Climate Change Education For A sustainable Future In Africa
By Benjamin Anabaraonye
Climate change is in the news and on the agenda of leaders and scientists across the globe. But what is it, really? And how are humans changing the Earth’s climate? The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) defines climate change as changes in climate that is usually attributed straightforwardly or not directly to human activity which alters the composition of the overall atmosphere in addition to the usual climate changeability observed over similar periods.
Climate change is a global problem, and it requires solutions on a global scale. Appropriate and urgent actions must be taken both by individuals, institutions and the government to eradicate pollution and deal with climate change issues in order to ensure a sustainable future for her citizens.
Education is an essential element of the global response to climate change. Climate change education is therefore vital in every community in order to prepare us for climate change impacts and to learn how to adapt and mitigate effectively.
How can climate change education support education systems in Africa so they can respond to the challenges posed by climate change? Many African countries are already confronted with the threat of rapidly accelerating desertification, floods and other hazards and they need to have the means to adapt to, or mitigate, climate change. If they are to move further along the path to sustainable development and achieve national goals, they will need to strengthen these capacities.
In this article, we shall closely examine the impacts of climate change and the need for climate change education in Nigeria and in the continent of Africa. We shall also elaborate on the necessity to stay below or at 1.5 degrees of warming as prescribed by the Paris Agreement and the ways in which we can reach that target which includes 100% renewable energy, natural climate solutions, less use of fossil fuels and the influence of poetry as a tool for climate change education in Africa.
NATURAL CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
Climate change is a global problem, and it requires solutions on a global scale. Reducing our emissions requires a transitioning to a more sustainable energy system. Lowering the amount of carbon we pump into the atmosphere does not only mean burning less fossil fuels, it also means protecting and restoring the natural systems that take up and store carbon for us. Protecting and restoring our forests, wetlands, as well as making our agricultural land-use more sustainable, help to reduce emissions and increase climate resilience.It is good to know that Staying below 1.5° is achievable and necessary to help in climate change adaptation and mitigation.Natural climate solutions can help address climate change in three ways:
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), related to land use through afforestation, reforestation and forest protection.
Capturing and storing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the carbon sequestration.Improving resilience of ecosystems, thereby helping communities adapt to the increase in flooding and desertification associated with climate change.
To address climate change, we have to invest in natural climate solutions. Yet a quarter of the world’s governments still do not prioritize them. This is despite natural climate solutions being cost-effective and having benefits beyond reducing climate change. Capturing and storing CO2 in our natural systems is essential to addressing climate change. Reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy will be critical to decreasing emissions in the long term. We need to act quickly if we hope to limit warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius, and natural climate solutions are already widely available to make it happen.
USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
We must decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and begin to avail our country and continent of the use of renewable energy sources which have a lot of advantages in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The technology and use of the renewable sources of energy like the solar,wind and hydro energy in homes and companies across the country should be greatly encouraged.
Energy sources take many forms, including fossil fuels, like oil and gas and coal, and renewable sources, like solar, wind and hydropower.
These primary energy sources are converted into electricity, a secondary source, which then flows through power lines to our homes and businesses. Today, four-fifths of all electricity in southern and eastern Africa is generated from fossil fuels. And as we learned, burning these fuels produces carbon dioxide emissions which trap the sun’s energy, and in excess, makes our Earth too warm and contributes to extreme weather events.But other types of cleaner energy, known as renewable energy sources, offer tremendous potential.
Solar energy: This is simply the light and heat that comes from the sun. It is the most abundant energy resource on Earth. The amount of solar striking the Earth each day is more than 10,000 times the world’s total energy use! There are two common ways to convert solar energy into electricity: photovoltaic and solar-thermal technologies.
When sunlight hits photovoltaic cells made of silicon or other materials, a chemical reaction occurs. This results in the release of electricity. These cells can then be packaged together to make solar panels. And solar-thermal technologies concentrate the sun’s rays with mirrors to heat a liquid and create steam. This steam is then used to power a generator and create electricity.
Wind energy: The wind, like the sun, is also a clean and renewable energy source. For thousands of years, people have used windmills to grind grain and pump water. Today, modern machines called wind turbines are used to make electricity. To produce electricity on a large scale, many wind turbines can be placed together on wind farms.
And finally, the energy inherent in water and steam can also produce electricity. If you’ve ever stood in a fast–moving stream, under a waterfall, or on the ocean shore as waves come crashing in, then you’ve felt the power of moving water. Now this power is captured through hydroelectric power plants, which force flowing water through wheels or rotors known as turbines, and that produces energy.
Another renewable source of energy is the heat built up inside the Earth itself known as geothermal energy. At geothermal power plants, wells are drilled 1 to 3 kilometers into the Earth to pump steam or hot water to the surface to make energy.
Now, these renewable sources are not only exciting, but they offer tremendous potential for Nigeria.Think about it. Our continent contains bountiful solar and wind resources and some of the world’s largest hydropower and geothermal resources. Much of this energy is untapped.The good news is that many African countries are starting efforts to use these clean and renewable resources.
There is so much to be done in Africa to ensure that our generation and future generations can benefit from the clean and renewable energy sources.
POETRY AS A VALUABLE TOOL FOR CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION IN AFRICA
There has always been a close relationship between science and art – physicist and novelist C P Snow famously argued in his ‘Two Cultures’ lecture, that the breakdown of communication between the two cultures of Science and Humanities was a major hindrance to solving the world’s problems.
Professor Colin Bailey, Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, said: “The art of engineering and science is critical to address the global challenges facing society. It is important that our engineering and science students develop their creativity to obtain the skills to address these challenges. This initiative allowed students to express their ideas through the medium of poetry and I was particularly pleased that 166 students decided to enter the competition, with the quality of the poems being extremely high. “
Poetry is beauty and beauty attracts. Poetry also has a unique way of expressing emotions, ideas and experiences which is so appealing and attractive to the human mind. It turns out that there are some important developmental benefits of poetry.
Poetry helps in language development, creative language skills, writing skills, self-expression, and in the development of natural rhythms.Poetry is important for children, and poetry is good for adults as well. Poetry reading and interpretation demand analysis and critical thinking, important skills for all of us. Poetry is our means of expressing our hopes and dreams, emotions and beliefs. It is an intentional expression of the heart. It is the language of the soul. I believe that conveying the beauty and joy of poetry to our world is truly important. Through poetry,we can express the beauty and wonders of nature, and the need to preserve our globe from environmental pollution and global warming.
BENJY POETRY AND MUSIC GLOBAL CONCEPTS, officially registered with the corporate affairs commission in Nigeria is a new company which has the goal of spreading joy and beauty to the community through inspirational poetry and music. There is so much we can learn through poetry and so much we can teach with poetry including climate change education. It is highly effective for conveying information in a memorable and intimate way. To read our exciting and interesting poems and articles on climate change education, adaptation and mitigation; feel free to visit our educational bog: http://www.projectgreeninitiative.wordpress.com
RECOMMENDATIONS
Progress is needed on many fronts: development and use of green technologies, greenhouse gas emission reductions, and the establishment of effective government policies are needed to achieve the goal of staying at or below 1.5 by 2030. It is of equal importance to provide education and training, and promote public awareness to the broadest audience possible. The need to create an informed global citizenry, a knowledgeable workforce, and enlightened government officials on their roles in climate change mitigation and adaptation is immediate.
There is so much to be done both locally and globally to ensure that our generation and future generations can benefit from the climate change education, mitigation and adaptation using the tool of poetry. And just as important, I encourage each of us to help educate your communities about the challenge of climate change and the solutions that we need to adopt.
It is my recommendation that poetry should be used as a powerful tool to help in climate change education, mitigation and adaptation. Our youths should be encouraged towards creativity in cartooning,painting, drawing, music and especially poetry which is valuable for climate change education for sustainable development.It is good to know that climate education, mitigation and adaptation has the capacity to provide employment for our teeming unemployed youths in Africa and around the globe thus helping to achieve global sustainability.
Affordable, scalable solutions are now available to enable countries to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies. The pace of change is quickening as more people are turning to renewable energy and a range of other measures that will reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts.But climate change is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. Emissions anywhere affect people everywhere. It is an issue that requires solutions that need to be coordinated at the international level and it requires international cooperation to help developing countries move toward a low-carbon economy.
To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015. The Agreement entered into force shortly thereafter, on 4 November 2016. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and given the grave risks, to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius. You can learn more about the agreement. Implementation of the Paris Agreement is essential for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and provides a roadmap for climate actions that will reduce emissions and build climate resilience.
REFERENCES
Klein.P.,Longo.P.(2018)The Therapeutic Benefit of Poetry
http://phyllisklein.com/writing-for- healing/the-therapeutic-benefit-of-poetry/
Koopman.S.(2016)The Energy of Tomorrow. https://staticyali.state.gov/uploads/2017/03/The-Energy-of-Tomorrow-Video-Transcript.pdf
Nakagawa.M.(2015) The Science of Climate Change. https://yali.state.gov/courses/climate
Odinaka (2012).Harnessing Renewable Energy In Nigeria https://odinakadotnet.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/harnessing-renewable-energy-in-nigeria
Simmons.A.(2014).Why Teaching Poetry Is So Important https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/why-teaching-poetry-is-so-important/360346/
UNESCO, (2014).Climate Change Education For Sustainable Development. www.unesco.org/en/climatechange
UN,2015.GOAL 13: Take Urgent Action To Combat Climate Change And Its Impacts www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change-2/
https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-promotes-climate-change-education-africa
http://naturalclimatesolutions.org/
https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf
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