Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Enhanced Youth
A Collaborative Document Created by International Youth from the YOUNGO Article 6 Working Group
Table of contents
Introduction: Our Generation, Our Future Chapter 1) Article 6: Who, What, Where? Chapter 2) I Want to Learn How to Change Climate Education and Training! Chapter 3) I Want to Learn How to Change Participation in Climate Decision-Making! Chapter 4) OK, Now Im Ready to Start Changing Things! Chapter 5) Case studies from Around the World Annex 1: The Texts Annex 2: Education for Sustainability
The coloured copies and lay-out was financed with money of the Youth in Action program of the European Commission. The European Commission is not responsible for the content of this publication neither for every further use of the publication.
Now we have a good decision on Article 6, we all have an opportunity to change our world. We can use this decision to demand better climate change education in our own countries. We can ask what countries are doing to include us in their decisions about climate change, and what training opportunities they are going to offer young people. In this toolkit, we have included a range of examples of things you can be demanding in your own country. The first stage is to decide to do it. Get a group of people together and decide that yes, you will be the ones to change education, participation and training on climate change in your country. Once you have made this decision, read a bit about Article 6 (Chapter 1), and decide what you want. Better education and training (Chapter 2)? Better representation in decisionmaking (Chapter 3)? Both? Finally read some advocacy tips for who to approach and how to win these things in your own country (Chapter 4). Whoever you are, whatever you are doing on education, training or participation on climate change- join the Article 6 email list on Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/group/youthclimatepolicy-article6) and tell us about it! We all love to hear your plans, your successes, and your questions! Love from, The YOUNGO Article 6 Working Group
Send a message to the Article 6 email group to tell us about your work!
Negotiators and YOUNGO Article 6 Working Group members celebrate after the successful Article 6 decision in Cancun 2010
4) Plan a wide range of advocacy actions. Your actions should include: Direct lobbying such as meetings with decision-makers, participating in conferences and NGO working groups, producing recommendations, writing commentaries and sharing best practice.
5) Get in touch with the appropriate decision-makers. One particular person to get in touch with early on is your national focal point (http://unfccc.int/cc_inet/cc_inet/information_pool/items/3888.php) on Article 6 to discuss the COP decision and its implementation. If you want to introduce climate change in the national curriculum, it might make sense to get in touch with the board responsible for drafting it, i.e: the parliamentarians on the educational committee and / or minister of education. If you want to work on getting youth represented in an official delegation, the head of that delegation would be the more appropriate contact. Tip: You may not meet the decision-makers in person, but instead their aides.
6) Prepare your arguments clearly before any meeting with your focal point or other interest groups. Try to get across which changes you want to see, and why. Which changes? Be specific and concrete with your suggestions on how to enhance youth participation and education on climate change. Bring a document where you explain your suggestions. Why? i. As an argument for your right to participate, you can use Article 12 of the Children Rights Convention (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm). Along with Article 6 of the UNFCCC itself. ii. Use other UN documents that mention young people in decision making and non-formal education, for example the World Programme on Youth and UNESCOs work related to non-formal education to strengthen your case. You can also use recommendations published by NGOs to bolster your argument. iii. It is important you know about certain issues. Use Annex 1 to understand the COP16 decision, and search www.unfccc.int for other important texts such as the New Delhi Work Programme. 7) Be patient! You must be persistent in approaching people. Always remain polite and friendly, in the end you want influence other people to take decisions! It will be worth it.
The Climate Talk radio program was carried out in the form of public interviews, phone-ins, community outreach, drama, quizzes and debates for school children, poster designing, etc. Within a period of 12 months, the project was able to carry out 22 panel discussions involving stakeholders from policy level, NGOs, and local communities. Twohundred people were interviewed including local farmers, fishermen, taxi drivers, University students and lecturers, enabling them to share their knowledge, understanding, or in some cases their coping mechanism to the effects of climate change. The project paid a particular emphasis on local communities adaptation efforts and knowledge on climate change adaptation, which for far too long was under-utilised or not considered in climate change policy formulation at the National level. Through the Climate Talk program, we were also able to carry-out eight quizzes and four debates for school children. We also received 614 phone calls, 75% of which were from women, many whom were small-scale farmers. We also designed and printed climate change education posters, which were distributed to schools, government institutions and
media houses. We developed a theatrical play on climate change which was featured on the radio and in schools.
After one year of active advocacy and education, the project has helped to reduce the information gap between policy makers and general public. It also enhanced more public participation and engagement in climate change discourse in the country. The general public now has a clearer understanding of climate change, unlike before when it was seen as too difficult and too scientific. With our efforts, people now understand that climate change is an everyday issue, and that everybody (including communities themselves) can bring about the solution. The Gambia is one of the many countries where climate change education is a new concept. The country is located in the Sahel region, which is characterised by recurrent droughts, loss of vegetative cover and rapid environmental degradation, making it high at risk of climate change impact. In fact, in the past few years the country has experienced serious flooding, rise in sea level and loss of vegetation. Despite the threat of climate change to the security of life and livelihood, the majority of Gambians have little or no understanding about how to adapt or mitigate this problem. This is what motivated Global Unification, The Gambia, a youth-led research and development to start a climate education project call the Climate Talk. This was a radio advocacy program, funded by Action Aid The Gambia, and was intended to raise awareness, promote public participation and access to information on climate change issues in this country. The project, carried on the theme rethinking the future helped paved the way for concrete debate on climate issues and its impact in the country.
Dutch Case Study: Climate Diet A speaking program attracts climate diet along secondary schools 12 High Schools, 12 provinces, 12 months: that's the idea of our guest lecture program Climate Diet. The working group called Young and Sustainable, within the Dutch National Youth Council (NJR), is an enthusiastic group of young people that developed this guest lecture program in cooperation with the two Dutch youth representatives on Sustainable Development to the UN. The idea is that classes in schools get, first, information about climate change and the scarcity of natural resources in an interactive manner. Secondly, the students are asked to use this knowledge to come up with tips to reduce their impact on the environment. The students come up with a tip every month in a different creative form. It can be in rhyme, a slogan, etc. Each school will be assigned a different month, and result will be tips associated to the specific season! This is because in August, of course, different tips are relevant than in January! The youth representatives on sustainable development to the UN offered the students tips to the responsible Minister of Environment during the COP16 in Cancun. After the conference in Cancun the guest lecture program has continued and has been upscaled to different levels of education in secondary schools. The Dutch 10:10 Campaign is a partner of the program and the guest lectures offer schools the opportunity to join this Campaign. After joining the Dutch 10:10 Campaign, the schools must reduce 10% of CO2 emissions in one years time. French case study: Planet D Planet D ensures participation and education of youth by organizing a national competition for student climate change initiatives. In February 2008, young people from the French Association Planet D created a national competition for students on climate change initiatives for their campus. By giving the chance to win more than 5000 euros for the best project, they gathered the participation of more than 15 different Universities. The opportunity to win the money was the result of setting-up a concrete project. Avenir Climatique gave pre-selected projects the chance to talk with sponsors (of public and private entities). Since then, each project has been assigned to one company or institution related to its topic. This collaborative partnership allowed students to get notices from professionals but also to give their opinions about firm or public organizational activity. The main goal was to enhance that both parties can bring relevant contribution to each other. At the end, five projects were awarded at the French Snat with the presence of politicians and stakeholders. Another project lead jointly by Planet D and Avenir Climatique is the high school Carbon Footprint Project. They developed the Carbon Footprint method for high schools. It allows pupils to find the carbon footprint of their own High School, thus developing both their comprehension of energy related issues and their implication in driving the change.
Canadian Case Study: Wings of Change, a For-youthby-youth Climate Education Workshop In early 2011, faced with the reality that the Canadian government does not take any of its climate change responsibilities seriously, a group of young people in Canada designed their own workshop about the causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change. Over the summer, the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition (CYCC) trained over 100 youth from across Canada to facilitate a for-youth-by-youth workshop designed to build awareness and to emphasize the connections between society and environment. The workshop, created for high school students, expands on the scientific understanding of climate change to connect participants with the human impacts of climate change locally, nationally, and globally. By strengthening the conceptual connections between societal norms, civic engagement, and the effects of climate change on lives around the world, the facilitators aim to foster the systems-thinking which is crucial to solving the climate crisis and empowering a generation of young Canadians. Moreover, the workshop combines the principles of popular education, pageantry, theatre and collective artistic expression to deliver messages directly from young people to the halls of political power. At the end of the workshops, youth are asked to visually represent their visions for the future of Canada on fabric feathers, which are assembled to create the Wings of Change national art project. The feathers will be collected by facilitators to create largescale bird sculptures literally carrying the wings of change. By amplifying the voices of youth through a beautiful and creative medium, we are building a powerful and inclusive message that demonstrates the importance of climate issues to this generation. These sculptures will be showcased in communities across the country, sharing the messages of young Canadians from coast to coast. Norwegian Case Study: Guest Teacher Program Climate Change Viewed from the South During autumn 2009 the Norwegian youth NGO Spire made guest teacher visits to different high schools and folk high schools in the area of Oslo. Spire recruited youth to this information program through an announcement at a popular North/South web-page. This announcement served as a good way to recruit new people to Spire and to empower youth engaged in climate change to take action. Some of the youth participating in this information program were also the ones representing Spire at COP 15, and the guest teacher visits served as one of their pre-COP duties. The aim of the guest teacher program was to spread information about climate change and the international climate negotiations coming up. Spire wanted to communicate the issue of climate change form the perspective of vulnerable countries, and the presentation emphasised the dimensions of injustice within climate change and climate change adaptation in countries in the global south. The teaching was done through an interactive lecture, with help of a colourful PowerPoint Presentation and a competitive climate quiz at the end of the lecture. In addition to being an informative presentation, the lecture also fostered a discussion on how the students could take action on climate change.
Malagasy Case Study: Teaching Farming Skills Madagascar is faced with growing poverty since changes in climate have an impact on agriculture. People in rural areas are particularly vulnerable because they lack access to education and resources. In an effort to empower young women and improve the standard of living in rural areas, the Girl Guides of Madagascar began training local women on fish farming, bee keeping, rice production and other forms of agriculture. After the training, the women are supported by a mentor and have access to materials and resources provided by the Guides. They are also encouraged to set up local income-generating projects. To further support the women, the Guides have arranged funding partnerships like the World Banks Rural Development Support Project. The Guides also run camps on agriculture for youth members, where they are trained to be peer educators and are put in contact with rural women around the country. This has led to the formation of a number of new Guide groups and rural womens groups. The project has been an resounding success so far, with 1,641 people and 124 families trained during 72 training sessions, resulting in over 17,000 people in rural communities benefiting from the project. Both Guides and vulnerable women have been empowered and mobilized to lead, take action and make a difference in their lives in the face of climate change.
Cameroon Case study: I Vote for Climate campaign ''I Vote for Climate'' campaign was organized in Cameroon on the occasion of the recent presidential election that took place on the 9th October and was run by Vital Actions for Sustainable Development (AVD) a youth-led NGO. Supported by the Global Campaign for Climate Action of Green Peace (GCCA) and a number of national and international organizations/networks such as Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement (JVE)'s Cameroon chapter, Youth Synergy for Development (SYJEDE) as well as the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), the campaign first step runs from 1st to 8th October and aims to raise awareness of sustainable development and climate change among citizens and asks them to sign a petition requesting that all the twenty three candidates at the election include strong policies on environmental sustainability and climate change fighting in their proposed action plans in case they were elected by the people. The organizers of the campaign took the presidential election in Cameroon as a good opportunity to raise Photo AVD 2010-2011 awareness among citizens on the importance to support with their votes candidates who agree to include strong climate change and sustainable development policies in their proposed plans of action as a crucial topic to be addressed. I Vote for Climate campaign was launched on the 4th October in Yaound, the capital city of Cameroon, in the same time with a press conference that brought together more than fifty (50) journalists from various media including TV stations, newspaper, radio stations and online media. Other participants were civil society and diplomatic missions representatives, a group of local young musicians and artists as well as many other ordinary citizens.
Over six thousands petitions with as message I encourage all candidates at the presidential election 2011 in Cameroon to consider climate change and sustainable development in their proposed plans of action have been signed in the country. Candidates at the presidential election were also invited o sign a second petition that has Photo AVD 2010-2011 been developed for them with as message: I commit myself, as candidate at the presidential election 2011 in Cameroon, to consider climate change and sustainable development in my proposed plan of action. Some candidates have signed the petition as well as some key people involved in the election organization who show their support to the initiative they found relevant for the country. Other signatories were coming from citizens sharing different backgrounds and religions. Their signatures were collected inside Universities, markets, schools, streets, public administrations, hotels, villages, rural areas, and during medias programmes. The youth organizers of the campaign also used the power of media to raise awareness among citizens on climate change and sustainable development. They got support from various national and international media who attended the press conference and the launch ceremony. Medias also invited them to their programmes and talks related to the election in order to promote the campaign, get citizens' support and encourage all candidates to sign the petition. This enables young people to meet with some candidates participating in the same medias programmes. After the first step of the campaign in Cameroon, the organizers started the second step aim at sharing this experience with others. They sent a representative to Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, where he presented the outcome of the project at Photo AVD 2010-2011 the 1st Climate Change and Development Conference in Africa (CCDA-1) that took place from 17th to 19th October and organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), ClimDev and the African Union Commission (AUC). Their representative also travelled to Perth, Australia, where he shared his experience with all delegates attending the 8th Commonwealth Youth Forum from 23rd to 27th October. Now he is planning to go to Durban, South Africa, where he will promote the campaign at the 17th Conference of Parties at the (COP17) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Another destination has been in New York in mid-December 2011 for the second Intersessional of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. There also the outcomes were presented.
Case Study: Working in Partnership to Develop Non-formal Education Resources WAGGGS is a founding member of the Youth and United Nations Global Alliance (YUNGA), a mutual partnership that coordinates efforts to achieve common goals such as eliminating hunger and poverty, ensuring gender equality, respecting the environment and providing better education for all. YUNGA develops publications, activity Picture WAGGGS packs and other resources for children and young people such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/WAGGGS Food Security and Climate Change badge as well as promoting activities such as the 1billionhungry campaign. The Food Security Climate Change badge has already been distributed to over 20,000 young people in schools and youth groups and has been downloaded more than 4,000 times from the WAGGGS website in 2010. The publication includes a range of activities for young people to make them aware of the issues of environmental protection and food security and inspire them to take an active role in solving the problems. While there are global challenges, the task or issue is often different within each country. The key is therefore to build the capacity of youth to identify and address their own issues in their individual communities. This is why organizations like WAGGGS are so important they have a global perspective but their roots are in local communities. Reuben Sessa, FAO. To celebrate the International Year of Youth and the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, WAGGGS, the FAO and Picture WAGGGS the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), with the support of numerous other partners, have also developed a set of educational resources on biodiversity, which will help teachers and youth leaders develop a programme of learning, participation and action. Through our global partnership with organizations such as the FAO, WAGGGS has produced materials and programmes that mobilize our 10 million-strong network of girls and young women to take action against climate change. Working with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts has enabled the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to reach young people with its messages on food security, hunger and the environment. Through our successful joint initiatives, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts worldwide have taken positive action in the fight against hunger. Alexander Mueller, Assistant Director-General, FAO. The Climate Change and Food Security Badge (http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/resources/document/view/3833)
French Case Study: Implementing Climate Change Education at a National Level. In France, climate change education is compulsory and has been implemented through official programs. From primary school to high school. Since 2004, pupils receive sustainable development education in: Disciplinary Subjects (History, Geography, Biology, Economics...). Now new textbooks all include sustainable development issues, for example: the history of climate change, global warming in geography, etc. Extra-Curricular Projects: This includes: itinerary discovery in secondary schools, personal projects in high schools, etc. which are specific lessons where pupils are allowed to work on what they want related to sustainable development. Official time allowed to debate: it is compulsory to have at least two subjects related to sustainable development per year at junior high and high school.
Dutch Case Study: Youth Representatives The Dutch National Youth Council has an extensive background in youth involvement in social and political affairs worldwide. It endorses officially elected Youth Representatives to take part in international conferences, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Dutch National Youth Council selects and nominates the most suitable youth representative to take part and actively participate in each respective conference. Youth representatives work with a junior/senior system. Each youth representative has a mandate for two years, with a one year overlap. The junior youth representative attends the COP with an NGO accreditation whereas the senior youth representative generally is part of the official delegation (except in COP 16). In this way, both the continuity and the quality of the youth contribution is ensured. Throughout the year, the youth representatives gather input from youth about the topics related to the climate negotiations and they have in-depth discussions with youth and several other stakeholders. During the year, the youth representatives actively seek opportunities to deliver input to decision-makers on local, regional and national level. They are also involved in the preparation process of the Dutch delegation to the COP. There is an active youth working group on sustainable development within the Dutch National Youth Council, with whom the youth representatives share knowledge and worked together on, among other things, the position paper for the UNFCCC. This paper was presented to the Dutch Minister of the Environment and the Dutch delegation to the COP 16. Furthermore, the role of youth representative includes involving Dutch youth in climate change issues and negotiations through youth conferences within the country, by providing workshops, giving guest lectures, and engaging in outreach activities via social media, etc.
UK Case Study: UK Department and Climate Change Youth Advisory Panel Q: Where did the idea come from and who was involved in originally thinking about it? A: The idea of a Youth Panel organically developed over the months leading up to Copenhagen. Many youth organisations and coalitions had been questioning DECC on ways to engage and actively involve a young person/young people in the decision making process. As such, there were a couple of groups (notably Plan UK and UKYCC) who would publicly ask questions about how DECC was going to create better engagement and participation avenues for the youth constituency. Since participating as a youth delegate/advocate at the UNFCCC, I came to realise the necessity of having young people involved in the decisionmaking process that led to the UK negotiating positions at the UNFCCC. I was also keen that the youth voice should be heard in relation to National policy issues. Q: How did you get the contacts within DECC? A: I think each group in each country will have different ways of contacting their respective Energy and Climate Change/Environment Departments (should they exist). For me, it was after attending the Bonn I intersessional and using the 'how old will you be in 2050?' t-shirts for youth messaging that really caught the attention of the UK country delegates. A negotiator from the UK put me directly in touch with the stakeholder team. I then organised meetings with the stakeholder manager and a campaign coordinator to discuss further collaboration between DECC and UKYCC and the relationship developed from there. As a key stakeholder in relation to energy and climate change issues DECC readily recognised how crucial it was for the youth groups to be involved and were very helpful at establishing formalised channels of communication that continue to bring the youth groups to meet with DECC. Q: Who did you approach with the idea first? A: As part of my wider campaigning and work with UKYCC I was constantly asking about ways in which to formally involve young Photo Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK people in the decision making process be it by having a young person on the negotiating team, or a young adviser in the department/panel. I was keen to explore all options with the relevant people (UKYCC and DECC, for instance) and to have a better idea of what would work best for both groups. Prior to Copenhagen at prominent events in the UK - and during Copenhagen - young people from different organisations asked Ed Miliband publicly if he would be willing to involve youth in a more formal way. At a Youth Question Time event with Ed Miliband and the Prime Minister of the time, the question was also asked and they said, yes, we think a youth panel is a good idea'. In Copenhagen, in the second week when we were locked out, I delivered a personal message to Ed Miliband (a youtube video) challenging him and the department to take pro-active steps to include young people in the decision-making process and formalise this process. In January 2010, just after Copenhagen the Department launched a 'consultation' on how young people should be involved in the decision making process the practical nature of it e.g. what it would look like, how often it should meet, if it should be a panel or something else, etc. These results of the survey were collected by DECC and according to the responses, they offered a number of youth organisations an opportunity to meet with them and start
working on formalising the idea. This first meeting was a full day session enabling frank, open, and positive discussion about how a youth panel would work. Q: How did you present the idea? A: At the first meeting I was invited to attend the meeting for UKYCC. The discussion was very useful, dynamic and exciting as we covered issues such as the remit of the Panel, the principles of it and suggestions of projects/ work the Panel could do. Because I was so interested in this Panel working I volunteered to take notes, write up the draft proposals and take feedback from the other youth groups as to the best ways for the Panel to work. At a second meeting we presented the proposal, the DECC responded, and I then worked on the final draft. At both of these meetings we met with a DECC policy official, the stakeholder manager, someone from the communications team, the web editor and Secretary of State. I think it was vital that a range of DECC officials were interested in this project and were keen to offer their time to join the discussion. The different groups involved in the planning meetings then agreed to the final proposal and this was submitted to DECC for consideration and to respond. Q: How did you work with people who were advocating for the youth panel within DECC? A: There were a number of 'champions' of the idea of a Youth Panel in particular secretary of state, Ed Miliband. When the final proposal was submitted to the Department there was a General election in the UK, so the Department was not allowed to work with pressure groups, stakeholders etc. There was then the change of administration and a new Government elected. Fortunately the civil servants were so very supportive of the idea of a youth panel that the new government continued with it and the 'official Panel' was launched in June 2010 5 Photo Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK months after the initial consultation. I then worked closely with the DECC civil servants who were part of the project team to plan the programme for the Panel and work out budgeting/funding etc. Q: What was the initial reaction and how did you overcome any negative reactions? A: The initial reaction from within DECC was very positive the idea of a Youth Panel was supported. The tricky bit was working out the details for the role and the purpose of the panel. This was worked out during the initial 2 meetings and workshop sessions where the group of about 12 representatives from different organisations openly discussed their preferred views and visions for the Panel. Ultimately we achieved consensus on the model that went onward. Q: Who did you build alliances with to make it a broader ask instead of just UKYCC? A: It was absolutely crucial that the Panel was a grass roots development and not a focus of one particular organisation. It was actually DECC that invited the groups in the first instance and so there was a great opportunity for the different organisations to work together on a equal footing, without one having more ownership than the other. When I was then asked to coordinate the Panel, it was also vital that I was independent and not tied to one particular organisation.
of the Convention, Welcoming the contributions of the Governments of Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States of America in support of the regional and subregional workshops organized by the secretariat in 2009 and 2010,[1] Reaffirming that the information network clearing house CC:iNet is a useful tool for promoting the implementation of Article 6 of the Convention, Having considered submissions from Parties and relevant intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations[2] and documents prepared by the secretariat to support the intermediate review of the amended New Delhi work programme[3], 1. Recognizes that: (a) Parties have continued to progress and gain experience in implementing Article 6 of the Convention, including through the wide range of educational and outreach activities that they have undertaken; (b) Article 6 related activities have been a component of a significant number of projects developed by intergovernmental, nongovernmental and community-based organizations, and private- and public-sector actors; (c) Notwithstanding the progress made with respect to the implementation of the amended New Delhi work programme on Article 6 of the Convention, many challenges remain; 2. Invites Parties, with a view to enhancing the implementation of the amended New Delhi work programme: (a) To designate a national focal point on Article 6, if Parties have not already done so, and to inform the secretariat accordingly; (b) To foster networking, coordination and exchange of information between relevant stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels; (c) To enhance efforts to elaborate national strategies and action plans on Article 6 of the Convention, including climate change communication strategies, taking into account, inter alia, the gender perspective; (d) To enhance the involvement of, and create training opportunities for, groups with a key role in climate change communication and education, including journalists, teachers, youth, children and community leaders; (e) To foster the participation of women, youth, indigenous peoples, civil society groups and relevant stakeholders in decision-making on climate change at the national level and their attendance at intergovernmental meetings, including sessions of the Conference of the Parties, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and the subsidiary bodies; (f) To improve reporting on education, training and public awareness activities through national communications; (g) To improve public access to information on, and public awareness of, adaptation and mitigation; (h) To support formal education in schools and institutions at all levels, non-formal and informal education on climate change and the development of educational and public awareness materials according to national circumstances and cultural context; 3. Also invites all Parties and international organizations to enhance support to the national focal points on Article 6 of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, through the provision of information, materials, training of trainers programmes and regional and national projects on topics relating to education, training and public awareness;
4. Further invites Parties in a position to do so and international organizations and bilateral and multilateral agencies to continue to support the convening of regional, subregional and national workshops focusing on specific elements of Article 6 of the Convention, and the maintenance and further development of the information network clearing house CC:iNet; 5. Urges the Global Environment Facility, as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention, to increase access to funding for Article 6 related activities; 6. Encourages intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to enhance their efforts to respond to the amended New Delhi work programme and to share information on their respective activities through the information network clearing house CC:iNet and other information sources; 7. Requests the secretariat: (a) To initiate and facilitate networking and exchange of information and good practices between national focal points on Article 6, including through the information network clearing house CC:iNet; (b) To continue collaborating with international organizations, convention secretariats and the private sector with a view to catalysing action on education, information exchange, training and public awareness; (c) To continue, subject to the availability of financial resources, its work on maintaining, developing and promoting the information network clearing house CC:iNet, by improving its functionality and accessibility and increasing the content in the official languages of the United Nations; 8. Requests the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to develop, at its thirty-fourth session, terms of reference for a review of the implementation of the amended New Delhi work programme, with a view to launching the review at its thirty-sixth session.
concern regarding the major risks and impacts that SIDS will have to face in the future due to climate change, which will have many negative effects on natural ecosystems and on socioeconomic conditions. The forthcoming impacts of climate change on agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism, and trade will put SIDS populations in danger. SIDS also have low adaptive capacity and the cost of adaptation is high relative to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is time to drastically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to a level that minimizes economic, social and environmental dislocation, and to build the necessary capacity to enable SIDS to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Climate Change Education has an important role to play in SIDS. There is need for demystifying scientific language of climate science especially in SIDS. An example of the challenges this entails is in the Pacific, where science is not taught in local/Indigenous languages. Teaching and learning climate change in a foreign language, in this case English, prevents students from really comprehending that it is also a local issue - and not just something that belongs in text-books or is only happening elsewhere in the world. Thus, pedagogy on climate change in a foreign language is very serious issue. One way to address this is through developing literacy strategies around climate change. Another alternative is to translate material into local/Indigenous languages, even though the difficulty of choosing the correct translation of technical terms in these languages remains an issue. In addition, understanding climate change requires other basic transferable skills such as interpretation and comprehension, not just basic science. Interpreting a graph, for example, should not be addressed only in climate change education, but should be taught to children in Biology, Chemistry, Geography, etc.
Awareness and sensitivity to total environmental and allied problems Knowledge to acquire basic understanding of environmental problems Attitudes as a set of values and feelings of concern for environmental issues and motivation for active participation in environmental protection Skills for identifying and solving environmental problems Participation and involvement at all levels in working towards resolution of environment problems
Later in 1992, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, popularly known as the Earth Summit resulted into documentation of Agenda 21. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 deals with "Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training". The programme areas identified are 1. reorienting education towards sustainable development, 2. increasing public awareness and 3. promoting training. In December 2002, at the 57th meeting of United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). The resolution designated a 10 year period from 2005-2014 as the Decade for Education for Sustainable Development and proclaimed UNESCO as the lead agency. DESD is also aligned with fundamental principles and values for sustainable development outlined in the Earth Charter which seeks to foster values of environmental integrity, economic viability and a peaceful society for present and future generations. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) addresses three pillars of sustainable development, i.e. Society, Environment, and Economics with culture as an underlying dimension. One can notice the change in the language of the text from the Tbilisi declaration which talks about environment education with awareness, knowledge, values, skills and participation as key words to integrating society, environment and economics for ESD. People, development, livelihood and environment were taken as deeply interlinked issues and a combined approach was needed to safeguard the environment. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) also has an Education Caucus which works towards promoting ESD in collaboration with other UN agencies and NGOs. ESD is important in both formal and informal education and also implies that an effective means of communication is needed for the same. It is also critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values & attitude, skills & behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective public participation in decision making. Now is the time to increase public sensitivity towards the environment and involve the public in the solution in order to foster a sense of personal environmental responsibility.