Palestinian Youth to Lead Actions for climate Change
Through Global Platform-Palestine of ActionAid Palestine (AAP), Palestinian youth environmental and climate change activists organized a campaign titled with “Plastic Free Palestine” in the governorates of Bethlehem and Hebron in cooperation with Alternative Information Center (AIC). This campaign aims to ban using plastic bags and encourage businessmen, youth, and consumers to replace them with cloth ones.
Through this campaign, youth activists visited many organizations and commercial projects and shops where they talked with people to raise their awareness about dangers of the use of Plastic bags .They also provided them with cloth bags and encourage them to reuse those bags . These raising awareness activities incite change for responsible plastic consumption and disposal.
ActionAid Palestine promoted the role of youth in leading and implementing environmental initiatives to tackle the issues of climate change and pollution of environment as they are one of the most important issue of our time. Tackling those issues will depend on engaging youth and prompting their role in raising awareness and bringing a positive behavioral change in the younger generation in the way of consuming and disposing of plastic.
Palestinian Youth use simple tools to address issues of climate change and environment as participating in voluntary cleaning campaigns to collect garbage from forest areas and plant trees through agricultural cooperatives. Youth also work on recycling plastic. They organize campaigns using social media like Facebook, twitter or Instagram to promote climate change and environmental awareness to the public, limiting the use of plastics.
Palestine endorsed the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 While its main goal is to limit average temperature increases to within 2°C above preindustrial levels, and to less than 1.5°C above those levels whenever possible, the Paris Agreement also aims to strengthen adaptive capacities and resilience to the effects of climate change and to implement financial flows adapted to those goals. Palestinians consume around 128 million tons of solid wastes as plastic, iron, and glass. Plastic constitute 10% of those wastes. Plastic could not be recycled as it releases methane and ethylene - two powerful greenhouse gases that can exacerbate climate change.
Background Information
ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working for social justice and gender equality and eradicate poverty. ActionAid works worldwide to empower people living in poverty and exclusion with focus on women’s rights .ActionAid works directly and closely with communities, civil society organizations, women movements and social groups and movements and other allies to tackle root causes of poverty and oppression. ActionAid deliver grassroots programmes to utilize efforts of global struggle movements working for a just, fair and sustainable world. Based on human rights-based approach and women rights’ principles, ActionAid seeks to fairly re-distribute powers through solidarity, empowerment, awareness campaigns and creating alternatives to ensure that everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from oppression.
ActionAid in Palestine (AAP) is a part of that federation which started its work in Palestine in 2007 to strengthen the resilience of Palestinian People as ActionAid believes that they should enjoy their rights to freedom, justice and self-determination. AAP implements a number of programs through its engagement with communities and women and youth groups seeking to empower them and enhance their influential civil and political participation to understand their rights and undertake collective activism to address the protracted rights violations resulting from the prolonged occupation of Palestine. AAP works simultaneously to enhance their leadership capacity and knowledge to practice their citizenship in holding authorities and other duty bearers to account.
For more information, please contact
Riham Jafari
Coordinator of Advocacy and Communication in Gaza Strip and West Bank
Mobile:
+972 (0) 595242890
Office:
+972 (0) (2) 22 13 137
Email: