Education, Training and
Public Awareness on Climate Change
Kalipada Chatterjee
kc@sdalt.ernet.in
T he
countries who are Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change have accepted certain commitments taking into account their
common but differentiated responsibilities and other specific
national and regional development priorities. To fulfill these
commitments, the Parties need to promote and facilitate various
education, training and awareness programmes at the national and
regional levels as required under Article 6 of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change, particularly the following:
At the
National / Regional Level
● |
The development and
implementation of educational and public awareness programmes on
climate change and its effects; |
● |
Public access to
information on climate change and its effects; |
● |
Adopting a
participatory process for addressing climate change and its
effects. Similar approach should also be adopted in developing
adequate responses to climate change and its effects; and
|
● |
Organizing and
providing to scientific, technical and managerial personnel for
climate change mitigation |
At the
International Level
● |
The development and
exchange of educational and public awareness material on climate
change; |
● |
The development and
implementation of education and training programmes, including
the strengthening of national institutions and the exchange is
secondment of personnel to train experts in the field (in
particular for developing countries). |
Education, Training and Public Awareness in developing countries
will facilitate capacity building to enable them to participate
fully in and to implement effectively their commitments under the
Convention, and for their effective participation in the Kyoto
Protocol Process. However, education, training and awareness
generation have to be country driven, addressing the specific needs
and conditions of developing countries and reflecting their national
sustainable development goals, priorities and strategies.
The
Marrakesh Accords also very clearly brought out the objective and
scope of capacity building in developing countries. Education,
training and public awareness have been identified as one of the
important components of capacity building in developing countries
but, since COP 1 in Berlin, not much has been done by different COPs
and other international organizations to seriously take up the task.
Besides the UNFCCC, the UNESCO has also a positive role to play in
terms of mass awareness.
Development Alternatives’ Experiences
Development Alternatives’ sustainable livelihood approach towards
development at grassroots is two-fold. One is learning by doing and
the other is making the learning purposeful. TARAGram located
in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh is the nurturing laboratory for the weaker
section of the society. As an institution, it provides an in-built
incentive through integration of education with livelihoods
programme. Saharia is the most backward Scheduled Tribe of that
region. Few years ago, Saharia women started working in TARAGram.
Today, they have learnt the art of earning and earning. At the same
time, their children study at TARAGram Primary School. Several
initiatives like different saving schemes have made these women
empowered enough to take their own decisions, carry out bank
transaction and manage money matters all on their own.
The
mission of TARAGram is to build the capacity of community members on
techniques and institutions that can regenerate the resource base
and make it available for utilization in an efficient, equitable and
environmentally sound manner. TARAGram serves as a model to bring
together social, environmental and technological knowledge to
generate sustainable livelihoods through decentralized production
systems. Such livelihoods are needed in large numbers throughout the
developing world to improve material standards while maintaining the
natural resource base. TARAGram manufactures products using biomass
and other local raw materials. These, at present, include handicraft
goods, hand made paper products, building materials and cooking
energy devices; new ones are being added continually. In addition to
serving as a demonstration facility for such livelihood
technologies, TARAGram provides on-the-job and course-based training
on micro-enterprises to those who wish to set up similar
enterprises.
Another
initiative of DA towards education and empowerment is
TARAhaat.com - the first mother portal designed specifically for
rural India - is currently being field tested in ten centers located
50 kilometers around TARAGram. This facility aims to empower the
local communities through the latest advances in information
technology.
Empowerment through Natural Resource Base Rejuvenation
In
1989, Development Alternatives (DA) field office at Jhansi in
Central India began promoting check dams as an appropriate
intervention to rejuvenate the degraded natural resource base by
recharging the groundwater aquifers in the Bundelkhand region and
help the local inhabitants to escape the debt-poverty-migration
trap. The sustainable livelihood approach to rural development can
take several forms. In the case of the check-dam project,
sustainable livelihoods were created through the intensification and
extension of agriculture through enhanced water availability.
Villagers like Halda became involved with TARAGram in different
ways. Some were approached in village meetings while others heard
about the project through friends and family. News spread quickly
about DA’s presence. One woman said, "people in the village used to
say that there are foreigners here." Others heard about DA directly
through the field staff. Many of the women said that what drew them
to DA was the prospect of learning new things.
Moving towards Sustainability
One of
the most tangible benefits of employment at TARAGram, highlighted by
all of the women, is the income. Some of the women described their
improved financial situation, saying: "Now we do not have a
financial crunch — there are no worries, we can take care of our
children now."
The
vision behind TARAGram is not to provide some temporary work for the
people, but rather provide sustainable livelihoods — a concept that
encompasses social and economic development.
DA’s Capacity Building initiatives
Climate
change is an emerging issue and in developing countries, which are
more concerned with poverty alleviation, job creation etc., there is
very little awareness on this subject. The low level of awareness
about climate change among developing countries is an impediment in
effective implementation of their common but differentiated
commitments to the Convention on Climate Change and the protocol
processes, particularly the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The
7th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakesh have further
strengthened the need for capacity building of the developing
countries on climate change and provided a framework.
Development Alternatives (DA) has been working on global climate
change issues for over a decade. DA conceptualized a Climate Change
Centre in 1997 to serve the requirements of global mechanisms to
mitigate climate change. The Climate Change Centre carries out
research on climate change including Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
and Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) issues. The Centre works
towards raising awareness on climate change and CDM through
organizing issue based events, discussions, policy dialogues and
contributing articles in newsletters and journals. It also provides
consultancy services to the Indian business sector in developing and
designing climate change mitigation projects. Based on its
experience over a decade, Development Alternatives proposes to take
up the task of building capacity on climate change at the State
level in India.
Framework for Capacity Building
● |
Capacity-building
needs (already identified since COP 1 till date) must be
comprehensively and promptly addressed
to
promote sustainable
development in developing countries, taking into account that
economic and social development and poverty eradication are the
first and overriding priorities of the developing countries. |
● |
Capacity-building
activities would be undertaken in an effective, efficient,
integrated and programmatic manner, taking into consideration
the specific national circumstances of the country and each
state. |
● |
Capacity-building
being a continuous, progressive and iterative process, the
trickle down framework for local level capacity building is
envisaged wherein a National Coordinator would serve as the
focal point for coordinating capacity-building activities at the
regional and local level. (The framework is shown schematically
in figure 1). |
● |
Existing regional
and local level institutions in the country have an important
role to play in supporting capacity-building activities at local
level. Such centres can incorporate traditional skills,
knowledge and practices, to provide appropriate services and
facilitate information sharing. Capacity-building efforts would,
therefore, mobilize these existing regional and local level
institutions in the country and build on existing processes and
endogenous capacities. |
● |
"Learning by doing"
being an effective method of capacity building, a few
demonstration projects will be used in the process. |
Suggested Organizational set up for capacity building
The
following is the initial scope of needs and areas for
capacity-building in develo-ping countries:
● |
General awareness
about climate change issues and anthropogenic contributions |
● |
Awareness about CDM
related issues such as mitigation options, transfer of
technologies and funds, baseline development, linkages between
CDM and sustainable development, emissions reduction etc. |
● |
Training of officers
at the state policy levels. Such training would enable them to
incorporate climate change concerns in all decisions for
implementing developmental activities |
● |
Helping the local
level agencies in preparing greenhouse gas inventories, emission
database management, and systems for collecting, managing and
utilizing activity data and emission factors |
● |
Vulnerability and
adaptation assessment |
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Setting up an
enabling environment |
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Improved
decision-making, including assistance for participation in
international negotiations |
Strategy for Awareness Generation at Local Level
Development Alternatives proposes to be the National Coordinator for
capacity building and awareness generation and for setting up a
National Centre at New Delhi. The National Centre would help in
capacity building of five Regional Centres (RC) in the Western,
Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern regions. The five Regional
Centres would work further for propagation of knowledge and
resources at the five State Centres (SC), each under the guidance of
the NC.
The
National Coordinator will ensure that the RCs are well equipped in
terms of information and resources. To meet this end meet, the
National Centre will facilitate a quality information centre on
climate change and encourage establishing libraries in RCs and SCs.
The
activities need to be planned to meet the objective commensurate
with the resources: funds, experts, professionals and appropriate
work environment. It is also proposed that the NC should organize
training and capacity building workshops at the RCs and SCs.
Outcome of the Capacity Building Efforts
Capacity-building efforts at different levels would certainly
facilitate developing countries in building, developing,
strengthening, enhancing, and improving their capabilities to
achieve the objective of the Convention through the implementation
of the provisions of the Convention and the preparation for their
effective participation in the Kyoto Protocol process that will, in
a co-coordinated manner, assist them in promoting sustainable
development while meeting the objective of the Convention. Efforts
would be made so that capacity-building activities undertaken within
this framework maximize synergies between the Convention and other
global environmental agreements, as appropriate.
Tools for Mass Awareness
The
first and foremost step in regard to education, training and public
awareness is to develop a process nationally and regionally to
prepare teaching material to impart education, training and create
public awareness. This has to be done under a multi-tier approach.
The IPCC and other UN organizations have over the years brought out
considerable scientific and response strategy materials both on the
science of climate change, its effects and adaptation. Such
materials are however only for a very limited number of
professionals who are benefited from these literatures and research
materials.
Tool I: For Civil Society
Preparation of materials on climate change for the use and
consumption of the common man, civil society, community
(particularly for students at different levels of school education).
Tool II: For School
Curriculum
There
is a need to bring out small books on "What is Climate Change"; "How
it affects our life - our economic prosperity and our health and
other welfare"; and "How all of us together can save the environment
for our benefit and for our future generations". These materials
have to be in simple language that people understand as well as to
introduce such an education as a part of school curriculum in
primary, middle and at higher levels.
Tool III: Through a Participatory Process
To
bring out small books and literature through a participatory process
with the community that would provide linkages to their day to day
life, their life style and how traditional knowledge of the common
people can be integrated to some simple responses to climate change.
Such books and literature must be written in the language and
vocabulary they would easily understand with illustrations they are
familiar with. This is a huge task but must be done with an urgency
to impress upon the people how their actions today may not only help
their present generation, but also the future generations, for a
better and cleaner environment.
Tool IV: For Policy
Makers
The
next tier of activities should be to involve middle level and higher
level of policy makers, decision makers, planners at the national
and regional level to educate and train such categories of people on
climate change. The idea is to enable them to integrate climate
change concerns in all national and regional activities so that all
our development activities are sustainable and would finally address
to the main agenda of the developing countries - Poverty eradication
and better quality of life for all.
Tool V: By Organizing Workshops and Seminars
District level, national
level and regional level workshops and seminars should also be
organized at regular intervals for faster dissemination and exchange
of information among various groups and categories of people,
communities, civil societies etc. Such a process will accelerate the
process of education and training for officials, professionals and
schoolteachers to update and exchange their knowledge and
experiences.
Tool VI: Taking the help
of Communication Media
Education, training and
public awareness must also take the advantage of all
communication media like
local newspapers, simple fact sheets, television, radio, village
dramas, street plays etc.
External Funding
There
is a considerable need for external funding to all the developing
countries to address to this task of ‘Education, Training and Public
Awareness’. In addition to the different agencies of the UN,
individual rich and benevolent counties must come forward to provide
funds through bi-lateral or multi-lateral processes on an urgent
basis.
Measuring the Success
Measuring the success of the ETPA Programme in each country must be
done systematically by means of several indicators for the society
at different levels like the Government level, Business sector
level, Community level, Local level (e.g. school level) and at the
Individual level.
Few
indicators suggested below may provide the efficacy of the "Six
Tools" discussed:
● |
Poverty reduction by
measuring proportion of population below $ 1 a day every 5
years; |
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Measuring
improvement of general public awareness on climate change as a
percentage of the total population; |
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Measuring the
increase in awareness on climate change among civil society,
policy makers, regulators, industries; |
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Climate change
introduced in the lower, middle and high school curriculum; |
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Proportion of land
area covered by forests and land area protected for biological
diversity; |
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Per capita Carbon
dioxide emissions; |
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GDP per unit of
energy use; |
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Prevalence of
Malaria and mortality rates attached with it; |
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Proportion of
population with sustainable access to an improved water source
and safe water |
Conclusion
This
model of Education, Training and Public Awareness on Climate Change
will certainly yield the desired results if it is implemented and
monitored appropriately at the State level; Government level;
primary, middle and high schools level; community level; and at the
individual level.
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