of a growing number of youth representatives at the UN climate change conference rubbing shoulders with global decision makers.
He boldly chased down one of New Zealand’s ‘party overflow’ badges, a matter of weeks before needing to depart.
“I was like, OK, let’s go.”
A University of Canterbury engineering student, Leonardo says his passion lies “where engineering meets humanitarian ends”.
Earlier this year he was a finalist in the Global Hydrogen Case Competition that brings together undergraduate students from around the world to tackle pressing challenges in the hydrogen sector.
Leonardo presented an innovative and affordable gameplan for a hypothetical natural gas company looking to transition to hydrogen as a sustainable energy alternative.
“What my team and I came up with was basically to produce blue and green hydrogen and store it underground in places called salt cabins, which could be done very cheaply.”
Off the back of that success, Leonardo felt motivated to stay connected to global instigators of change for good.
COP was on his radar.
Leonardo with University of Canturbury Student's Association president Luc Mackay at COP29
He used his week at the event to follow the negotiations between member nations, as well as connect with businesses there to showcase scientific innovations offering up solutions to gnarly sustainability challenges and network with other youth representatives.
Leonardo argues places must be reserved around the table for young people when it comes to conversations on climate change.
“I think youth have everything to bring,” he says, “Climate change is going to affect the youngest the most.”
He wants to say he left inspired, and in part he did, but like many others who went to Baku impassioned and desperate for solid commitments from member delegations there was disappointment resolutions went nowhere near far enough.
Being in the room to hear Samoan Samon environmentalist and Cabinet Minister
Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster has had a profound effect on Leonardo.
“He’s also the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, and he made a speech saying, ‘After COP29 ends, we cannot just sail off into the sunset; we are literally sinking’.
“For me, that was really impactful. There were so many things going on there, but for some people they were there to actually basically save their countries from disappearing.”
Leonardo speaking at the Global Hydrogen Case Competition in April 2024
Leonardo calls himself Japanese-Kiwi – his mother is Japanese and his father, Pākehā.
He also feels a French connection having grown up attending a French international school in Kyoto, Japan.
He moved to Ōtautahi for tertiary study, quickly realising that despite declaring himself part-Kiwi for most of his life he had no real idea of what that meant.
“Coming to Christcurch, it was a big shock.”
For him, seeking out the Asia New Zealand Foundation was as much about “the New Zealand” as “the Asia”, he says.
“As somebody from Asia, who grew up there, what can I contribute to the Foundation, and what can I learn?”
Leonardo was the sole delegate from Aotearoa at the United Nations ECOSOC Youth Forum
As university lectures finish off for the year, Leonardo has begun an internship at Fabrum, a local company that is a world leader in green hydrogen production, storage, and dispensing.
A world leader, in a Kiwi context, opens up seemingly off-limits opportunities for young people, Leonardo reckons.
“We’re in a small community, and everybody’s really friendly. It’s not like one of those big companies you can imagine overseas where you need to ‘prove yourself’ and ‘work yourself to the bone’.
“It’s a chill company, where everybody can contribute, and those contributions can lead to world changing things.”
The Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network equips the next generation of Kiwi leaders to thrive in Asia. We provide members with the connections, knowledge and confidence to lead New Zealand’s future relationship with the region.
