WCC-3 Blog: Introducing Amare Abebaw

 

I joined this community two months back when I nominated my self to attend the upcoming World Climate Conference 3 to be held in Geneva, Switzerland August 31- September 4, 2009.

Six youth activists and social entrepreneurs from all over the world will attend this important event and it is honor to me to be a part of the Global Changemakers who are playing a vital role in bringing equitable and sustainable development and to represent this platform in this international conference that can shape our survival in the future.

Climate change is becoming a concern of every individual, especially in the developing world where I am lining in; in my country Ethiopia the effect of climate change is challenging our efforts for sustainable development.

Temperature is rising, the water level of rivers, seas and lakes is decreasing and the rainy season of our country is being characterized by a low amount of rain with unusual time of raining. This resulted in a decreasing agricultural production, which more than 85% of our population is dependent on, and the ecosystems of the lakes, rivers and the environment as a whole is getting affected due to climate change, the fauna and flora of the lakes are in danger to survive because the temperature and humidity is different from the previous year.

 

This situation is becoming worse because most people are dependent on natural resources: they are selling wood and other natural resources for their daily survival and in rural areas households are using biofuel for their energy use to cook their food to get energy for different purposes.

We have been undertaking different initiatives to raise awareness about the impact of climate change and environmental protection in our community, but we have to do more to make sure that we can minimize the impact of climate change. My trip to Geneva has two objectives: the first is to represent Global Changemakers and to present and promote innovative works of this platform on climate change and environmental protection. The second is to find partner organizations and individuals from the private sector, government representatives and non-governmental organizations that can work with us to change the challenges of climate change into opportunities to improve the current situation and to benefit communities and actors of the intervention.

I have a strong belief that only attending a conference will not solve climate change problems on our planet, so we are planning to undertake climate change awareness raising campaigns in at least 5 countries which Global Changemakers conference participants come from, and we are happy to include other youth activists and interested individuals and organizations from all corners of the world to join our initiative so that we can work together. Unless we work together we cannot solve problems that needs global solutions.