NGO trains students on climate change in Kwara

As part of efforts to raise awareness about global climate change, a non-governmental organisation, Webfala Digital Skills for all Initiative, on Thursday, organised a Climate Justice Summit for secondary school students in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The summit which was held at the auditorium basement of the University of Ilorin had in attendance about 60 students from different schools in Ilorin. The programme was supported by The Do School, Germany.

In their separate presentations, facilitators at the Summit, Abideen Olasupo, who is a Climate Justice activist and COP 26 delegate and Zainab Yaqub, a PhD student of Chemical Engineering at the University of Johannesburg, enlightened the students on the causes, effects of and ways to curb climate crisis.

In his lecture, Abideen warned that the drastic effects of climate change may soon cause the earth to be unsafe for humans and animals to live in.

The climate change activist therefore noted that in line with Goal 13 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), urgent actions must be taken in due course to combat climate change and its attendant effects.

He urged the students to take actions that promote a friendly ecosystem and to also continue to raise awareness on climate change among their colleagues, friends and family members.

In her own presentation, Zainab explained that the large amount of carbon dioxide humans put into the air through vehicles, power plants, telecommunication masts, airplanes, factories, among others, causes damage to the environment.

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She highlighted the effects of climate change to include flooding, wildfires, intense droughts, food and water insecurity, declining biodiversity, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and other forms of extreme weather conditions.

Speaking on actions that can be taken to curb the negative impacts of the climate crisis in our local communities, Zainab called for massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, recycling of waste products and creation of green spaces through planting of trees and flowers.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Founder/Executive Director of Webfala Digital Skills for all Initiative, Nafisat Bakare, said the Climate Justice Summit was aimed at raising consciousness towards developing environmentally friendly characters among the young adults, creating the ripple effect for the creation of quality life and environment

According to her,“At the end of the training, the school students will be certified as Climate Justice Ambassadors and become members of a worldwide network of committed children taking actions to combat climate change.

“As climate justice ambassadors, the students will create awareness about climate issues among their colleagues, peers and family members, and will also implement actions to mitigate the effect of the climate crisis in their various communities.”

The participating children at the event with facilitators.