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The UAE continues to consolidate its strategy to protect the environment, inspired by the vision and thought of the founding leader, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God rest his soul, in sustainability.
The country, with its vision of sustainability and effective measures to protect the environment, won the world’s confidence and appreciation, which was translated on the ground by its unanimous choice to host the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), to mobilize international efforts to put the issue of climate change as a priority. utmost for governments, official and private organizations and institutions in the world.
The UAE continues to consolidate this strategic approach in the thinking and behavior of young people, as the Ministry of Education has integrated the environmental dimension into school curricula for all stages.
The document prepared by the Ministry of Education in 2006 to integrate environmental issues into public education curricula focused on basic values such as preserving the environment and its resources, pride in the efforts made by the state to protect the environment, preserve heritage, appreciate aesthetic aspects, and the value of collective and voluntary work.
The year 2009 witnessed the launch of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi “Sustainable Schools Initiative” sponsored by BP, which achieved great success in establishing environmental concepts and enhancing students’ and faculty’s awareness of environmental issues.
The authority also launched the “Green E-learning” platform, the first e-learning tool dedicated to environmental topics in the Middle East, with the aim of enhancing environmental knowledge and awareness, with a special focus on the local environment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and ways to preserve it.
In late April, the Ministry of Education announced a roadmap for the Green Education Partnership in preparation for the country’s hosting of the Climate Conference “COP28”. summit, training and qualifying more than 2,800 teachers and 1,400 educational officials.
The map also included the launch of the Children’s Voice initiative to provide appropriate training, contribute to preparing children and activate their participation in the decision-making process related to their environmental future, and the Teachers’ Voice initiative, which highlights the efforts of educational staff in promoting awareness and confronting climate change.
The ministry also announced two cooperation agreements with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to organize programs and initiatives that spread climate awareness among youth and adolescents. It also revealed the opening of the first educational pavilion in the history of “COP28”.
A questionnaire for young people and adolescents on climate change, conducted by the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi and published its results last January, included 4,210 participants from school and university students and employees from various emirates of the country, a great interest in the environment and climate change.
About 48% of the young people participating in the questionnaire stated that climate change is their biggest environmental concern, followed by air pollution and traffic congestion by 47%, and 40% of the young people expressed their opinion that land and sea pollution is the most important, and 26% of the participants chose water shortage as a priority. For them, while the issue of floods and torrential rains came last, with a rate of 10%.
And 88% of young people expressed concern about the extreme rise in temperatures during the summer, and 45% of them stated that they were very concerned about global warming and its consequences, and 25% of young people expressed concern about climate change, compared to 20% of the participants who were optimistic. about this issue.
And with the approaching date of the launch of “COP28”, the younger generations in the UAE confirm their high level of awareness of the environment and the challenges of climate change.
