Aushim Merchant

Aushim is a Delegate Speaker for the 2015 Environment Plenary Session. He also founded the Mintra Foundation after returning from President Obama’s Young South East Asia Leaders Initiative in the USA this year. He is setting up initiatives that drive youth empowerment and improve education in Thailand. In the long term, he hopes to create educational reform and advocates for the creation of a minimum standard system in key areas (such as English) that will no longer just be focused on text books. Aushim also works in water management, conservation and drip irrigation with farmers in local villages in the ASEAN region. Aushim is very engaged in creating a more sustainable environment and reversing environmentally damaging practices in Thailand. He is currently trying to set up a decentralised waste management system that produces compost and fuel from landfill sites. The systems will be set up at landfill sites, where the waste can be converted to petroleum with zero emissions. The organic component is converted to compost which can be given to farmers to reduce their dependence on fertilisers