UNESCO promotes access to scientific knowledge to fight climate change
To commemorate the World Climate Day in Haiti, UNESCO organized a webinar on December 8, 2020 in collaboration with the Youth Climate Change Network (YoU CAN Haiti) to promote young people’s free access to scientific knowledge to fight more effectively against climate change.
Everything was very well orchestrated. A panel composed of high-level personalities with expertise in the field of climate change and adaptation planning, accompanied by executives from the Ministry of Environment and the Representatives of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Mr. Fabien Monteils.
At the end of the fruitful exchanges, the speakers including Steeve Julien Symithe, expert in geophysics, geodesy, geodynamics and seismology and Kenel Delusca, international expert in the National Climate Change Adaptation plan, pleaded for the development and sharing of information and scientific mastery in order to provide a practical response to this multidimensional global crisis.
As expected, the session facilitated the sharing of statistics and factual information on damage caused by extreme weather events as the climate warms, particularly in Haiti. The information provided by the experts is of paramount importance for young people who want to understand the effects of climate change and the importance of their participation. “We must be responsible and show solidarity,” stated Mr. Rony Horat, representative of the Ministry of the Environment in this webinar.
Access to scientific knowledge, he said, is essential for the progress of developing countries, such as Haiti, which have low adaptive capacity. By focusing on the development and sharing of scientific knowledge, the results of our actions will be more effective in reducing the socio-economic pressure amplified by climate change in Haiti. Education must be the key element of any comprehensive response strategy to climate change. It will enable citizens not only to understand but also to cope with climate change by changing their attitudes and behaviors.
The World Climate Day was created to remind the world’s citizens of the consequences of global warming, particularly, on the cryosphere, global food production and the need to take urgent action to limit its effects on the planet.