Over 400 Youth from secondary schools, and youth-led and youth-serving organisations across Trinidad and Tobago, converged at the HYATT Regency, Port of Spain, to participate in discussions on Climate Change at the National Youth Convention, hosted by Minister Foster Cummings, Ministry of Youth Development and National Service.
The National Youth Convention, themed ‘Youth Unleash: Combatting Climate Change’, was held over two days, September 9 -10, to empower young people to support national development, through active citizenship, in keeping with Pillar 7 of the National Youth Policy 2020-2025: ‘Supporting youth action on climate change, environmental sustainability and climate justice.’
The 400-plus young people were engaged in discussions on Sustainable Threads; Green Entrepreneurship; Empowering Youth to be Agents of Sustainability (Climate Justice and Activism); and Emerging Technologies as Partners in Sustainability.
Before the discussions, Youth Development and National Service Minister, the Honourable Foster Cummings, informed the youth audience of the programmes of the MYDNS, particularly the Shade House Project and the introduction of a community fresh vegetable programme, which he said, will see “30 shade houses being constructed across Trinidad and Tobago, to train our people in shade houses to protect agriculture, but also to provide fresh vegetables and food for the nation.”
Minister Cummings also boasted of “a robust homestead programme, piloted in Chatham, Trinidad, and the Government’s intention to introduce 1,500 youth farmers by 2025.” That, he stated “will involve 1,000 homesteaders, 300 shade house farmers, and 200 aquaculture farmers.” The Minister also urged the students to “start to have pride and keep our community clean. That is a good start if you are talking about smart behavior and climate change.”
Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, the Honourable Faris Al Rawi also delivered an address at the event and stated, “We believe money grows on trees – that is agriculture. We believe garbage has value. We agree that billionaires can be created out of these lines of industry. Every plastic bottle can be recycled into oil-based products. Glass is recycled. It is all valuable but we have to adopt a mindset of firstly paying attention to where we are, what we do and then forming ourselves into small groups and getting the job done.”
Photos: JERMAINE CRUICKSHANK
