What do you tell a five year-old asks you why their neighborhood streets are covered in litter?
How do you explain to a five year old that even though it’s still supposed to be winter, it’s hot as hell and definitely likely to be as a result of climate change?
For the sake of the young generation that will inherit the world that we have so carelessly wreaked havoc on, why not take a stand and do something to fight climate change?
A youthful voice adding to the climate change movement in Namibia, Hans Hango is leading the way through the Namibian Youth Coalition on Climate. He talks to MYD Earth about Namibia’s participation in this cause and what every individual can do to contribute in mitigating the effects of this global issue.
MYD: What would help create awareness for the environment that we want?
Namibia’s carbon emission on the global scale is just about 0.0123% – that’s only a fraction when it comes to global emission. South Africa is about one percent of global emissions, but Africa as a whole is actually about 2 to 3%, so it’s quite negligible when it comes to the global stage, but I think what we can do is focus on adaptation.
It’s very important that we try to adapt to climate change, but we need to also try to minimise our carbon dioxide emissions.
MYD: Where do we stand right now and why is “business as usual” not going to work anymore?
If there’s any person that doubts climate change,they just have to look at the signs and the facts. In Namibia, there’s a prolonged drought and it’s expected to get drier. Namibia is the driest country in South Saharan Africa and now, because of climate change, this is going to exacerbate.
We have started seeing the acidification of the sea, all the natural disasters happening, there has been irreversible damage to this world and it’s at a point of no return.
We can still try to mitigate climate change, try to lower its impact, but lets say we’ve reached that tipping point, it might be irreversible damage and as a result of that we might have to adapt to the worst of the consequences of climate change.
MYD: How can people get involved?
At city level we need to move to sustainable cities. The public can also get involved because climate change impacts everybody, young people and the older generation as well. Although the younger generation’s future is much more at stake compared to older generations, climate change nonetheless impacts everybody.
We’re imploring citizens to move away from meat consumption and become vegan and consume more food that emits less carbon dioxide. I know that this is a very controversial topic, and I’m sure it’s a tall order in Namibia to ask someone to move away from meat consumption. We love our meat, but it’s actually something that we are looking into, and I personally made a commitment that by next year I’m going to reduce my meat consumption.
So never underestimate your one single action, because it does make a difference.
Listen to the MYD Earth Show on 99FM every Monday at 18h00.
https://soundcloud.com/user-654075176/myd-earth-with-hans-hango