This whole initiative is about teaching children how to protect the environment

World leaders recently gathered at Glasgow in Scotland for Cop26— the conference of the parties under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)--to discuss the solutions for the climate crisis which is posing the gravest threat to humanity. In this scenario, the local efforts especially from a community level become vital because only through the active participation of each individual the battle against climate change could be effectively fought. In such a context, the Stewards of Creation-- a group of Christians who have come together wanting to see all Christians practising responsible care of the environment in personal lives and in churches in Sri Lanka—recently held a zoom session to educate teachers, so that they could teach children on how to protect the environment. The theme of the session was, “empowering children to care for God’s creation”. 

Ms. Mendis said it was necessary to protected some of Sri Lanka’s endangered animal species, like the Asian elephant, the sloth bear, the leopard, the black-necked stork, the toque macaque

Environmental scientist Dr. Sansfica Marlyn Young was the moderator of the event and Kishali Mendis was the main speaker. According to Dr. Young the aim of the zoom session was to educate Sunday school teachers and other school teachers in protecting the environment. She said it was necessary for the people to pay attention to the environment irrespective of the differences in race or religion and needed to work collectively with a community spirit to save our planet. “This webinar’s purpose is that we want to help each other and all Christians to take practical steps to change our life styles, so that we could build environmental groups in our churches involving children, youth and adults to help them understand the necessity of caring for the environment. It is an integral part of our Christian lives and we help churches to be environment-friendly. We want to see churches, empowered and encourage Sunday school teachers and other school teachers to inspire and motivate children to look at our environment in a positive and caring manner. Thereby, the children can make a great difference,” Dr.Young said.

Referring to climate change Dr.Young said, “Since it is playing a vital role in our day to day lives we cannot turn a blind eye to the burning issues. The future of our children is in danger. They will be hit by many diseases due to getting exposed to polluted environments and facing natural disasters. Empowering children and teaching them the importance of protecting the environment by doing simple things to protect our environment is very important.” 

She said interfaith statement to world leaders had been given by religious and spiritual leaders on the occasion of the UN Secretary General’s high level signature ceremony for the Paris climate change agreement on April 16, 2016. “Looking at Sri Lanka, the environmental minister pledges to create green Sri Lanka to mitigate climate change. Sri Lankan’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) reflect the ambition of the country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in potential sectors in line with the goals of Paris agreement that the global community adopted. In this trajectory we believe we have a responsibility to save the planet for our future generations. Therefore Sri Lanka has submitted more ambitious mitigation targets in undated NDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in July this year,” Dr.Young said. She reminded that this time the United Kingdom had hosted the UN Climate change conference—the Cop26—at Glasgow in Scotland. She said political leaders and religious leader were taking many initiatives to protect the world from climate change. 

Personal involvement is key
To give more perspective on how we could protect and conserve the environment, environmental activist and St. Luke’s Church Sunday school teacher Kishali Mendis said, “There are man-led disasters around the world. Man-led disasters or the environmental changes are dramatically affecting humans. The ability to live, the ability to grow crops, the ability to find clean water have become challenging. We are eroding the foundations of our livelihoods; food security, health, quality of life. The problem of climate change threatens to undermine every effort to reverse poverty alleviation.”

Ms. Mendis said it was necessary to protected some of Sri Lanka’s endangered animal species, like the Asian elephant, the sloth bear, the leopard, the black-necked stork, the toque macaque. She also pointed out some of the ways in which people could counter climate change; lessening carbon footprint, raising awareness, supporting conservation efforts and being an eco-conscious consumer. She said it was possible for anyone to make use of social media to raise awareness. Talking about how we could support conservation efforts she said we could easily become members of local environmental groups. 

“We needed to eliminate single use plastic opting for eco-friendly bio-degradable material. We must think of simple ways in which we can make our surrounding a better place. We need to be mindful and conscious of our lifestyle and behaviour,” Ms.Mendis said.

She suggested some of the ways in which the teachers could make a difference:
-Outdoor teaching
-Encourage nature activities
-Green calendar concept
-Green conscious craft work
-Class slot for nature chats

Ms.Mendis said our efforts should be focused on community engagement. “We are aware of the need to protect the environment. We may not realise the impact that a single community is going to have on our planet. But future generations will reap the harvest.”