With climate change continuously becoming a serious threat to billions of livelihoods and the planet, this year’s celebration of World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the importance of "Building Climate-Ready Communities”.
According to the UN, the objective is to bring science closer to society by highlighting some key scientific aspects and possible solutions provided by science, technology and innovation to some of the major global challenges society is facing today including climate change.
World Science Day for Peace and Development is annually celebrated on 10 November. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in daily lives of mankind.
Salvator Munezero, an environmental scientist at Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) finds science significant in building climate resilience.
He said that through scientific research and discoveries, a lot has been revealed about climate change, adding that scientists have been able to single out the problem, its causes and have also provided recommendations to the decision makers on what needs to be done and the problem is connected to human activities like sending gases from power plants, industries as well as cooking places to the atmosphere.
According to him, scientists have also been able to conduct research and come up with some new technologies to replace the existing ones considered unfriendly to climate, especially when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.
He said that today, technological innovations like artificial intelligence is being used to predict disasters and prevent them, adding that it can be used to monitor climate change and the effects it can cause.
However, he said that the big part still needs to be played by politicians since they are decision makers who are in charge of deploying financial support to research climate change and setting laws that concern it.
He said that investors also need to invest in environmentally friendly projects since some businesses influence climate change, adding that it is everyone’s responsibility to protect the world and prevent climate change effects because if nothing is done, living in the world will soon become so difficult.
Liliane Uwamahoro, the Assistant Manager at Holland Greentech, one of the companies that use technologies to combat climate change through greenhouse farming, said that through technology, they have been able to build climate resilience through a built-in irrigation and temperature-controlling systems that can be regulated according to the need of the crops.
She said that through different irrigation technologies, farmers have also been able to farm, uncaring of the season which she finds recommendable to every farmer as the world’s farming seasons keep changing.
Noel Nizeyimana, CEO of Greencare Rwanda which recycles and transforms biodegradable waste material into organic fertilizers also sees science, technology and innovation as great contributors to building climate resilience because they favour people empowerment, extend access to education and health, make it possible the monitoring of environmental risks as well as develop the best practice responses to the climate change.
He declared that they also play an important part to protect against failure and negative climate change impacts on the communities, promoting a circular economy, creating green jobs for people as well as promoting environmental sustainability.
He urged fellow young people to use science as a tool to help them find out sustainable solutions to the problems the communities are facing.
He added, "Doing that is now; it is not tomorrow. We have to make a choice and use science and technology to respond to climate change in order to create a better world,” he said.
In celebrating World Science Day for Peace and Development, people can join the conversation with the hashtag #ScienceDay on different social media platforms.