One Young World, a summit uniting young people from around the globe through social media, has kicked off in London with around 1,000 pioneers from over 100 countries. Under the guidance of prominent figures such as Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bob Geldorf and John Kerry, the delegates aged 18 to 25 discuss issues that affect the world. Total Politics speaks to co-founder David Jones about his vision of a better world and the impact of social media.

What is the idea of One Young World and what do you hope this summit will achieve?

There is a huge number of problems in this world. Unfortunately, the world’s leaders often do not make the right decisions or find the right solutions. Copenhagen is the key example for that. We believe if the world’s leaders can’t make the right decisions then maybe the young people of the world can help them get there. There are two key criteria of success for us. Firstly, the extent to which the resolutions passed here have an impact on global politics resulting in positive change. The second one is the extent to which 10, 15, 20 years from now, some people who attended the inaugural One Young World go on to run their country, a major business, an NGO and do brilliant things in the social entrepreneurial space.

What can be done to get more young people engaged in politics?

Probably the best example of this is what Obama did. He reached out to the young people through social media and used social media to get people to vote who ordinarily wouldn’t have. What we are trying to do here is the same. If we engage this generation of people and give them a platform to actually impact and affect change, they will.

To what extent can social media provide chances to influence politics?

Look what Oscar Morales did. He created a movement on Facebook against the FARC - the terrorist organisation in Columbia - and over 15 million people then marched in 40 cities around the world against the FARC. All through the power of social media. If you look at the enormous number of people who are actually here at One Young World, there are a lot of people from very poor backgrounds who don’t have that much money but they are doing amazing things. If you have access to an internet connection today you can really shape and change the world.

You are very much engaged in environmental policies. What has to happen to fight climate change?

What we need is leaders who act. The tck tck tck campaign we did last year for Kofi Annan got 15.2 million people signing up as climate allies and the world leaders haven’t acted. What we need is an agreement that is global, binding and just fair. If we can deliver that I think we can actually address the issue. If we put legislation in place that reduces and limits emissions, we will succeed in addressing the climate problem.

What is your relation to David Cameron and how do you work together?

The advertising and communications agency that I run does his advertising.