Increasing awareness and educating the public are essential in the response to climate change. It will help create understanding among the society on the cause and effects and the impact of climate change, Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Dr Haji Azman bin Ahmad said.
He stressed that one of the major tasks in preparing the community to adapt to climate change is to ensure a change in behaviour and attitude.
“Education, in particular research initiatives on environment and climate change, will be key to equipping ourselves and our economy to advance towards a green, low emission, sustainable and climate-resilient society. A number of initiatives is taking place at all levels,” Dr Haji Azman said.
He made these comments at the Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy (BNCCP) Operational Document Taskforce (ODTF) workshop at the Atria Simpur Hall of the Public Works Department recently, focussing on Strategy 10: Awareness and Education to increase awareness and education surrounding mitigation and adaptation responses against climat change.
The workshop held on September 14 and 15, was officiated by Dr Haji Azman. About 50 participants attended the workshop comprising key stakeholders such as government departments, education institutions, private sectors, key industry players, media, bank association and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The workshop provided ideas for new opportunities towards a more coherent and systematic approach to this strategy. It was stressed that a monitoring mechanism needs to be in place to gauge the effects and adequacy of the programmes, and ensure its sustainability.
The workshop was co-facilitated by the MoE and the Brunei Climate Change Secretariat (BCCS) as co-lead agencies for Strategy 10 Awareness and Education, and by external facilitators from Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP).
The next ODTF workshop for Strategy 8: Climate Resilience and Adaptation will be held on September 21.
