A North-South Partnership for climate protection has been established in order to promote discussion of issues such as “global environmental destruction” and “climate change and climate protection” among children and young people worldwide.
The starting point is reflection:
Climate change is here, its effects can already be observed. There is a broad consensus in climate policy that limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level would prevent a dangerous disruption of the climate system by humans.
If the 2 degrees C mark were exceeded, the consequences of climate change would no longer be controllable. Weather extremes and other climate consequences would assume a dangerous and hardly manageable level and would cause the economic costs to rise at an unacceptably high rate. Especially the poorer countries of the world will only be able to protect themselves from the consequences of climate change if they are supported by the richer industrial nations.
The Sonnenkinderprojekt also sees itself as responsible for actively preventing global warming. Not least against the background of the failed World Climate Conference 2013 in Warsaw, we would like to contribute to at least try to reach the 2 degrees – C – target.
The aim of the Sonnenkinderprojekt is therefore the intensive exchange of knowledge and the imparting of action competences in nature conservation and environmental protection. As decision-makers and consumers of tomorrow, children and young people have the most important role to play here.
At an early age, children should be inspired by the topics of climate, climate change, energy saving and renewable energies.
It is intended to organise climate workshops in Germany and Namibia in the following years in order to consolidate the North-South partnership for climate protection.
The target group are pupils from all interested schools in Lower Saxony, from grade 5 upwards. So far a cooperation of the Klimascout-AGs of the Gymnasium Sulingen and the Namib High School from Swakopmund, Namibia exists. It is planned to win further schools from Lower Saxony in the future for a co-operation with selected Namibian schools of our project. Thus the project is to be expanded.
The aim is to strengthen the climate and environmental awareness of the participating pupils. In addition, the pupils are to be taught a sense of mission as “climate scouts”. What they have learnt is to be passed on to their classmates, but also to other fellow human beings. Through the commitment of young people, we hope to sensitize the young generation and increase their commitment to climate protection.
Concrete results of the climate workshop are to be compiled in a bilingual (English-German) information film and booklet by pupils for other pupils. The film is intended to provide information on the problems of climate change and possible suggestions as to how each individual can contribute to climate protection. In addition, the pupils taking part in the climate workshop prepare a climate project day at their school, in which all pupils work on certain topics or take part in certain projects after an introduction.
The climate workshops are supported by the “bingo” Environmental Foundation Hanover and the commitment Global, ENSA the development policy school exchange program.