ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE PROTECTION Knowledge matters

More than a billion people worldwide have no access to electricity. The estimated three billion cook with wood, coal, agricultural waste, or animal dung, and thus often endanger their health or that of their children not only because they do not have adequate smoke evacuation fans but also because open fire is particularly dangerous for children. Lack of energy also has dire consequences in terms of education, empowerment of women and girls, agriculture, and marketing of agricultural products: without light, children cannot learn after dark, without access to energy women and girls have to spend hours collecting fuel, without electricity irrigation systems do not work as well as food and medicine cannot be cooled.

Renewable energy is gaining ground

The good news is therefore that renewable energy is a growing economic sector in many countries including sub-Saharan Africa where more than 600 million people have no access to electricity.

Nevertheless, it is not enough to just set up environmentally friendly power supply systems somewhere, they must also be installed, maintained, and repaired! Jugend Eine Welt trains young solar technicians in Ethiopia and is currently in the process of expanding this successful training program, which is supported by the Austrian Development Agency, to other African countries.

Sustainable agriculture is an important factor in many of the educational and training projects sponsored by Jugend Eine Welt. This enables young people to grow food in a way that conserves resources as far as in many cases old, local seeds are used. Learning the methods of modern, efficient, natural, and sustainable agriculture not only opens up good earning opportunities and job prospects but also ensures an improved nutritional and health situation on-site, protects natural resources, and promotes biodiversity.

In this context, however, cheap imports of food from European and Asian countries have a very negative effect as far as locally grown agricultural products usually cannot compete with them. Equally counterproductive in the sense of a “good life for all” is the “land grabbing” of large agricultural areas by governments and investors who make a profit with agricultural exports or land speculation. This is where politics is needed!

Poor people and poor countries in the South are particularly affected by the impacts of climate change because they are highly dependent on natural resources. They need support to cope with these negative consequences, adapt to changing environmental conditions, and protect themselves better from climate-related hazards and natural disasters. At the same time, it is about the urgently needed establishment of a clean, climate-neutral, and efficient energy supply. Education and training play a key role in all of these areas.

Knowledge protects
In numerous educational projects sponsored by Jugend Eine Welt, children and young people are taught the importance of environmental and climate protection and respect for creation. In regions threatened by natural disasters, Jugend Eine Welt supports the construction of safe school buildings that can serve as shelters for the entire community in case of emergency. School children are introduced to potentially threatening natural hazards and learn how to protect themselves best in the event of a disaster. Such a disaster control center was built, for example, with the help of Jugend Eine Welt after Hurricane Haiyan in Minglanilla in the Philippines. In quiet times, around 500 children go to school here; in the event of a disaster, around 1,000 people can take refuge in the school premises.

What consequences does it have on the environment, on other people, and future generations? What and how much do I consume? How much energy do I use? Which means of transport do I use? Do I really have to eat meat every day, buy food wrapped in plastic, set off fireworks on New Year's Eve, or fly to Paris on the weekend? Am I aware of the fact that global warming cannot be limited to below 1.5 or a maximum of 2 degrees, as foreseen by the Paris Agreement if everyone continues living as before?

For climate change, environmental degradation and the exploitation of natural resources to be contained worldwide, the consciousness of every individual must change towards their own willingness to contribute something to the sustainable development of our ONE AND ONLY world. That is why Jugend Eine Welt not only places a high value on sustainability and environmental protection in its project work but is also committed to raising awareness in the area of sustainability at the national level. For example, it is a long-standing demand of the aid organization to implement global learning or sustainable development in the Austrian education system. The Jugend Eine Welt Education Team offers free workshops on this topic in schools.