Education, training and public awareness play a vital role in helping people learn more about the effects of climate change and how to tackle this global issue.

Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) focuses on these three fundamental points.

Representatives from several Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, came together at Le Méridien Barbarons Hotel to review Article 6.

The meeting was arranged jointly by the UNFCC, the Departments of Education and Environment and the Sea Level Rise Foundation. The main source of funding was the government of Spain.

The meeting was convened in response to a request by the Conference of Parties to the convention, at its 13th session in Bali in December 2007, to organise thematic regional and sub-regional workshops to share lessons learnt and best practices in carrying out this Article.

The forum also helped parties in the SIDS to identify emerging needs and opportunities to effectively carry out their commitments under Article 6.

Similar regional workshops have been held in Sweden, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic and Gambia.

Under the convention the Parties – including the Seychelles government – are expected to develop and carry out educational and public awareness programmes on climate-change effects.

It also focuses on public access to information and the importance of them taking part in addressing this issue.
The need to develop adequate responses and training of scientific, technical and managerial personnel are also key parts of the convention, which focuses strongly on targeting young people.

To address the challenges of communicating, teaching and learning about climate change, the Parties adopted, in November 2002, the New Delhi Work Programme (NDWP) on Article 6.

This is a five-year country-driven work programme engaging all stakeholders to carry out their Article 6 commitments and recommending a list of activities that could be carried out at national level to encourage members of the public to be more active.

The programme also aims to ensure everybody has access to information on climate change. Seychelles has already done a lot on this issue, and education programmes have intensified over the past few years.

During the workshop a number of islands gave presentations on what they have done so far; Seychelles’ presentation was given by Jeanette Larue from the Department of Environment.

The meeting took stock of the progress made in carrying out the NDWP to date, identifying lessons learnt and good practices with a view to disseminate, promote, replicate and introduce them as appropriate.

It aimed to identify essential needs for, potential gaps in, and barriers to carrying out the NDWP and identified recommendations on further steps to improve it.

A number of recommendations were made from group discussions including, for example, to give national focal points financial and technical support, training and access to relevant information and materials.

Some also felt that there is a need to promote networking between national focal points on Article 6 to enhance exchange of information, good practices and lessons learnt in carrying out the amended NDWP.

This should be done through workshops, international exchange programmes and regular updates on CC:iNet. There is also a need to build up institutional and technical capacity at national level and to identify gaps and needs when carrying out Article 6 of the convention, to assess the effectiveness of related activities and consider linkages between these activities.

Some islands felt there is still a need to mainstream climate change consideration in national development policies and plans of various economic sectors as far as possible. It was also felt there is a need to provide incentives, and to encourage all major groups in society – including youths, women, non-governmental organisations and indigenous people – for formulating and carrying out efforts to address climate change.

Those present felt that the UNFCC secretariat also needs to enhance user-friendliness of the information clearing-house CC:iNet and promote its use in SIDS as a good resource.

Representatives from small islands also proposed the need to develop standard guidelines on all elements of Article 6, as well as when incorporating climate-change issues in school curricula.

Funding and resources were key issues discussed as challenges to carry out the programmes in SIDS. The final report will be compiled and used at the upcoming COP 16, in Cancun, Mexico.

Seychelles’ schools were praised for all they have done over the years in regard to climate change education. On the last day, school children from Mahe and Praslin performed artistic pieces of work such as poems, songs, short plays and speeches for the visitors.

An exhibition was also set up on the school rainwater harvesting project, where children from Anse Boileau primary school, a school taking part in the project, showed how water collected from our roofs can be used at home.

The project was applauded and it was felt it should be adapted in other SIDS, as they are also having the same problem of water shortages. 

Contributed by the Environment Department

Forrás: http://www.nation.sc/