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Posted by Anne Teichert - 5 November 2008 at 00:00 hours
climate change - actions on the ground!?

First off all, yes, I agree with both Felicia and Robert. In terms of the issues raised by Felicia, I must say it is so true, the villages and the country side areas are blamed for climate change, for the lack of knowledge and skills. On the other hand, cities are expected to know more about the whole concept but the most prominent strains on the climate are originated in the cities. There need to be better ways to be developed to deal with that problem - yes, youth do play and need to play an important role in that matter! That brings me to Robert's comments: Not just (youth) discussions on higher levels need to be developed and enforced but also actions need to be taken on the ground! Yes, awareness raising and education about the topic, the reasons as well as about the results (for our generation and the following ones) are very important issues but what are we, you and me, doing in daily life to counteract climate change? Yes, Sweden and other countries and regions in the world might have more established movements and platforms etc but a majority of those countries, as pointed out by Robert, are also failing on this particular issue. So there has to be more to it than that!? Another important fact or question in that matter, in my opinion, is the circumstances and the possibilities of actually being able to counteract climate change in African countries. As long as there are so many other issues the people and youth in particular have to deal with in everyday life, the chances of empowering people and convincing them of the importance of actively getting engaged remain low. The reasons behind the lack of sufficient engagement in the issue of climate change in African countries need to be addressed and the issue of climate change to be included in the whole developing process. On the one hand, people need more incentives to take action, they need to understand why for example recycling is important, they need to know about different issues, how the climate is influenced and what they can do to help preserve our climate. This matter is not just an African one but all over the world people are still lacking such knowledge and skills, but as I said before, knowledge as well as the skills are not enough and especially in the developing world the circumstances in many ways make it hard to actually get to the point of taking action. As long as people are struggling with and lacking basic needs, dealing with problems such as unemployment (which addresses youth in particular) etc., they won’t be able to care for something “abstract” and for many seemingly “far away” like climate. However, we should not forget other technical circumstances that governments and other authorities need to create in order to make it possible for the people, like you and me, to take action. An example for such circumstances is the provision of more public litter cans or containers, a better working recycling system adapted to local conditions etc. In those respects, we need to address and push our governments to work for better living standards (to address the reasons behind as mentioned above) and to provide better services. In addition to that, we need to organize ourselves in a better way as Robert mentioned. Actions need to be taken on different levels.