With a foundation laid on Earth Day 2016 and anchored in empathy, science, and inclusive leadership, the POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement is mobilizing more than 2.5 million young people across 130+ countries to act on climate, health, and human flourishing.
Founded in New York in 2016 by the late Dr. R.K. Pachauri, along with his son, Dr. Ash Pachauri, the POP Movement emerged from the conviction that the world’s youth must lead the lasting transformation on climate and health. Earth Day, April 22, 2016, marked the official launch of this mission-driven organization.
Today, the leadership baton is carried by both Dr. Ash Pachauri (Co-Founder and Senior Mentor) and his partner in vision, Dr. Saroj Pachauri (Director and Climate-Health Mentor) whose lived experiences in global public health, gender equity, and behavioral science have expanded the Movement’s reach well beyond traditional climate activism. Together, they lead POP from its headquarters in New York, guiding an ecosystem that spans universities, AI platforms, youth festivals, and global policy networks.
From a modest idea to a worldwide movement, the POP Movement, under the direction of Dr Saroj and Dr Ash Pachauri, is redefining how young people engage with a planet in crisis.
The Commencement of a Youth-Powered Movement
The story of POP begins with the legacy of Dr R.K. Pachauri, the celebrated climate scientist and former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). After the IPCC’s 2007 Nobel Peace Prize win, Dr R.K. Pachauri came to believe that achieving global climate transformation would depend crucially on awakening and mobilizing the world’s youth, 1.8 billion strong. From that spark emerged the core conviction: Science must be accompanied by empathy and action.
That conviction found its expression when Dr. Ash Pachauri, behavioral scientist and communicator, joined his father’s vision to craft programs that turned climate anxiety into purpose. Dr Saroj Pachauri brought decades of leadership in global health, gender, and youth issues from her tenure at the Population Council and the Ford Foundation, ensuring that the Movement’s mandate would include inclusivity, health equity, and intergenerational partnership.
With these twin pillars, a behavioral lens and a health equity lens, POP was launched in April 2016. The aim is to build a dynamic, global youth-led ecosystem that bridges climate science, health, innovation, and leadership.
| The Foundational Pillars | |
|---|---|
| Pillar | Description |
| Science | Grounded in IPCC legacy and data-driven climate solutions |
| Empathy | Central to leadership and behavioral engagement |
| Action | Turning awareness into measurable impact |
| Inclusivity | Gender, health, and equity are embedded in every program |
The POP Movement
Few organizations were as tested by global disruption as POP. When the pandemic swept across the world and disrupted in-person gatherings, the team pivoted swiftly. Within weeks, POP launched the POP Online Conclaves, a digital platform that connected youth in over 100 countries, offering mentorship, innovation labs, and cross-continental collaboration.
In the words of the leadership team:
“Leadership is not about control, it’s about connection. When empathy, purpose, and trust converge, even a crisis becomes an opportunity for reinvention.”
That moment proved catalytic. It instilled a resilience and digital fluency in the Movement that would pay dividends in later initiatives. It also taught Dr. Saroj and Dr. Ash that scalable youth engagement required flexibility, relatability, and platforms that met young people where they are, online, globally, across time zones.
One of the defining features of POP’s approach is the recognition that eco-anxiety among youth is real, and rather than suppressing it, the Movement transforms it into agency. Under Dr. Ash’s behavioral science, mechanisms were designed to channel anxiety into leadership, fear into action.
Youth Engagement Turned into Tangible Change
The POP Movement doesn’t stop at inspiration: measurable impact is embedded in its DNA. Consider the following stories:
- In Oaxaca, Mexico, the annual International POP Festival for Youth-Led Climate Action became a launchpad for high-impact youth-led initiatives: sustainable farming models, clean-water innovations, and mental-health programs led by young leaders.
- In Mexico, pilot programs under the “Youth for Climate & Health” initiative empowered students to collect local air-quality data and prepare policy briefs for municipal authorities.
- Across Nigeria, India, Germany, and other countries, local POP teams mobilised youth to apply evidence-based methods, innovate grassroots solutions, and present them to decision-makers.
These stories serve as evidence that the POP Movement is not just about raising awareness; it’s about building youth leadership, local innovation, and measurable change.
| Global Youth Impact | |
|---|---|
| Metric | Achievement |
| Youth-Led Projects | 2,000+ initiatives |
| Active Countries | 130+ |
| Institutional Partners | 470+ universities & organizations |
| Learning Hours Delivered | 10,000+ |
| Youth Reached | 2.5 million+ globally |
A Unique Framework: Science, behavior, Storytelling
What makes POP distinctive is its hybrid framework, which fuses rigorous science, behavioral insight, and narrative. Specifically:
- POP Academy: An UN-certified transformative learning environment offering training in sustainability, leadership, and planetary health.
- POPPix: An AI-powered climate-mentor platform developed for youth. With gamified guidance, it helps young people convert eco-anxiety into purpose.
- PLANET-HEAL: The global research-policy interface co-founded with the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN Mexico) and the World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF), under the patronage of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki‑moon, and other eminent global figures.
Through these vehicles, Dr Saroj and Dr Ash have built an ecosystem that honors interdisciplinary thinking: climate meets health meets youth leadership meets technology. The result is a platform that equips youth with tools (science & data), soft-skills (behavior & narrative), and agency (leadership pathways).
Trends for 2025 and Beyond: Youth, Anxiety, Innovation
Looking ahead, Dr Saroj and Dr Ash Pachauri see several definitive trends shaping the global sustainability landscape:
- Purpose and Innovation Fusion: Young entrepreneurs are embedding sustainability into all sectors, from fintech to design, from energy to agritech.
- Eco-Anxiety as Activation: Rather than being a barrier, eco-anxiety is now being recognized as a force for change. When guided properly, it fuels purpose.
- Youth as Systemic Change-Agents: Youth are no longer passive recipients but active co-creators of solutions, especially where climate, health, and equity intersect.
- Global Digital Convergence: Digital platforms, global networks, and cross-border youth collaborations are expected to accelerate at an unprecedented rate.
- Intergenerational Equity: Movements like POP will increasingly emphasize intergenerational transition, not just youth leading youth, but elders mentoring youth and then stepping aside.
For Dr Saroj Pachauri and Dr. Dr Ash Pachauri, these trends underline a central truth: the era of one-way leadership is over. The future belongs to agile, empathetic, inclusive systems built around youth agency and global collaboration.
Collaborations, Alliances, and Ecosystem-Building
From the beginning, POP’s growth has been underpinned by partnerships. Collaborations with the UNESCO IESALC, the World Health Organization (WHO), IPN (Mexico), and global universities have created an architecture of trust and scale. The leadership team highlights that:
“Collaboration is POP’s heartbeat.”
A standout example is PLANET-HEAL, where scientists, youth innovators, and policy-makers converge across continents, facilitated by the Movement’s global network. Upcoming partnerships with the University of Nottingham (UK) and Abu Dhabi University point to POP’s ambition to deepen its footprint across geographies and disciplines.
| Strategic Collaborations | |
|---|---|
| Organization | Type of Partnership |
| UNESCO IESALC | Education & youth inclusion |
| WHO | Climate & health integration |
| IPN Mexico | Research & innovation |
| WSDF | Global policy engagement |
| Universities | Nottingham (UK), Abu Dhabi, and others – Education, research, publication, and student exchange |
Leadership Philosophy & Mentorship Framework
As leaders, Dr Saroj Pachauri and Dr. Dr Ash Pachauri emphasize several guiding philosophies:
- “Leadership begins with purpose, not position.” They teach young leaders that the starting point is inner alignment of values, purpose, and action.
- The POP Mentor Pathway enables youth to evolve from learners to leaders to mentors, creating a cycle of emerging leadership and peer accountability.
- They place value on listening, humility, and service:
“The greatest lesson has been that real leadership begins where ego ends. Impact is not about visibility, it’s about responsibility.”
By building a model where mentorship is peer-based, inclusive, and action-oriented, POP is cultivating leadership that is durable, scalable, and deeply rooted in community.
Measuring Impact & Ensuring Integrity
Numbers matter. According to the leadership team:
- Youth reached: Over 2.5 million across 130+ countries
- Youth-led projects: 2,000+ initiatives
- Institutional partnerships: 470+ global universities and organizations
- Learning hours and mentorship delivered by POP Academy: Over 10,000
- Major festivals are held across Mexico, India, Africa, the USA, and elsewhere
These metrics are not simply vanity; they reflect lives touched, communities activated, and local solutions birthed by youth. But impact without integrity is hollow. The Movement embeds transparency, inclusivity, and trust in every mechanism: youth and global mentors co-design programs, gender equality, and cultural diversity are non-negotiable, and every intervention is co-created with local communities. This approach, Dr Saroj emphasizes, avoids “top-down” activism in favour of shared ownership.
Recognitions & Milestones
The POP Movement’s global credibility is reflected in the accolades amassed by Dr Saroj Pachauri and Dr. Dr Ash Pachauri, and the organization itself:
- Prix Galien USA EcoHealth Finalist Award Winner (2025)
- Best Youth-Led Climate Action Initiative, NYC (2025)
- Platinum Humanitarian Leadership Award – IPPDR (2025)
- President’s Voluntary Service Award – IPPDR (2025)
- Mind Health Global Ambassador Award, Oxford Union (2024)
- Honorary Doctorate & Lifetime Achievement, MIU, Iowa (2023)
- Global Leader feature, EarthX (2022)
- GlobalMindED Inclusive Leader Award for Energy & Sustainability (2021)
The leadership describes these awards as “affirmations of a vision: that science, empathy, and youth leadership can redefine humanity’s relationship with the planet.”
Legacy in the Making
When asked about the long-term legacy of the Movement, Dr Saroj Pachauri and Dr. Dr Ash Pachauri offer a poignant response: “The legacy of POP will be measured not in institutions, but in inspiration. A world where sustainability is instinctive, compassion is leadership, and every young person feels empowered to protect both people and the planet.” This is not mere idealism; it is a strategy. By embedding programs in local contexts, equipping youth with tools and giving them agency, POP is laying the foundation for a self-sustaining global youth ecosystem for planetary leadership.
Five Key Takeaways
- Youth agency is not additive; it’s foundational. The POP Movement demonstrates that young people are not just beneficiaries but co-creators of transformational action.
- Inter-disciplinary frameworks unlock new solutions. By bridging climate, health, behavioral science, and storytelling, POP creates hybrid models of impact suited to complex global challenges.
- Crisis amplifies opportunity when met with connection. The pandemic forced POP to re-imagine engagement; its digital pivot became a feature, not a fallback.
- Metrics and values must co-exist. POP pairs robust quantitative reach (2.5 m youth, 2,000+ projects) with qualitative principles like inclusivity, empathy, and local co-ownership.
- Legacy resides in empowerment, not brand-building. Dr Saroj Pachauri and Dr. Dr Ash Pachauri emphasize that true sustainability lies in enabling others to lead, but never in building ever-larger institutions around oneself.
