The challenge with Antarctica for anyone going there is what to do when you get back. What Antarctica represents is the fact that there’s plenty of room for improvement; it's a sign that we have a long history of mistakes when it comes to understanding how we impact our future. As Qataris we have the same responsibilities as other youth all over the world.

It is our responsibility to challenge all sorts of knowledge that's been handed down to us, from the way we use water at home to the way we design gas-processing plants.

We don’t need to make the same mistakes; we have the advantage of a better more nuanced understanding of development. The thing we need to keep in mind is that change happens at home; it’s about thinking harder about all the small decisions we have to make. Unfortunately I think this is much tougher than going to Antarctica and back.

—written by Abdulla AlMisnad