In response to the rising sea level in Rivers State caused by climate change, a university don, Prof. John Onwuteaka has called on teenagers and youths in the State to emulate Greta Thunberg, a sixteen year girl who initiated the youth climate strikes that led to the first ever UN Youth Climate Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York on September 21 2019 with over 700 youths in attendance.
Delivering a keynote address at the Rivers State Climate Action Youth Dialogue organized by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and the Rivers State University recently, where six Secondary Schools participated, Prof. Onwuteaka said Greta Thunberg, during the UN Youth Climate Summit, demanded the phasing out of fossil fuels, inclusion of youth in policy decisions, boosting of climate education and called on global leaders to fulfill their commitment to the U. N. Green Climate Fund.
Prof. Onwuteaka who is Head, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology of the University, noted that Greta Thunberg’s demands were to address the environment crisis caused by climate change, explaining that she initiated the youth climate strikes to draw global attention to the looming threats to the future of the environment.
He charged the teenagers to have the same environment-oriented passion like young Thunberg, stressing that Rivers State is in the coastal region with 1.3m sea level, adding that if the sea level rises to 13m, almost all the 23 Local Government Areas will be covered with water.
Sharing his thoughts on what the teenagers can do to address climate change, he said they can support youth-led movements, start a climate conversation, use energy wisely, get charged up with renewable energy, get politically active by advising political leaders on how to protect the environment, build a community of Green “Junkies” and start to “green” their family/school/church/ or offices.
He also said that education is an essential element of the global response to climate change, stressing that it helps people understand and address the impact of global warming, increases climate literacy which leads to changes in attitudes of individuals as it concerns the environment.
In her remarks, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Opuenebo Binya Owei advised the students to set up clubs in their schools as to brainstorm on ways to address climate change. Prof. Owei also advised them to teach their parents on how to protect the environment.
On his part, the Chairman, House Committee on Education in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Christian Ahiakwo, commended the organizers of the Climate Action Youth Dialogue, noting that the students are the right people to protect the environment now and in the future. He charged the students to cultivate the habit of disposing waste properly.
Earlier in her address, the Conservation Manager Policy & Advocacy, of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Mrs. Yemisi Fawibe-Oke said the programme with the theme “Climate Action for Peace” was designed to bring students from different schools together to discuss how to address climate change.
She said climate change is gradually taking away their youth from them and that they have to think differently to address the environment crisis, adding that the earth is the only climate they have to protect.
The schools that participated in the programme include Community Secondary School, Obigwe; Dietams International School; Community Secondary School, Oboburu; Vine International School; Government Secondary School, Akabuka and International Secondary School, Rivers State University.
