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High-school students spearhead campaign on climate change
Yuli Tri Suwarni , The Jakarta Post , Bandung | Fri, 09/26/2008 10:52 AM | The Archipelago
A small group of female high school students from Bandung and Jakarta recently took part in a fund-raising drive for climate change victims, jointly sponsored by Oxfam GB Indonesia and the Greeners Magazine.
The eight students, acting as motivating agents in the Victims of Climate Change Awareness Movement, participated in a week-long training program here at the end of August.
Oxfam GB Indonesia campaign officer, Rully Prayoga, said it was time climate change be presented as a regular environmental issue. Everyone should begin learning about its impacts on human life -- socially, economically and politically.
He said it was no longer relevant to use issues such as polar bears loosing their homes or melting ice in the North Pole as campaign icons.
"People will be more aware and motivated when they understand the social changes happening around them because of climate change," Rully told The Jakarta Post.
Oxfam projects that the inability of low-income earners to adapt to their changing environment will be a crucial factor contributing to their economic degradation.
"The number of poor people is increasing because of their inability to adapt to the impacts of climate change," he said.
Rully said that campaign activities aimed at raising people's awareness on global warming should highlight the harsh realities they might encounter.
Looking at global warming from the direct effects people could expect may be a more compelling reason for them to take the steps necessary to reduce energy consumption, thus reducing its impacts, he said.
Oxfam believes the poor, women and children are the most at risk because they are less focused in such campaigns.
"Affluent people living in Pantai Indah Kapuk or Kelapa Gading, for example, can develop their own strategies to avoid or adapt to climate change, such as in the event of floods, because they have the money to move to a hotel," Rully said.
"But what about the fate of poor people living in Koja, North Jakarta, whose homes are surrounded by the high walls of the rich? They remain prone to floods."
Data at the State Ministry for the Environment showed it was possible that global warming effects had led to floods in a number of areas that previously were not prone to floods.
Examples of these are the massive floods that occurred in Aceh in 2006, killing 96 people and displacing 110,000 people, and the one in Sinjai in South Sulawesi in 2007 that isolated 200,000 residents due to damaged roads and bridges.
The Bogor Institute of Agriculture's climate laboratory recorded a drop in rice production from 1981 to 1990, when the regencies across Indonesia also suffered a drop in production of up to 100,000 tons of rice per year.
The condition worsened from 1992 to 2000, when production plummeted by 300,000 tons annually.
Thanks to global warming, the sea level also has risen. It is predicted that Indonesia could lose about 405,000 hectares of its coastal areas and some 2,000 of its islands, posing threats to the lives of 42 million people.
Amanda Katili from the ministry of the environment provided inspiration to the eight participants during the training session in Lembang, Bandung, on mitigation and adaptation efforts for climate change.
A student from Tarakanita Senior High School, Galuh Miranti, 16, said she had been familiar with the subject from her school lessons but had never heard much about the victims of global warming.
She said she had learned about the impacts, such as irregular rainfall and subsequent droughts as a result of gas emissions, which was why she had also started some eco-friendly moves such as minimizing the use of plastic bags, electricity and automobile use.
"I think it's time for the younger generation to spearhead such a campaign," she said, adding that the world could be completely destroyed if no one tried to prevent it from happening.
Another participant, Sarita Saraswati, 16, from SMA Taruna Bhakti, said she had also taken similar steps.
"I ask my mother to bring her own bag from home for shopping to minimize plastic waste," Sarita said, adding that she always turns off the lights before going to bed.
Both pledged to launch a similar program at their respective schools after the course. Galuh, for example, planned to organize a festival to raise funds for climate change victims.
"Hopefully, by raising their awareness, they will be motivated to reduce pollution and consume less energy for the sake of saving other people's lives," Gulah said.
Syaiful Rohman from Greeners Magazine said that by appointing young girls as agents of the climate change campaign, the issue among the younger generation could be highlighted.
"There may be language barriers when the campaign is done by the government, NGOs or experts. We hope the effects will be greater when younger people are involved,' Syaiful said.
