Include climate change & energy security in school curriculum – Barrett

Fine Gael National Press Office Press Statement
Leinster House Contact: Sean Barrett TD
Dublin 2 Nick Miller Chairman, Climate Change
Ireland 01 6183358 / 086 6992080 Committee

Monday 2nd March 2009

Include climate change & energy security in school curriculum - Barrett

School children should learn about climate change and energy security to
ensure that the next generation plays its part in fighting global
warming, according to the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on
Climate Change, Fine Gael TD Seán Barrett.

"Climate change and energy security should be included as an integral
part of the school curriculum. The commitment by major industrial
nations at the recent G8 summit to a 50% decrease in greenhouse gas
emissions by 2050 underlines the urgent need for greater environmental
consciousness by young people.

"Climate change is a rapidly evolving phenomenon that is increasingly
affecting every aspect of our lives. It is of paramount importance that
the younger generation is informed of climate change impacts at the
earliest level. Similarly, the issue of energy security has assumed a
greater urgency as fears about the stability of the world's energy
resources grow. The recent switch-off by Russia of the gas pipeline to
Georgia and Western Europe further underlines our country's
vulnerability at Europe's periphery to energy deprivation.

"I would view the inclusion of climate change and energy security in the
school programme as a critical step towards inculcating responsible
citizenship among young people. Strategies such as calculating carbon
footprints, which are designed to lessen the impact of climate change,
need to be imparted to children as young as primary school level.

"Environmental responsibility, and energy conservation to motivate
pupils to make schools more energy efficient, are ideal components that
would be enthusiastically adopted by students at all levels of the
curriculum.

"It is incomprehensible that young people growing up today would not be
taught about issues like climate change and energy security. These
issues have enormous relevance to their lives. Global warming as a
consequence of climate change and the urgency of developing renewable
energy supplies are issues that must be addressed creatively by present
and future generations. I would suggest that familiarising school
students with these major issues of our age is a sine qua non in the
development of long-term sustainability strategies for our planet's
future."

Ends

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