Behavioral changes, awareness needed to tackle climate change

Raising awareness among Saudi society of the ways in which they can play a role will be a key element

Protecting the environment from the effects of climate change will require shifts in behavior and attitudes in Saudi Arabia, according to the man leading the Kingdom’s environmental strategy.

Wael Bushah, general manager of environmental awareness at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, told Arab News on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh that raising awareness among Saudi society of the ways in which they can play a role will be key.

“We know that having our environment, protecting it, sustaining it, is a benefit for all of us, for the community, for everyone,” he said.

“So, (with) our environmentalawareness initiative, we are doing a lot of campaigns, either on social media or on the ground, to make sure that we send the right message to the people, to teach them, to raise their knowledge, to change their behavior and engage in dealing with with the environment.”

Bushah said the initiative goes beyond simply encouraging people to recycle or dispose of their waste properly, it also teaches them how to care for and protect plants, birds and other wildlife. It targets both young and old through a variety of media and the use of plays, films and educational programs, he added.

“Our target audience is everyone in the community,” he said. “We have a special program for kids, we have a special program for students in schools and universities, we (also) have them for the public, also for the community, people at home.

“We would like to take care of everyone in the community, so that they can fulfill the needs of the environment by protecting it and making it sustainable for all of us.”

Guides have been produced as part of the initiative to teach people things they might not necessarily know about the environment in the Kingdom and how best to protect it, Bushah said. They were also distributed in four languages — Arabic, English, French and Malay — to Hajj pilgrims this year, he added.

We know that having our environment, protecting it, sustaining it, is a benefit for all of us, for the community, for everyone. Wael Bushah General manager of environmental awareness at the Ministry of Environment

Supplied The initiative goes beyond simply encouraging people to recycle or dispose of their waste properly, it also teaches them how to care for and protect plants, birds and other wildlife.