Climate Change: A Global Challenge
by Liz Rihoy
1
Outline for the presentation
Introduction: Chinese Children’s 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 Children’s 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 country’s growing awareness of environmental issues
• 620 paintings selected for prizes
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Chinese Children’s Painting Competition
on climate change
• The top 3 winners participated in the UNEP Tunza International
Children’s Conference in Stavanger, Norway in June 2008
• The top 20 winners were invited to Nairobi, to receive their prizes
from UNEP’s Executive Director, Mr. Achim Steiner and to
participate in children’s community activities in Kenya
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2nd Chinese children’s painting
competition on climate change
The theme of the second competition is
once again climate change, because:
• It is one of the world’s 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 UNEP’s Medium-Term
Strategy (2009 to 2013)
•
UNEP has scaled up its
climate change activities
with partners and stakeholders
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Cooperation with the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
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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:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
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.
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CN Net publicizes climate neutrality plans and achievements;
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CN Net acts as a network for those who aspire to climate neutrality
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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 children’s
conference will be in Korea in 2009 and will culminate in a
children’s statement on climate change to be presented to the
climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009
•
International Children’s Painting Competition – exhibition and
auction
•
Tunza publications: magazines and children’s 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 government’s climate change related
decisions
•
Enhancing other countries understanding of China’s 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?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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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!
谢谢
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