Moscow: World-renowned scientists and public figures joined forces with youth from five continents to find answers to global challenges

On December 16, Sochi hosted the NEXT 75 international youth conference, dedicated to the main problems shaping the future of civilization. Climate change and depletion of natural resources, the threat of overpopulation and new epidemics, prospects for clean energy and opportunities provided by the advanced technologies were the main topics of the conference. NEXT 75 speakers believe that global problems should be solved collectively and immediately, before it is too late.

Today, the world is changing rapidly, but progress has a downside: human impact on the planet’s ecosystem is enormous and, unfortunately, mostly negative. In order for humanity to use the chance to change the future, it is necessary to find the most pressing global issues and respond to them. This is a common task for all generations, and today’s schoolchildren and students, who tomorrow will have to determine the fate of the world, cannot stand aside.

The leading experts gathered at the conference – world-renowned ecologists, virologists, biologists, anthropologists, power engineers – identified problems and pointed out the most effective ways to solve them.

Dr. Tejbir Singh Rana, Professor at Delhi University said, “By 2027, India will surpass China as the most populated country in the world. It is impossible to stop the growth of the world’s population, but it is possible to prevent a crisis of overpopulation and the struggle for rapidly dwindling resources by fighting poverty”.

Indian Students from Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University and University of Madras also got an opportunity to participate and interact with the guest speakers at the conference.

It is difficult to predict the emergence of new epidemics accurately, but every nation must be ready to immediately take the most stringent measures and prevent a chain reaction spreading of infections outside the country, bearing responsibility to all of humanity, the famous virologist Oewale Tomori stressed. In order to solve environmental problems, simply using carbon-free energy sources is not enough, it is necessary to develop the most powerful type of generation – nuclear energy, otherwise wind and solar power plants will have to occupy huge areas, explained Thomas Blees.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rodney John Allam, renowned ecologists Miguel Brandao and Karl Safina, ethologist and anthropologist Jane Morris Goodall and other scientists also attended the conference. Oliver Stone, famous film director and winner of three Oscars, aeronaut, UN Goodwill Ambassador Bertrand Piccard; actor and director Danila Kozlovsky shared their emotional point of view.

Five hundred proactive and talented young people, who were personally present in the modern conference hall Atom in the Park of Science and Art Sirius or connected remotely, attended the discussion about the fate of the planet. All of them had an opportunity not only to receive first-hand information, but also to participate in the discussion, ask questions and express their opinion.

The NEXT 75 special guests were Elena Shmeleva, head of the Talent and Success Foundation, and Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom Director General. Alexey Likhachev summed up the results of the conference, stressing: “Everything that happens in the most remote corner of the Earth will sooner or later affect each of us, which means that our common task is to find a joint solution to prevent challenges and threats. We care about the future of our planet. I am sure that today’s conference allowed us all to take a step towards understanding what needs to be done to make life on the planet better and safer in the next 75 years. I am confident that together we will change the world for the better, because the future has already begun, and what it will be depends only on you and me.”

The name “NEXT 75” is far from coincidental. The conference has become a bright final chord of the celebratory program dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the nuclear industry. The organizer of the conference, Rosatom, as a global company and a technology leader, understands its responsibility to future generations: nuclear scientists must look far ahead and plan for decades, preventing all possible threats and challenges.

NEXT 75, watched live by 400,770 people around the world, is also a contribution to the future of the planet. The recording of the broadcast is available for everyone on the Rosatom Youtube channel and its Facebook page.