Collection of contributions from the international scientific conference on the impacts of climate change on the inhabitants of developing and developed countries, which was organized by the Slovak Catholic Charity in cooperation with the Faculty of Education and Natural Sciences of the Comenius University in Bratislava. Contents
Stand up for the protection of life, the environment and the dignity of every person Mgr. Radovan Gumulak
Climate change and manifestations of its consequences in countries III. of the world Prof. RNDr. Milan, Lapin, PhD.
Global climate change and its impacts in the context of international environmental processes Prof. RNDr. Mikuláš Huba, CSc.
The growing importance of linking development aid and climate change solutions Ing. Peter Hulenyi Climate change is a human security problem M. Sc. Stanislav Vidovič
The impact of climate change on the population of sub-Saharan Africa: the vision of the church and the importance of justice campaigns in addressing the consequences of climate change His Eminence Monsignor Paul Ouedraogo
Determinants of health in sub-Saharan Africa. Possible impact on the health of children up to the age of 5 MUDr. Ján Bodo, PhD.
HIV/AIDS, environment and climate change – new challenges and approach to the epidemics MUDr. Jozef Šuvada, PhD, MPH
Climate change – a current challenge for research and monitoring of exotic quarantine pests Doc. RNDr. Peter Fedor, PhD. & Prof. RNDr. Oto Majzlan, PhD.
Atmospheric mineralogy - the influence of dust in the atmosphere on climate development and human health Mgr. Peter Bačík, PhD. & PhDr. et RNDr. Bozena Baluchová, PhD.
Climate changes, climate change scenarios, climate change impacts and adapting options Prof. RNDr. Milan, Lapin, PhD.
Climate change and its impacts – critical approach Zbigniew froze
Extreme climatic anomalies as a direct consequence of global warming Mgr. Alexader Ač, PhD. & Mgr. Jozef Pecho
Learning for a sustainable, low-carbon future – time for a paradigm shift dr. Darja Piciga, PhD.
New trends in climate and climate change research RNDr. Pavel Šťastný, CSc.
The impact of climate change on migration movements in Africa in the last twenty years PaedDr. Rastislav Čief, PhD. & PaedDr. Michal Kovačic, PhD.
Developing a global citizenship education program for three to six year olds Aoife McTernan et al.
Media coverage of the consequences of climate change in the Slovak media (and its impact on development education) RNDr. et PhDr. Bozena Baluchová, PhD.
Environmental education, environmental ethics and environmental philosophy in the contexts of attitudes towards climate change Prof. PaedDr. Alica Vančová, CSc. & Prof. RNDr. Oto Majzlan, PhD.
SPEECH
I warmly welcome you to the international scientific conference on the effects of climate change on the inhabitants of developing and developed countries, which is organized by the Slovak Catholic Charity in cooperation with the Faculty of Education and Natural Sciences of the Comenius University in Bratislava. I especially welcome among us His Excellency, Archbishop Paul Ouedraog, President of Caritas Burkina Faso; His Excellency Stanislav Vidovič, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Slovakia; Professor Alica Vančová, Dean of the Faculty of Education of the Comenius University. I also welcome Mr. Petr Hulényi, director of the Department of Development and Humanitarian Aid of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, to whom I also thank that the conference can be held under the auspices and on the grounds of this ministry. I also warmly welcome all the professional guarantors and guarantors of our conference, lecturers from Slovakia and abroad, debaters, academic, student and third-sector communities.
The fact that we have all gathered here shows that this topic is serious and urgent. The consequences of climate change affect all countries regardless of whether they are large or small, rich or poor. Rising ocean levels, increasingly powerful storms and floods threaten all continents. More often, droughts and subsequent crop failures, causing famine, have resulted in conflicts over natural resources, minerals, and large numbers of people leaving their homes because the area where they lived has become inhospitable in many areas of developing countries.
Rich countries have a better chance - to deal with the consequences of climate change. If there is a greater drought or crop failure, our farmers will receive larger subsidies from the European Union. Has the storm or floods destroyed homes and infrastructure? The government will provide us with extraordinary financial resources for the removal of damages. But for poor countries, for example in sub-Saharan Africa, it is a matter of survival. If you are unable to grow anything and find a sufficient source of drinking water, this is an alarming problem.
A year and a half ago, I visited Kenya on business. It was at the time when the countries of the Horn of Africa were hit by the worst drought in the last 60 years. In some places, a drop of rain did not fall for almost 6 months. According to UN data, more than 10 million people were affected by the drought at that time. I went with my colleagues to monitor the place where we wanted to implement a project to support agriculture. I found a long line of women waiting to get water from a small dirty puddle. It was a local spring and the only source of water in the vicinity of about 10 kilometers. I asked a woman who was collecting water from this source with a small tin cup - how long it takes her to fill her 10 liter container. "Two hours," she replied. But there were other women behind her with similar containers - sometimes they wait for water for a whole day. At that time, there was not enough water for people, let alone livestock. Local residents therefore had to sell their livestock below the price, if they had not died by then due to lack of water. It was a big lesson for me - I remember this image every time I drink water from the tap.
When we in the charity decided to organize this conference, many people asked me - why the Slovak Catholic Charity is dedicated to this topic. After all, scientists or politicians are more interested in climate change than charity. I answered that above all we (as a Christian organization) have a moral duty and responsibility - to advocate for the protection of life and the dignity of every human person. God has entrusted us with this earth and nature so that we treat it responsibly and protect the environment with the goal of the common good. That is why we have invited you: people from the professional, scientific and academic community to talk together about this topic, about the issue of climate change from a professional and scientific point of view.
We do not want this conference to be just another mandatory activity, another comma in a project financed by European funds. We want to draw the attention of politicians, government officials, experts, but also the lay public to the consequences of climate change, and examples of how it is hard for residents in developing countries to bear it. We want to raise public awareness of the fact that people from developed countries have also contributed to this situation and the negative impacts of climate change through their activities - their irresponsible behavior towards the environment, the emission of greenhouse gases. We want to make sure that we stop turning a blind eye to this problem.
We should realize as soon as possible that we have only one planet for life on earth and our actions towards the environment also have an impact on people on the other side of the globe, on the distant African continent. We wish that more investments are made in green energy and sustainable technologies, that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, and that our government manages to allocate more funds for development aid in the poorest countries despite the crisis and austerity measures.
We are convinced that what man has caused, he can fix. How our generation approaches this problem will be judged by history in a few decades or centuries. Therefore, during the past three years (in a joint project of a Slovak and Slovenian charity), we have tried to draw the attention of young people in Slovakia and Slovenia to examples of how climate change affects us through development education; we tried to guide them to a decision - to mitigate their impacts.
At the beginning, we were worried whether schools would be interested in this topic, and whether student groups would even want to get involved. However, what we achieved exceeded all our expectations - 170 primary and secondary schools in Slovakia participated in our educational campaign. Young people have shown us that they are not indifferent to this topic. The development education project of SKCH has recorded several successes over the past three years: pupils in elementary schools ran a total of 2,000 kilometers in the Marathon for Climate Justice to express their solidarity with their peers on the African continent; We distributed 2,000 didactic aids, focused on the topic of climate change, to schools; we organized 50 workshops called "Live simply and in solidarity"; we held 15 discussions at schools with female guests from sub-Saharan Africa; we prepared and distributed 12,000 pieces of information materials; we offered the public 10 educational photo exhibitions throughout Slovakia, etc.
We were most surprised by the participation, activity and creativity of young people from primary and secondary schools, who decided to participate in a multimedia competition on the occasion of Earth Day and filmed original eco-films on the topic of climate change, ecology and solidarity with poor countries (the eco-videos can be viewed on the website: www.mladacharita.sk). Authors and authors of the four winning films (from secondary schools in Košice, Námestov and Žilina, as well as from an elementary school in Trnave) had the opportunity to premiere their films and accept the awards at this SKCH conference in Bratislava.
I believe that with our activities within the development education project, we managed to sow at least a small seed, and when these young people become adults, they will perhaps be able to adopt a solidarity attitude towards developing countries, as well as a responsible attitude towards the environment. I wish that Slovak citizens understand the government's decisions (especially the approval of the state budget) - to realize why the government dedicates millions of euros to the implementation of development projects in South Sudan, Kenya or another developing country. I wish the media would not comment on this situation with a digging question (but not waiting for an explanation): "Why help in Africa when we also have serious problems at home?" Reassessing one's own consumer lifestyle, finding connections and dependencies between the developed and developing world is not always easy and desirable. But there is no need to avoid responsibility, solidarity, modesty.
I believe that this conference will provide everyone present with space for new ideas, resolved dilemmas and interesting discussion. Perhaps some questions will remain unanswered, but perhaps this event will contribute to our common goal, which is a safer, cleaner and healthier environment for us, but also for the generations that will come after us.
M.Sc. Radovan Gumulak general secretary of SKCH
Publisher: Slovak Catholic Charity (SKCH / Caritas Slovakia) Kapitulská 18, 814 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Editor of the collection: PhDr. RNDr. Bozena Baluchová, PhD.
Compilers of the collection: Mgr. Mariana Ištoňová PhDr. RNDr. Bozena Baluchová, PhD.
ISBN: 978-80-967870-1-2 © Slovak Catholic Charity (SKCH / Caritas Slovakia)