Climate change calls for culture change

11/17/2007

The tripartite partnership of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands (SCPW) and Unilever, known as the Conservation of Laguna de Bay’s Environment and Resources (CLEAR), recently convened 50 students from the municipalities of Tanay, Los Baños and Lumban, and the cities of Muntinlupa and San Pablo during the Second CLEAR Youth Network Congress.

With the theme “Wetlands and Climate Change”, the event served as a venue in enhancing the awareness of the participants on the intertwined issues of climate change and the diverse welands.

The participants were graduates from past Youth Ecological Camps organized by CLEAR. In this congress, they shared best practices and strengthened mutual support among each other in terms of their conservation activities for Laguna de Bay.

“I realized that we depend on the earth, but the earth also depends on us. Ours is a give and take relationship. We have to take good care of our mother earth.Without her, we’ll be nothing. I am very happy to be part of this activity. I have great visions of what should be done,” said Darry Adao, a student participants from Lumban, Laguna.

“This is a time to learn about this pressing issue of climate change. Hopefully, the students will have many stories to share with their classmates after the conference,” said LLDA research and development division chief Lennie Santos-Borja.

“We hope that with this activity, the youth will be opened on what really is happening to our environment,” added SCPW president Nonoy Pollisco.

The schools who participated are from the five lakeshore towns that CLEAR have partnered with, namely, Greenfield Montessori School, University of Rizal System, Sampaloc National High School, Tanay National High School and St. Therese School, Tanay; University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna; Canossa College, San Pablo, Laguna; Lumban Academy, Wawa National High School and St. Vincent de Paul Montessori and Science High School from Lumban, Laguna; Pedro E. Diaz High School, Muntinlupa; and University of Santo Tomas from Manila.

Unilever strengthens the advocacy for clean water by leading various climate change initiatives, among them tapping young students to establish an environmentally-conscious culture among their communities.

Since 2003, Unilever has been championing environmental awareness and action programs among the youth of Laguna de Bay’s lakeshore towns. With established partners like LLDA and SCPW, Unilever sustains the mission of creating a wide-scale advocacy among Filipinos.

Through the joint efforts of the CLEAR partners, more than a hundred Filipino youths have already committed to maximizing their skills to help save Laguna de Bay. Apart from its advocacy on clean water, Unilever is also focusing its efforts to help stop climate change by slowing, stopping and reversing greenhouse gas emissions of the company.

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