San Francisco Youth Climate Strike. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Universities around the world are organising together to declare an emergency and combat climate change, reports Pete Morgan
The declaration came in a letter—which other education institutions are encouraged to sign—that was organised by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC), a US-based higher education climate action organisation Second Nature, and UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Youth and Education Alliance.
The letter, according to a statement from organisers, “marks the first time further and higher education establishments have come together to make a collective commitment to address the climate emergency,” and outlines the three-point plan:
- Committing to going carbon neutral by 2030 or 2050 at the very latest;
- Mobilising more resources for action-oriented climate change research and skills creation;
- and increasing the delivery of environmental and sustainability education across curricula, campus, and community outreach programmes.
“The young minds that are shaped by our institutions must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and capability to respond to the ever-growing challenges of climate change. We all need to work together to nurture a habitable planet for future generations and to play our part in building a greener and cleaner future for all.”
The letter, which calls on other institutions and governments to declare a climate emergency and pursue urgent action to combat it, was presented at a Wednesday event hosted by the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative—a partnership of various United Nations agencies—at UN headquarters in New York City.
“The expectation is that over 10,000 institutions of higher and further education will come on board before the end of the 2019, with governments invited to support their leadership with incentives to take action,” said the organisers’ statement. So far, the letter has been signed by 25 networks that represent approximately 7,050 institutions.
The individual institutions that have joined the declaration include five in the continental United States and two in Puerto Rico as well as colleges and universities in Argentina, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Kuwait, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela.
The declaration follows months of students—from all levels of education—taking to the streets around the world as part of the school strike for climate movement, which calls on governments and powerful institutions to pursue bolder policies targeting the human-caused climate crisis.
Read the full letter and representatives for education institutions can sign the letter: Here
Reposted from Sweet Talkin’ No.68 – 13-14 July 2019
- Committing to going carbon neutral by 2030 or 2050 at the very latest;
- Mobilising more resources for action-oriented climate change research and skills creation;
- and increasing the delivery of environmental and sustainability education across curricula, campus, and community outreach programmes.
