BRUNEI-MUARA

BRUNEI must show its readiness and commitment towards contributing to the global policy on climate change, urged the acting education minister.

In his speech at the launch of a guidebook for green schools yesterday, Dato Seri Setia Hj Yusoff Hj Ismail said the country needs to demonstrate its strong commitment in implementing green practices and energy conservation despite being a small nation.

“Lately, we often hear news about natural disasters occurring around the world, such as severe flooding, forest fire and hurricanes that caused property damage and loss of lives,” he said.

Natural disasters, he explained, were believed to be caused by climate change or global warming resulting from human activities such as widespread deforestation as well as air pollution due to excessive consumption of oil and gas resources.

“From the religious aspect, it is a test or warning from Allah SWT to all mankind whether they are believers or non-believers,” said the acting minister.

Citing verse 41 of Surah Ar-Rum in the Quran, the acting minister said humans have heedlessly and deliberately caused damage through their actions instead of protecting and conserving the world that “Allah SWT created with perfection”.

He pointed out the Ministry of Education (MoE) can play an important role through education institutions toward promoting sustainable development.

Dato Hj Yusoff called on school leaders to be more resilient and creative in carrying out their green initiatives. He also encouraged more students to participate in activities and programmes based on sustainable development education.

Commenting on the Guidebook for Initiating Green-Schools in Brunei Darussalam’, he was hopeful it would encourage more schools to adopt green practices and protect the environment.

“Schools and education institutions must endeavour to achieve recognition (as green schools), because participation in these activities is not merely to win but what’s important are the lessons gained from this experience,” he explained.

He said they need to measure the positive impact of their green initiatives on the attitudes of the school community, particularly students.

As Brunei seeks to reduce energy consumption by 63 per cent before 2035, Dato Hj Yusoff further urged government agencies, the private sector and community members to work together to address environment issues and energy conservation efforts.

The launching of the guidebook published by the Science, Technology and Environment Partnership (STEP) Centre was held at the Meragang Sixth Form Centre.

The Brunei Times