File photo of Neeshad Shafi
Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar (AYCMQ) has trained 650 school teachers ahead of its ‘Household Carbon Footprint Initiative.’ The survey is targeted at understanding the resource consumption and carbon footprint in Qatar.
The AYCMQ has partnered with key national stakeholders for the initiative, including the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy and Unesco GCC. The initiative is also supported by the US Embassy Qatar Grant funding.
Speaking to The Peninsula, Neeshad Shafi, Executive Director, AYCMQ, said the survey would help individuals understand how they can contribute to fighting climate change and provide the authorities with much-needed data.
“We already covered training for 650 teachers,” Shafi said. “What we have done is train the teachers who will be supporting the students to take the survey in their schools. Almost all the 650 teachers are from public schools, and we are thankful to the Ministry of Education for giving us access to schools. Their support has been a big push and shows how much they believe in the survey.”
Carbon footprint means the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere due to the activities of a particular individual, organisation, or community. The MoPH, a partner in the survey, is interested in analysing food consumption and disposal patterns and how diet is an essential part of climate change.
“All these partners have great targets, but we still have a long way to go,” Shafi added.
The ‘Household Carbon Footprint Initiative’ would be accomplished in three phases, including information gathering, which will target 1,800-2,000 households and several schools across Qatar.
Shafi added: “There will be an event to celebrate with the participating schools, and we’ll felicitate the teachers who trained the students with a Ministry of Education-endorsed certificate.”
Shafi also disclosed that the organisation targets expanding the survey to other Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries.
Qatar launched a national climate change action plan in October to achieve a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
