The Youth Climate Council celebrated Earth Day 2022 with a night of environmental arts and movie screening. The event formed a part of efforts by the council to encourage sustainable lifestyles and demonstrate environmental support. The event also provided an opportunity for young climate and environmental activists to network.
The Environment Movie Night was organised in collaboration with Sustainability Week Accra and Green Africa Youth Organisation (GAYO) with support from SilverLining NGO. The event drew over 100 participants from youth-led environmental organisations, students from the University of Ghana and the general public.
Environment-themed movie screening – Suppressed Science episode
The event captured a Suppressed Science documentary episode, ‘Weather Control: The Debate Over Geo-Engineering’. Human interference with the environment has led us to the brink of an extinction-level crisis – anthropogenic climate change. Could a solution be to interfere less with the environment, or to learn how to control it?
In short, the documentary captured the role of science and research on potential technologies that could temporarily reduce global temperatures, which may help to mitigate the impacts resulting from near-term climate change. The episode also expanded on the debate over these potential methods, the positives and the negatives.
Panel Discussion
The event featured a panel discussion composed of a youth climate activist and climate intervention experts. In a round of reflections from the panelists, Philip Badu Quaicoo – a Meteorologist at the Ghana Meteorological Agency – opined that our lifestyle as humans is destroying the earth.
Therefore, it is imperative that projects like sun-reflection and cloud-brightening (examples of such technological interventions) are supported and encouraged to become more viable. According to Philip, methods to intervene in the climate represent an innovative process to address climate change. He added that governments must invest in scientific research into potential technological solutions which are aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change, such as those seen in the documentary.
Speaking on the risks of climate intervention, he advocated for a balance between solutions and adverse effects. “Let’s try and find a balance between science and nature. We must not overly-tamper with the atmosphere,” he added.
Margaret Impraim, a youth activist and Education Officer for the Youth Climate Council Ghana, described the documentary as intriguing and thought-provoking. She further described it as a ‘must-watch’. According to her, it simplifies the concept of climate intervention and makes it easier to understand. However, she raised questions about its viability – noting that it is capital-intensive and doubts if it can be replicated in Ghana or Africa at large.
Her reflection was backed by Kelvin Sah, a GIS and Modern Cartography technician, who described the documentary as comprehensive and insightful. He elaborated that scientific research investigating technological solutions for climate action is still ongoing, which could consequently lead to something positive for the Earth. According to Kelvin, the documentary brings to light the innovative scientific processes that are being explored to safeguard the environment.
He further affirmed that it is crucial we explore the use of scientific knowledge and processes to protect the Earth. Speaking on the side-effects of climate intervention methods, he stated that tackling climate change comes at a cost. “Using engineering principles to safeguard the earth is crucial even at a cost,” he emphasised.
He further encouraged the audience to be open-minded about such technologies and other scientific processes.
Co-Founder of Green Africa Youth Organisation, Desmond Alugnoa, challenged the youth to develop innovative solutions for tackling climate change. According to him, young people have a role to play in tackling climate change, and that includes increasing their understanding of emerging solutions such as climate intervention and pursuing a career in this field.
Background
Earth Day is an annual event organised on April 22 to educate and demonstrate environmental support worldwide. Each year, the Day is celebrated to mobilise all of Earth’s people to re-ignite environmental consciousness.
This Earth Day 2022 theme was Invest in Our Planet and features various primary programmes: The Great Global Clean-up; Sustainable Fashion; Climate and Environmental Literacy; Canopy Project; Food and Environment; and the Global Earth Challenge. The event in Ghana targetted Climate and Environmental Literacy to empower youth on a growing topic of great interest to the global effort to reduce emissions drastically.
