Climate Change: A Global Challenge by Liz Rihoy

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Climate Change A Global Challenge by Liz Rihoy
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Outline for the presentation

• Introduction Chinese Childrens Painting
  Competition 2008 and 2009
• Climate change a global challenge
• Actions on climate change
• UNEP and climate change
• Environmental Education

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Chinese Childrens Painting Competition on
climate change

• 1st painting competition on climate change What
  can we do to make our earth cool down?
• An unpredicted 1.5 million Chinese children
  participated
• A signal of the countrys growing awareness of
  environmental issues
• 620 paintings selected for prizes

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Chinese Childrens Painting Competition on
climate change

• The top 3 winners participated in the UNEP Tunza
  International Childrens Conference in Stavanger,
  Norway in June 2008
• The top 20 winners were invited to Nairobi, to
  receive their prizes from UNEPs Executive
  Director, Mr. Achim Steiner and to participate in
  childrens community activities in Kenya

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2nd Chinese childrens painting competition on
climate change

• The theme of the second competition is
• once again climate change, because
• It is one of the worlds greatest problems
• The impact on young people is most severe
• According to leading scientists the main cause
  of climate change is human activities
• If we are causing the problem, we should be
  helping to fix it

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Climate change a Global challenge

• Temperatures are increasing in many parts of the
  planet
• This is caused by build-up of greenhouse gases
  (GHGs)
• Continued GHG emissions at or above current rates
  would cause further warming and change in our
  climatic system
• Most of the increase in average temperatures is
  due to increase in GHG concentrations mainly by
  produced by human beings
• Between 1970 and 2004, global GHG emissions by
  human activities have increased by 70

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Impact of climate change

• Increases in global
• average air and ocean
• temperatures
• Rising global average
• sea level
• Widespread melting
• of snow and ice

Source Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report,
Climate Change 2007 (AR4)
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Impact of climate change

• More frequent droughts, floods and other forms of
  extreme weather
• Food supplies will be at danger
• Many plants and animals will not survive
• Rising sea levels will force hundreds of
  thousands of people in coastal zones to migrate

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Impact of climate change on children

• More than 46 of the world's population is below
  25 years.
• Approximately 175 million children will be
  affected by climate change induced natural
  disasters every year over the next decade.
• Children are more likely than adults to perish
  during natural disasters or succumb to
  malnutrition, injuries or disease.
• Women and children account for more than 75 of
  displaced people following natural disasters.

Source UNEP website, Paint for the Planet Key
Facts About Children and Climate Change
http//www.unep.org/paint4planet/facts.aspx
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Actions on climate change

• Mitigation
• Promoting low-carbon energy sources and
  technologies
• Promoting energy conservation and efficiency
• Reducing emissions from deforestation
• Adaptation
• Integrating climate risks into policies
• and planning at different levels
• Addressing climate impacts
• in various sectors
• Building the capacity of communities to
• cope with climate change related problems

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UNEP and climate change

• UNEP has more than 20 years of experience working
  on climate change
• Climate change is one of the 6 thematic
  priorities of UNEPs Medium-Term Strategy (2009
  to 2013)
• UNEP has scaled up its
• climate change activities
• with partners and stakeholders
• Cooperation with the Intergovernmental
• Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• Cooperation with the UN Framework
• Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

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UNEP and climate change

• UNEP Medium-Term Strategy 2010-2013
• To strengthen the ability of countries to
  integrate climate change responses into national
  development processes"
• UNEP is helping governments to
• Ensure that climate change adaptation is
  integrated into development processes
• Make choices that lead to reduction in GHG
  emissions
• Improve the deployment and transfer of better and
  efficient technology
• Improve land use, reduce deforestation land
  degradation increase carbon sequestration
• Ensure that policy-makers, civil society and
  private sector have access to climate change
  science and information

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UNEP and climate change

• Mitigation
• UNEP has launched a major worldwide tree
• planting campaign The Billion Tree Campaign.
• The goal is to encourage people, communities,
• business, industry, civil society organizations
  and
• governments to plant at least seven billion trees
• Worldwide by end of 2009.
• Currently 2.5 billion planted and 4.1 billion
  pledged

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UNEP and climate change

• The Climate Neutral Network (CN Net)
• UNEP has established CN Net to assist those
  interested in
• achieving big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to
  reach
• their goals.
• CN Net publicizes climate neutrality plans and
  achievements
• CN Net acts as a network for those who aspire to
  climate neutrality
• CN Net brings developed and developing country
  participants together to green the development
  path and support the MDGs

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UNEP and climate change

• Outreach and communication
• UNite to combat climate change campaign
• -A UN wide campaign to support the call for
• a definitive agreement on a comprehensive
• Global Climate regime for the period after
• 2012, when Kyoto Protocol expires

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UNEP and climate change

• Adaptation activities by UNEP
• Hosts International consultation meetings on
  development of adaptation network
• Runs adaptation training workshops
• Provides technical notes for preparations of
  national programmes of action
• Provides technical support to countries on data.

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UNEP and young people

• UNEP has a long term strategy on the engagement
  and involvement of children in environmental
  issues called Tunza (Kiswahili for treat with
  care and affection)
• It started in 2003 and ends in 2008
• The 2nd Tunza strategy will run from
• 2009 to 2014

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UNEP and young people

• Annual Tunza conferences for children and youth
• where issues of climate change are discussed.
  Next childrens conference will be in Korea in
  2009 and will culminate in a childrens statement
  on climate change to be presented to the climate
  change meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009
• International Childrens Painting Competition
  exhibition and auction
• Tunza publications magazines and childrens
  series on climate change
• Interactive website
• Ozzy Ozone Campaign awareness and actions on
  ozone depleting substances

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Global organizations and climate change

• World Conservation Union IUCN
• Coordinating climate change work across IUCN's 12
  major programmes, 10 regions, 6 Commissions and
  member organizations
• In China, building capacity to assume a
  leadership role in global conservation
• Working to include biodiversity concerns in
  adaptation and mitigation polices and practice,
  as well as furthering natural resource management
  strategies that help species and humans adapt to
  the impacts of climate change

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Global organizations and climate change

• WWF, the World Wide Fund for Nature
• Actively working with governments, research
  institutes, NGOs and private enterprises to
  increase awareness and capacity of climate change
  negotiation at various levels
• Contributing to the Chinese governments climate
  change related decisions
• Enhancing other countries understanding of
  Chinas climate change policies and actions
• Exploring and facilitating low-carbon economy
  development in China

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Global organizations and climate change

• Connect2earth
• Connect2earth is a global green online community,
  launched by WWF and IUCN. Videos, images and text
  on climate change can be uploaded on to
  Connect2earth website and the best entries are
  awarded prizes
• Greenpeace
• Climate change is a priority issue for Greenpeace
• Challenges governments to take action to halt
  climate change
• Inspires people to join the energy revolution by
  reducing energy consumption and promoting
  renewable energy

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Why environmental education?

• Addressing environmental issues requires a
  citizenry that is
• - informed and environmentally literate
• - willing to translate its knowledge
• into action
• - Environmental education is fundamental!

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What is environmental education?

• Teaching about how natural environments function
• Making people aware of environmental issues
• Promoting an understanding of the relationship
  between humans and their surrounding environment
• Desired outcomes
• creating a concern for environmental issues
• evoking environmentally responsible behaviour
• promoting environment protecting activities

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What can teachers do?

• Teachers are often identified as important
  agents of change in society
• - They play
  an important role in improving
• human capacity in environmental
• awareness, protection and problem-solving
• - Teachers
  require the knowledge, skills,
• on environmental awareness in order to
  include this in their school programme

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What can teachers impart to their students?

• To turn off appliances, heating and air
  conditioning
• To turn of and unplug computer and other
  electronic devices
• To encourage the parents and relatives to change
  the light bulbs to energy efficient ones
• To recycle papers or reuse bottles, chopsticks
  and plastics
• To join or create an eco-club
• To plant trees
• To choose products that are environmentally
  friendly
• To walk, cycle or take a train or bus instead of
  the private car
• To try to use less. For example, to carry a cloth
  bag when going shopping instead of plastic bags
• To encourage family and friends to do these
  things
• To write to political leaders asking for cleaner
  cars, better public transport or renewable energy
• To participate in activities on climate change

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For more information on the Tunza programme
visit www.unep.org/Tunza
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!??