Pretoria - South Africa, especially the youth, need to take global warming and threats to the environment seriously if the country is to prevent the devastating impacts of climate change.
This is according to Deputy Water and Environmental Affairs Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi who was speaking at the launch of the Kudu Green School initiative in Pretoria on Wednesday.
"The future of our environment lies in the ability of our youth to understand ... that the sustainability of our natural environment and ecosystems can not only be left to existing legislation and policies," the deputy minister said.
The project seeks to rope in school children in Gauteng to be ambassadors in the fight against climate change. Through the initiative, youngsters from selected schools are made aware of the environment and are encouraged to create educational experiences that will change their perspective of climate change.
Mabudafhasi said her department, together with other players in the environmental sector, had recently undertaken an initiative to ensure that environmental learning was well articulated and recognised within the newly revised school curriculum.
Several schools on Wednesday were presented with green flags as a symbol of their participation in the fight against climate change.
"An initiative like this one will therefore ensure that learners in urban environments are prepared for future careers in conservation and the natural sciences," Mabudafhasi said.
As hosts of the Congress of Parties on climate change (COP 17) in a year's time, South Africa is under pressure to demonstrate its commitment to reduce carbon emissions, something that can only be achieved through an emigration to cleaner sources of energy.
Mabudafhasi said it was imperative that public awareness on climate related issues be intensified through education and encouraging people to change their attitudes towards the environment.
David Mabunda, Chief Executive Officer at the South African National Parks, said the Kudu Green School initiative was one of the responses to the climate challenge, society was experiencing.
"We are here to commit to sustainability in design and in practice ... we want to bring about an increased awareness, appreciation and connection of people to the natural world," he said.
The National Lotteries Board (NLB) has promised to step in and provide funding to various environment-friendly projects across the country.
"If a project has got something to do with protecting the environment, we can provide funding for that," said board chairperson Alfred Nevhuthanda.
The NLB has a distribution of no less than R3 billion in funding to charities and non-profit organisations annually. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has recently instructed the body to spend at least 50 percent of all its discretionary funds on rural organisations whose projects were committed to saving the environment.
