TO DRUM UP the need to address climate change, the Department of Education held a webinar to discuss its effects on children.

The department, through the Bureau of Learner Support Services-Youth Formation Division, teamed up with Save the Children for the webinar titled Global Climate Strike: Capacity Building on Climate Change and its Effect on Children’s Welfare.

“The urgency of protecting the environment has become much more evident. We have been surviving on a yearly basis; floods, earthquakes, storms have led to the destruction of our infrastructure, of buildings, and of course, the loss of lives,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.

The webinar discussed the direct effects of climate change on children’s welfare and how its movements can urge learners to be part of the solution. It also highlighted the big part of educational institutions as a platform and breeding ground for young leaders.

“Napapanahon itong ating global strike and the call for climate justice happening around the globe. Ito ay ating ginagawa sapagkat muli nating ini-hihighlight ang participation ng education sector in climate change education and motivation,” BLSS Director Lope Santos III said.

Carrying the slogan #UprootTheSystem, the Global Climate Strike was organized by Fridays for Future, headed by 18-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg. This youth-led movement began in 2018 and has 15 million participants in over 216 countries worldwide presently.

“Makakalikasan, this is one of the Department’s core values, recognizing the need to infiltrate the mind of the learners and even the teachers, and the personnel of the Department. The importance of taking care of the planet and its resources. At the very core of our existence, we are all entwined by the very fabric of our humanity. The source of light that sustains our very existence, the earth, and ating tahanan,” BLSS-YFD Chief Adolf Aguilar shared.

“Through a unified action, you can slowly start to mitigate the effects that climate change brings to all of us especially to our children,” he added.