UB Hosts Think Green, act Smart Climate Symposium

In Belmopan, young people are coming together to take part in climate-resilient projects, thanks to funding from the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action fund. These initiatives are designed to put youth at the forefront of climate action. Today, the University of Belize hosted the Youth Climate Action Symposium, where students learned how they can drive the environmental changes they want to see.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

“Think Green, Act Smarter” That’s the theme of today’s Youth Climate Action Symposium at the University of Belize in Belmopan. The forum brought together one hundred and fifty students from primary, secondary, and tertiary schools to raise awareness about climate change. Samih Young, the president of the university’s environmental club, shared insights on the topics discussed during the event.

 

Samih Young, President, Environmental Club, UB

“For an example we have, How climate change affects biodiversity loss and forestry. And another one would be, How climate change affects agriculture and food security. All very really good thematic focuses, and then we’ll have experts from different organizations, both  NGOs and government organizations, come here, in these classrooms, to provide the students with statistics, and they’re the experts and they’re going to provide us with their information to educate us about how climate change is actually affecting these different things.”

 

The symposium is part of a broader initiative funded by the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action Fund, which offers technical support and funding to over a hundred mayors, helping them engage thousands of young people in creating and managing urgent climate solutions in their cities. Mayor Pablo Cawich mentioned that the groundwork for the hundred-thousand-dollar grant was laid by the previous administration and continued when he took office. Now, the city council is aiming for another grant, this time for two hundred thousand dollars, to support even more projects.

 

Pablo Cawich, Mayor of Belmopan

“There are many different results that we expect. Yesterday I attended another function for Raquel art, who was also another recipient of the fund. And they have repurposed materials as part of art. There are different projects depend for the different groups.  We have in the case of, I think, UB, they had a reforesting initiative for the Ten Cents Creek. We have other  agencies that, or other recipients that also had had awareness campaigns. So the results of the fund and the investment. is in different aspects of climate change.”

The money is to be distributed among ten different youth-led projects. Each group put together a proposal detailing their project’s scope and the positive impact it would have on the environment. Doctor Pio Saki, advisor of the environmental club at UB explained that process to us.

 

Dr. Pio Saki, Advisor, Environmental Club, UB

“It was very specific and it points directly to what we do as an environmental club. Our motto is serve to conserve and let nature educate. That’s the motto of the environmental club. And this project had an aspect where we’re supposed to engage community on climate impacts and climate action that we need to take, particularly for the city of Belmopan. The project was very, specific, that was, but is very specific. And so our proposal is aimed at creating this awareness among schools and the university of students on climate impact in Belize.”

 

For many attendees, today’s event was their first experience at a climate-focused forum. Aya Elkishawi, a standard six student from Garden City Primary School, was thrilled to contribute to strengthening Belize’s climate resilience.

 

Aya Elkishawi, Std 6 Student, Garden City Primary School

“When you take care of your environment, it’s better for the whole climate and  the Earth. And it’s just better because when you start young and try to help, it will be better when you’re older.”

 

Britney Gordon

“What are some small changes that you think you can make in your life to  preserve the environment?”

 

Aya Elkishawi

“Well, I think that we should stop littering and try to throw them in garbage and not in oceans or lakes or rivers or any of that, take care of the water.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five