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Jules Mugisha

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Fighting climate change in Burundi: a path of dedication and awareness-raising

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His name is Jules Mugisha and he hails from Burundi. He holds two master’s degrees in science and integrated environmental management from the University of Burundi and in nutrition, food security and climate change from the East African Nutritional Sciences…

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Berenice Danaé Espinoza

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Advancing Action for Climate Empowerment in Mexico

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Berenice Danaé Espinoza H. is a Mexican Climate Change Professional currently collaborating with the Latin American Observatory for Climate Action (OLAC) in the Coordination of the Climate Justice cluster. As a member of OLAC she has been exchanging experiences with…

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Alan Hesse

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Drawing Solutions: A Cartoonist’s Journey in Climate Education

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Alan’s climate story began around 2015 when climate change became a prominent topic in mainstream news, especially during the lead-up to COP21. At the time, he was working in a conservation role in the tropical Andes. Conversations with local farmers…

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Varnessa Kayen Varlyngton

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Gen Alpha can still make a change: A call to the new generations

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Varnessa Kayen Varlyngton’s journey as a 13 years old environmental advocate began in the bustling streets of Lagos, Nigeria, where her deep connection to nature was evident from an early age. At just 10 years old, she penned her first…

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Vathanak Soeun

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Youth-Driven Urban Sustainability: Bridging Climate Change and Urban Development

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With a robust educational foundation in Architectural Engineering Vathanak Soeun’s journey in architecture, urban planning, community development, and environmental sustainability has spanned over eight years across Cambodia, Australia, and the United States. This diverse experience has equipped him with a…

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Souhayata Haidara

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A Commitment to Gender and Climate Action in Mali

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Souhayata Haidara is a teacher-researcher at the Rural Polytechnic Institute for Training and Applied Research in Katibougou, Mali, and technical advisor on Gender, Training and Partnership to the Ministry of the Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development (MEADD in French). She…

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Hannah Townley

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How One Advocate Brings Gender and Climate Justice to NASA’s Earth Data Mission

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Hannah Townley has always had a unique blend of passions and expertise, seamlessly integrating her background as an academic feminist security researcher and environmental justice organizer. Now, working as a contractor at NASA, she supports the Earth Data Office’s mission…

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Aurélio Costa

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I am Aurélio Costa, the founder of Algomassa Energia, a startup that offers affordable solar kits to low-income people, aiming to reduce energy poverty and provide access to clean energy. My work is focused on creating social and environmental impact, working with young entrepreneurs and resellers to expand our reach and promote sustainable solutions.

The UN CC:e-Learn courses were fundamental for me. They marked the beginning of everything, because through this learning I was able to acquire the knowledge I needed to find my company and seek funding."

Thanks to what I learned; I was able to obtain funding from the Dutch Embassy in Mozambique. In addition, I signed up for the courses because I am also a student of environmental engineering and was looking to improve and expand my knowledge in this vital area. I am committed to continuing to apply the knowledge gained through these courses to inform our business strategies and promote innovative solutions that benefit the most vulnerable communities while protecting our planet.

My journey towards sustainability began when I decided to study Environmental Engineering. I wanted not only to broaden my knowledge in this area, but also to turn my interest into concrete actions that would benefit people and the planet. That's how Algumassa Energia came about: as a direct response to the need for access to clean energy in underprivileged communities. The courses offered by UN CC:e-Learn played a crucial role in this process. They empowered me with fundamental knowledge about climate change, gender equality and environmental justice.

With these (learning) tools, I was able to shape not just a company, but a project with purpose, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals."

Learning about climate change wasn't just an educational experience for me. It was a catalyst for my determination to tackle the climate crisis directly and effectively. Each course gave me a deeper understanding of the challenges we face and the possible solutions. Since then, Algumassa Energia has grown and positively impacted the lives of many people. We expanded our operations and developed even more ambitious projects, such as biogas for rural communities. In addition, we have been recognized internationally, participating in the Waze Prize on circular economy, which has increased our visibility and brought us new opportunities.

I firmly believe that education and action are the keys to tackling global climate challenges."

My journey with Algumassa Energia is proof that small initiatives can have a big impact. I am determined to continue advancing this mission and inspire others to join us in this important movement for the environment and vulnerable communities.

Start your learning journey:

Join Aurélio and hundreds of students and start learning today:
*The views expressed in this story are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the United Nations or any of its affiliated organizations.

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Fueling Change: Empowering Communities with Clean Energy Solutions

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I am Aurélio Costa, the founder of Algomassa Energia, a startup that offers affordable solar kits to low-income people, aiming to reduce energy poverty and provide access to clean energy. My work is focused on creating social and environmental...

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Afifa Tajrin

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Women Engineers at the Forefront of the Green Transition

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Afifa Tajrin, an Electrical Engineer and green energy enthusiast from Bangladesh embarked on a journey that seamlessly blended her technical expertise with a commitment to sustainability. With a B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Chittagong University of Engineering and…

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Wadley B. Michel

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Advocacy for Gender Equality and Climate Resilience in Haiti

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Wadley B. Michel is a project technician at the Unité d’Études et de Programmation of the Ministry of the Environment in Haiti. Her role is to contribute to the design, planning and implementation of environmental projects, ensuring that gender aspects…

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Sagaitu Konusi

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Championing Climate Action in the Heart of the Pacific

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In the heart of the Pacific lives Sagaitu Konusi in Fiji, affectionately known as Itu. As the Senior Advisor on Mitigation at the Regional Pacific NDC Hub, Itu has dedicated his career to combating climate change and ensuring a sustainable…

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Turning Up the Volume on Climate Education: The Radio Program on Climate Change in Zimbabwe

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This story is about one of the two radio programmes that has sparked a wave of environmental consciousness across Zimbabwe, educating its listeners and fostering a nationwide discussion on climate change. Based on interviews with three different individuals—the radio host,…

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Reuben Sapetulu

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‘We must shift from engaging youth as passive recipients to key stakeholders actively driving climate action.’ – Meet Reuben Sapetulu, the first young leader of the Youth Climate Dialogue Program

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Meet Reuben Sapetulu, a 29-year-old Zambian human rights defender and climate activist. As the first young leader to organize the Youth Climate Dialogue between students from Zambia and China, Reuben inspires youth around the world to engage in climate action.…

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Saraswati

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Teaching Environmentally Sustainable Practices and Recycling to Primary School Pupils

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Saraswati is a young lady from North Sumatra. Addressing climate change in Indonesia is a priority for her and she believes that raising awareness is key in this process. That’s why she wants to become a climate educator and have…

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Ikram Ur Rahman

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UN CC:e-Learn courses are impacting forest communities in northern Pakistan

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Dr. Ikram Ur Rahman has over 27 years of experience working for several different international organizations, where his focus has always been nature preservation. He took the REDD+ course which helped him tremendously in training rural Pakistani communities.

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Germain Goungounga

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Mr. Germain Goungounga is an expert who specializes in macroeconomics and environmental statistics. He carries out environmental and social impact assessments for projects that incorporate climate change issues in Burkina Faso. Besides his job with a private consultancy firm, Germain works as an independent, self-employed expert consultant.

In five years of professional experience, he has contributed to the design and validation of a number of local development strategies that include the issue of climate change.
What motivated you to take courses on the UN CC:e-Learn platform?
GG: I heard about the Introductory e-course on Climate Change while attending my first course with UNDP. Because economic questions and climate issues cannot be addressed separately, I decided to register for this course in order to extend my expertise to this specific area and be able to integrate both aspects - economic and climate-related - into my work.
In what way has this course changed your life, advanced your career, or increased your income?
GG: First of all, I have gained key insights that help me speak with ease when I participate in panel debates on the issue of climate change. One thing I have noticed is that there is a growing interest in the scientific and intellectual contributions made on this topic.

This course also turned out to be helpful with regards to the Master in Engineering that I am currently completing, since I got the highest grade for a modeling course focusing on the topic of climate change.

In terms of my income, it indeed directly increased since I took this course. Clients are fully satisfied with my work as an independent expert, and they consider that my performance deserves higher remuneration than the amounts initially agreed, which is why, in the end, I systematically receive additional fees for the missions I perform.

What kind of actions have you been taking within your community and at work since you attended this course?
GG: I, of course, continue to work on development projects that take into account climate change issues, which are of particular interest to me. One of the most thrilling aspects of my job is to be able to work alongside the local communities involved in these projects. These experiences are very rewarding and the lessons I learn from such interactions are extremely valuable.

Furthermore, given the increasing role of environmental statistics and their broad scope of application, I plan to create either a research center or a think tank that will specialize in environmental economics, with the aim to produce three different types of data, namely environmental data and statistics, environmental indicators and indices, and economic and environmental accounts.
What message would you like to convey about the importance of education in the field of climate change?
GG: First of all, I would like to stress that climate changes are acknowledged by the scientific community as resulting, to a large extent, from human activity. The increasingly devastating climate events that we have observed over the past years remind us that urgent action is required to address the issue at the global level.

I want to insist here on the critical role of education in mobilizing the international community. Getting behavior patterns to change requires engaging truly impactful information, education, and communication efforts in almost all sectors. It is therefore crucial that governments design national learning strategies that will allow the people to take ownership of the mechanisms by which they can adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects. I call on our political leaders to implement such learning strategies while ensuring consistency with the actions taken at regional and even international levels so that tangible results can be achieved.
Would you recommend this course to other learners and if so, why?
GG: This training course is designed for both students and professionals, and it is an extremely valuable tool for acquiring key knowledge on climate change. It shows us how to question our production and consumption patterns, and most of all, how to take into consideration climate change concerns in our day-to-day lives. Hence, I encourage everyone to use the UN CC:e-Learn platform, especially the young who want to join the fight against climate change.

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Given the major socio-economic challenges posed by climate change, there is a growing number of project owners who rely on the services of consultancy firms specializing in this field of expertise, which, for Germain, means promising career prospects.

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Local Development Strategies: Making Climate Change Issues a Focus of Economic Expertise

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Ou alumni, Mr. Germain Goungounga is an expert who specializes in macroeconomics and environmental statistics. He carries out environmental and social impact assessments for projects that incorporate climate change issues in Burkina Faso. In this story, he tells us how the...

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Ganzorig Gonchigsumlaa

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Dr. Ganzorig Gonchigsumlaa, originally from Mongolia, studied at the University of Manchester, where he obtained a Master of Science in Environmental Economics in 2010. He gained his PhD in Agricultural Economics at the Georg-August University of Goettingen, Germany in 2016.

Since then, he has become a Senior Lecturer at the Mongolian University of Life Sciences where he teaches three courses: Introduction to Economics, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Development Economics. In addition, he also has experience working with the UN System and the Mongolian government.

During the weeks of 8 September to 10 November 2017, PAGE delivered an e-learning course on green fiscal reform to meet the learning needs and build capacities of national stakeholders.

The interactive and practice-oriented course provided participants from government, business, civil society and academia with an introduction to various approaches and policy instruments for reforming government spending and revenue generation with the goal of supporting the transition to a green economy.

Ganzorig participated in the course and shares with us his experience:

The GFR e-course was amazingly well-prepared and organized. The course plan, evaluation methods, training materials, online discussions and receiving feedback for my submitted assignments was fantastic. It was my first time taking an e-course, and I understand better now how useful it can be to take an e-course."

In terms of content, Ganzorig says he "gained knowledge related to fiscal and financial aspects of the green economy for a variety of economic sectors including agriculture and transportation."

The most important aspect of the course for him was the "chance to pool out every aspect of green fiscal reform with very practical international case studies and examples."

Among all the new concepts that he learned, one of the key takeaways is that the biggest challenge to fulfill country goals might be the financial gaps, and thanks to the e-course, he grasped this more clearly.

He encourages people who want to learn about GFR in a constructive manner to take the e-course.

I was in charge of the topics on Green Fiscal Reform: Rationale and related concepts and Green Fiscal Reform: Instruments. The two topics are translated versions of the Module 1 and 2 of the GFR e-course; in addition to, a few more cases focused on the context of Mongolia. This is evidence that the course was beneficial to the participants, like myself, who can later evolve the concepts to reach more people," he concludes.

After taking the course, Ganzorig had a chance to share his knowledge through PAGE at UN Mongolia to develop a course on Green Economy and Modelling among the undergraduate students.

The team of professors at the Mongolian University of Life Sciences, National University of Mongolia, and the University of Finance and Economics in Mongolia developed the course curriculum, and lecture and seminar materials.

I was in charge of the topics on Green Fiscal Reform: Rationale and related concepts and Green Fiscal Reform: Instruments. The two topics are translated versions of the Module 1 and 2 of the GFR e-course; in addition to, a few more cases focused on the context of Mongolia. This is evidence that the course was beneficial to the participants, like myself, who can later evolve the concepts to reach more people," he concludes.

Some of Ganzorig's publications include:

Ganzorig, G., Enkh-Amgalan, G., Erdenechuluun, T., Amartuvshin, O., Erdenebayar, M., Kadirbek, D., Tserendavaa, Ts., Batjargal, N., Yadmaa, Z., Gantulga, Ts., Bayarchimeg, G., Ganchimeg, G., Amar, U., Baasansuren, S., Erdenesuren, Ya. and Tumendemberel, G. (2018), Import and Export Study: Linking to Livestock and Vegetable Value Chains, Technical Paper Series 1, book in Mongolian

Ganzorig, G., Marlon, F (2015) Valuation of contribution of ecosystem services of the Orkhon Valley National Park to sectoral economic development. book in Mongolian and English, "Munkhiin Useg" Publisher, Ulaanbaatar, ISBN 978-99962-3-945-8, DOI (Eng) 10.13140/RG.2.1.4703.5288, DOI (Mon) 10.13140/RG.2.1.2344.2327

Sarthi Acharya; N.Odmaa; D.Chimeddagva; G.Bolormaa; G.Ganzorig (2015, 2016) Handbook for policy planning, monitoring and evaluation. book in Mongolian, Ministry of Finance of Mongolia, UNDP, UNEP, PEI programme, Ulaanbaatar

Gonchigsumlaa, G. (2018). Opportunities to integrate Green Economy and Sustainable Development aspects into policy planning, monitoring and evaluation processes in Mongolia. Mongolian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 21(02), 92-100, from https://www.mongoliajol.info/index.php/MJAS/article/download/914/1086;

Connect with Dr Ganzorig Gonchigsumlaa on ResearchGate.

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From an Online Course to the Classroom: Adapting the Green Fiscal Reform Concept to the Mongolian Context

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Dr. Ganzorig Gonchigsumlaa from Mongolia participated in an e-learning course on green fiscal reform delivered by the Partnership for Action on Green Economy and shared with us his experience.

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Valentina Segura

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How a course on climate change helped mobilize a company to become more aware of our planet

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Valentina Segura from Colombia took an online course by UN CC:e-Learn about climate change and cities. At the end of the course, she realized that what was learned during the course could be applied in her work.

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Nura Jib

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Nura Jib, founder of the African Climate Change Research Centre based in Nigeria explains how the ‘Cities and Climate Change’ e-course has enriched his CV and added advantage over his peers.

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Sanoussi Atta and Elise Kaba

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Have you ever thought about how powerful teams come together? What are the odds thattwo talented individuals from different places and different backgrounds cross paths and start working on the same issues? Professor Sanoussi Atta grew up in Niger. After studying Agricultural Engineering, he became a doctor in Biological Sciences. Elise Kaba is from Burkina Faso. She pursued her studies in Computer Science and worked her way towards a master's degree in Physics. For the greater part of their lives, Elisa and Sanoussi walked different paths. Little did they know that something bigger than themselves would connect them, something that for years it was just a shared notion of space but that later would become the focus of their careers: the Sahel.

Located in West Africa, just below the Sahara Desert, this region of arid land that stretches from Senegal to Chad is a cultural and historical shoreline between the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Since antiquity it has been the arena of interaction between Arabic, Islamic and nomadic cultures from the north, and indigenous and traditional cultures from the south. For these reasons, the Sahel has a powerful but also uneasy atmosphere. Over the decades, this has been a place of growing ethno-religious tensions, political instability, and poverty, aggravated by the inherited hardships of such dry environments. To make matters even more concerning, the region is particularly vulnerable to climate change. While the prospects are of increased temperatures globally, in the Sahel temperatures are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average, meaning that in the coming decades the region will most likely be defined by extreme weather occurrences. Addressing such impacts and adapting to the changes are of critical importance of the Sahel and this is where Prof. Sanoussi and Elise Kaba's paths have crossed.

Prof. Sanoussi is Head of the Training and Research Department at the AGRHYMET Regional Centre (CRA*), a specialized institution of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS*) located in Niamey, Niger.His department is dedicated to the development and delivery of training and information on food and nutritional security, water management, climate change and the fight against desertification. Elise oversees the centre's distance learning platform. Both are expert trainers working to prepare end equip professionals with the knowledge and skills required to contribute to a better future in the Sahel. But to do so at scale, the duo realized it was necessary to strengthen its learning system. "We knew it would be useful to move towards online courses and make the best of current technologies to increase our reach, training the greatest number of people possible in our countries and also to reduce costs", Prof. Sanoussi and Elise explain. What they needed was a little technical guidance, which they got through the One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership (UN CC:Learn).

Through its West African Hub, UN CC:Learn delivered a Training of Trainers (ToT) to the AGRHYMET team on "How to Develop, Deliver and Evaluate Effective e-Learning". The training was specifically tailored to AGRHYMET's needs, supporting them in creating e-learning modules for their face-to-face master's degree on climate change. "During the workshop, we learned the principles and methods for creating online courses and we had the chance to experiment, by applying the different steps in the process of developing an effective e-learning pilot product", they recall, adding that the group exercises also allowed them to practice on existing course modules delivered at the Centre.

After the training, the team lost little time in putting what they had learned into practice with their main course module: Integrating Climate Change Policies. "This course was originally delivered in a face-to-face setting and the material was all in PowerPoint format. So, we used what we learned during the workshop to transform it into an e-learning course", said the dynamic duo, with some pride. Now, Prof. Sanoussi and Elise are prepared to share what they have learned. "We have mastered the development of e-learning courses and we are committed to support and train our colleagues to do the same" they said, with some confidence that this episode will leave a meaningful legacy at AGRHYMET. "We are driven to provide high-quality adult education and develop the centre's diploma training courses for distance learning, reaching a larger number of participants in the CILSS countries and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)".

UN CC:Learn is excited to see what new upcoming learning solutions will be developed by these two climate champions and their teams.

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Building Climate Resilience in the Sahel by Developing Expertise in e-Learning

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Professor Sanoussi Atta from Niger and Elise Kaba from Burkina Faso work together to prepare and to equip professionals with the knowledge and skills required to contribute to a better future in the Sahel. Both received training on 'How to Develop, Deliver,...

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Mariel Bueno

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If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you."

This inspirational quote kept Mariel Bueno , a trained Agroindustrial Engineer from Cochabamba, Bolivia, motivated to continue learning, and lead her to discover a new truly fulfilling career path.

Mariel graduated from Agroindustrial Engineering with excellence. Equipped with a door-opening diploma, she began her career in agribusiness. She gained firsthand experience and technical skills in logistics, agro-productive chains, and supply and demand of agri-food products. She had the opportunity to interact with many of the key industry stakeholders, producers from different regions, executives, and entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector.

And yet, despite her quick progress up the career ladder, she soon started questioning herself, her work and her contribution to the world.

From an early age, I immersed myself in two realities of which I learned a lot: the countryside and the city, the production of food and the food industry, small farmers, peasants and merchants, scarcity and abundance. This is how I grew up, appreciating each world with its differences."

Mariel's childhood memories drew her back to the countryside, where she ventured into the world of dairy products with a private company. But even there she could not find an answer and fulfillment. Feeling lost again, she was determined to search and learn.

Despite everything I was living, I decided to continue learning. I firmly believe that we always have to go ahead and make our existence worthwhile. I took several courses online and the light finally came through the NAP-Ag MOOC."

This is how Mariel discovered the Massive Open Online Course on National Adaptation Plans: Building Climate Resilience in Agriculture (NAP-Ag MOOC) on UN CC:e-Learn platform. Throughout the course, she learned about adaptation planning, food security and she focused on her own country for the peer assessment project. Bolivia is experiencing its worst water crisis in the last 25 years and is vulnerable to droughts and pollution of rivers. Mariel chose the province of Capinota, previously known for its vast potential for productive diversity, which was recently declared as "Zone of Natural Disaster."

"At the beginning, it seems that it [the MOOC] will give you some great new ideas about climate change, the importance of adaptation plans, and agriculture for food security. However, in the end, beyond increasing your awareness and knowledge about these issues, it opens your mind and a little bit, your heart."

Mariel learned a lot from the course. But beyond that, she actively transformed the theory into her new reality. By taking the NAP-Ag MOOC, it became clear to her that she would like to support her community in adapting to severe changes in the climate, help farmers develop new skills and use better technologies and advocate for policies that strengthen the productive sector.

This course allowed me to find my way, to define what I want to do the rest of my days. I know it is not too late to do something for Capinota, Bolivia or the world. But, I also know that there is still a lot of work to be done," she says after taking the NAP-Ag MOOC.

Currently, Mariel and her mother work at their own urban garden Huerto Urbano Agroecológico "LaVictoria." They produce their own food, and most of the vegetables and spices that their family consumes, such as tomatoes, oregano, celery, parsley, peppermint, pumpkin, etc, come directly from their garden. The mom-daughter duo also started the production of seedlings (eco-gardening, nursery), which they sell at local fairs. They are also planning to open an agro-ecological store at their house to sell local farmers to produce and promote agro-ecological farming, organic products and local consumption.

Mariel is also a full-time graduate student. She earned a half fee scholarship for a graduate program called, "Master of Science in Geoinformation and Earth Observation," in part, due to her innate passion for learning. Above all, she has her mindset to cooperate in the sustainable development of her surroundings.

Mariel calls for more involvement of national institutions to provide agricultural education programs, which could provide education to farmers to support the development of technical capacities, gender analysis, and sustainable agricultural food cooperatives.

You can support Mariel and her projects! Visit:

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Finding Your Path from Agribusiness to Agroecology and What's a MOOC Got to Do with It

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Mariel Bueno, a trained Agroindustrial Engineer from Cochabamba, Bolivia, is a motivated youth that never stops learning. She started questioning herself, her work and her contribution to the world and after taking a UN CC:Learn course, she discovered a new...

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Clarance K.Gbarlo

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Clarance K.Gbarlo is a man with many talents. He's worked as a teacher at a refugee school, as a communications officer, and most recently, as a public relations officer for the Christian Network Missionary organization.

He strongly believes that climate change is a big environmental and economic challenge for developing countries, therefore it's important to teach people about climate change - not only by raising awareness, which is crucial, but also by giving communities the opportunity to capacity building in this field.

Clarance is also a learner at heart. He took his first UN CC:e-Learn course in 2017. He signed up to take the Human health and Climate Change course as part of his personal development ambitions. He later took the Cities and Climate Change course to acquire more knowledge on the environment and climate. He eventually landed a job at the Christian Network Missionary organization, who was impressed by his motivation to teach others about the effects that climate change has on people, plants and animals.

The organization went as far as taking the initiative to advertise the course among the communities in rural Liberia. This only strengthened his desire to continue learning through the courses offered by and UN CC:Learn.

I enrolled in additional courses, namely the Children and Climate Change course and the REDD+ e-Academy. I also took part in the Massive Open Online Course on National Adaptation Plans: Building Climate Resilience in Agriculture () and obtained the certificate," he says.

These courses enabled me as a professional to develop more good projects that will contribute more effectively to mitigating climate change. Knowing that my work will have a tangible impact on the environment encourages me to further engage in promoting renewable energies," he adds.

A big reason why he is teaching climate change is that he believes the knowledge he gained from the courses is too important to not share.

I want to help communities in rural areas to identify, develop and implement initiatives, such as setting up better quality systems on national adaptation planning."

He believes that implementing such initiatives will allow communities to develop better food supply systems.

Having solid knowledge on climate change issues is crucial for effectively promoting the importance of agriculture and food production.

When people have in-depth insights into the climate change phenomenon, those working on the ground are more prepared to develop agriculture projects that are viable, consistent and meet the needs of those most in need.

The UN CC:e-Learn platform courses are perfectly suited for this purpose," he concludes.

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Spreading the Word on Climate Change Education in Rural Liberia

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Mr. Clarance K.Gbarlo believes that the knowledge he gained from the UN CC:Learn courses is too important to not share. In this spirit, he has been teaching climate change in rural communities in Liberia. For him, those working on the ground are more...

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Neeshad Shafo

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As a student, Neeshad wanted to better understand climate science and advocacy, which led him to discover UN CC:Learn and its platform with free e-courses. He set out to complete the " When one thinks about climate change action, Qatar is not really the first place that comes to mind. But Neeshad Shafi, founder of the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar , is changing that. Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar Introductory e-Course on Climate Change" and successfully completed the course in 2015. The knowledge acquired in the course laid out the groundwork for his future endeavor: founding the (AYCMQ), the single not-for-profit environmental organization registered in the State of Qatar.

AYCMQ is a youth-led NGO building a movement that fosters understanding of the natural ecosystems and empowers the community to act. It does that by raising environmental awareness at grassroots level and by targeting youth and adults with tailored activities, helping to promote active participation in dialogue and in finding solutions.

AYCMQ's values are also rooted in gender equality. For instance, more than half of its team members are women and so are most of the participants who take part in the organization's activities, which is something remarkable everywhere but especially in a Gulf country.

" A t AYCM Qatar we are founded on the presciple of gender equality . M ore then 50% of our team comprises of women members and we have always given up most space for women and youth girls in various programs of ours. " - Neeshad Shafi, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

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Engaging Youth People to Advance Climate Action in QATAR

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Neeshad Shafi took the Intro Course on Climate Change and founded the first and only not-for-profit environmental organization registered in the State of Qatar. His NGO strives to protect the environment while giving equal opportunities to women and the youth....

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Joe Mari S. Francisco

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Joe Mari took the Gender equality and climate action are intertwined topics that are increasingly being addressed together. Joe Mari S. Francisco, technical officer of the of Philippines' Climate Change Commission and National Gender Focal Point of the Philippines to the UNFCCC, agrees with it and has been tasked with mainstreaming gender across the Philippines' NDC. Open Online Course on Gender and Environment and the Introductory e-Course on Climate Change back in 2018 to better understand climate change and its implications on gender. He successfully completed both courses and, among other things, discovered the interlinkages between climate change and gender. T his newly acquired knowledge contributed to him being appointed to support the development of a gender responsive NDC for the Philippines.

Since 2018, he has carried out gender and climate change audits of his organization, produced a Gender Analysis and added technical inputs to the NDC, and been appointed as the National Gender Focal Point to the UNFCCC. Moreover, Joe Maris has been able to raise awareness of gender and climate change among his peers in the Commission and this has been reflected in the mainstreaming of gender across the Commission's internal and external processes.
Currently, he's part of the team developing the Philippines' NDC Gender Action Plan which aims to implement gender responsive NDC policies and measures for Filipino women, men, and LGBT+.
His knowledge of gender and climate change opened opportunities on different fronts as well. For instance, he has been invited to deliver several national and international presentations on Gender and Climate Change to share the Philippine's experiences on integrating gender in climate actions.

"I think the knowledge I got from the courses on UN CC  :e- Learn helped me to fulfil my task s as one of National Gender Focal Point of the Philippines to the UNFCCC. " - Joe Mari S. Francisco. 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

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Mainstreaming Gender across Climate Action in the Philippines

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Joe Mari Francisco is the Philippines' National Gender Focal Point to the UNFCCC. His engagement with gender and climate change started in 2018 when he completed UN CC:Learn courses that shed a light on the interlinkages between the two topics....

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Camila Kuklis

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'At the beginning of 2022, I took the two courses on REDD+ that are offered on the UN CC:Learn platform. Based on this, I was hired by a Foundation to carry out a REDD+ project in Argentina.'

The courses on REDD+ that I took from UN CC:Learn provided me with a theoretical framework ranging from the most basic to the most advanced issues that have to do with the conservation, recovery and protection of native forests. This allowed me to introduce myself to the " Huellas para un Futuro" ("Footprints for a Future") Foundation with the necessary knowledge to be able to embark with them on their socio-environmental projects in the province of Misiones, Argentina.
My role consisted of project management and administration tasks, especially assisting with the formulation of REDD+ sub-projects on the sustainable management of the forest with the participation of indigenous communities and original settlers. The knowledge and skills that I acquired through the UN CC:Learn courses gave me the necessary bases to understand what REDD+ projects are about and the guidelines that must be taken into account to carry them out. I was able to apply all this knowledge in different ways throughout the management of the project.

The impact of the project in terms of gender equality in indigenous communities is seen in the high participation of women in the workshops held. In addition, with respect to this REDD+ project, one of the products that I consider most relevant is the one that has to do with the Nagoya Protocol. The Foundation established a partnership with a biotech laboratory to create products using a plant species native to Misiones, called Pitanga, and certify them with the Nagoya seal. Part of our REDD+ funds were allocated to train people from indigenous communities on the Biological Diversity Convention, the Nagoya Protocol and ways in which they could earn a living as suppliers of the raw materials to the laboratory. This represents an important source of work for everyone within the communities, including women.

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'At the beginning of 2022, I took the two courses on REDD+ that are offered on the UN CC:Learn platform. Based on this, I was hired by a Foundation to carry out a REDD+ project in Argentina.' The courses on...

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Jordi López

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Despite not being even 18 years old yet, Jordi López, from Spain, is already leaving a positive impact on his community. Jordi has always been curious about global issues. One day, he came across a UN report saying that by 2025, there will be more than 200 million climate refugees worldwide. This report sparked an interest in him to find out more about the climate crisis, its consequences and what can be done to face up to it. He then decided to volunteer at COP25 in Madrid, Spain, to learn more about the global discussions around this issue and become more engaged in finding solutions.

Soon after, he stumbled across UN CC:Learn and completed three courses - Cities and Climate Change, Human Health and Climate Change and the Introductory e-Course on Climate Change - which gave him a solid basis to start thinking about concrete actions he could do to join the fight against climate change.

He then founded World Zero CO2, an online calculator for youth which gives people's carbon footprint while providing tips and solutions to live more sustainably. The project is going well and has been piloted in two schools in Barcelona, Spain, as well as with a large group of youth from across the globe. Jordi has presented the results at the two schools and proposed follow-ups to see if the schools manage to reduce their carbon footprints.

In addition to this endeavor, Jordi has also won a hackathon and got support from Fundación Telefónica to develop his new initiative: Mentally Ecological, which focuses on the slow living concept.

"I am taking the five recommended courses in the UN CC:Learn Teacher Portal to expand my knowledge on global warming and use it in World Zero C02." - Jordi López, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion.

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A Generation of Young People to Reduce Carbon Footprints

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Jordi López has completed three courses on UN CC:e-Learn that have inspired him to launch World Zero CO2, an online carbon footprint calculator that is already being used in two schools in Barcelona, Spain. Read on to learn more about...

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Caroline Ouko

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As a school student in Kenya, Caroline would walk to school along the Nairobi River, which used to be a thriving environment, full of water and fish. As years went by, the landscape drastically changed, and the booming ecosystem dwindled due to human activity and human-driven climate change. Caroline finished school, went to university, and ended up becoming a scientist engaged in environmental research. She developed an interest in climate change and completed the " Introductory Course on Climate Change" in 2014, which shed light on several questions she had at the time. She grew to believe that one of the best ways to raise awareness of climate change and encourage climate change action is by promoting climate change literacy, particularly among youth.

In this context, Carolin became an advocate for Action for Climate Empowerment ( ACE) in Kenya and got nominated to the Climate Change Unit under Kenya's Land Reclamation Department. As an ACE advocate and public official, she represented Kenya as a negotiator in several key climate change conferences, such as COP26 in the United Kingdom, SB56 in Bonn and COP27 in Egypt. As a climate negotiator, she has been involved in some of the most important outcome within ACE, like the Glasgow Work Programme. Back home in Kenya, she is pushing the ACE agenda at home and was responsible for putting together, through a consultative process, the Kenya's first ACE submission.

This first commitment towards ACE will enable Kenya to further provide youth with the necessary skills to act on the climate crisis. Caroline is optimistic:

"The youth are at the center of this programme and I'm confident that if we let youth lead, we may reach net zero even sooner. I am pushing the ACE agenda." - Caroline Achieng Ouko, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

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Voices for the Future: Youth Advocacy and Climate Negotiations in Kenya and Beyond

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Caroline Ouko is a Kenyan Action for Climate Empowerment advocate and climate change negotiator. With the knowledge acquired from UN CC:Learn, she has been able to carry out several environmental initiatives and negotiate on behalf of her country at major climate...

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Maryam Eqan

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Climate change is disproportionately affecting women and that's why Maryam Eqan, a 23-year-old master's student from Pakistan, is empowering women to act on climate change. Maryam has always felt that she should do something about the climate crisis. She looked for opportunities to deepen her knowledge on the issue and came across UN CC:Learn, where she ended up completing 10 courses. The courses provided her with the right set of skills and knowledge to help her establish her own environmental organization: The Earth Needs Love. Earth Needs Love is a youth-led and youth-focused organization that works in favor of the environment, climate, and sustainable development. The organization recognizes the lack of opportunities women have despite playing an important role in addressing climate change and promoting nature conservation. To overcome this problem, Earth Needs Love has set up the " Women for Environment" initiative to raise environmental awareness and build capacity of women. Their moto is "By women, for women".

Currently, almost 30 women and girls from Asia and Africa have joined the Women for Environment initiative. Together, they build each other's capacities on gender and environment and are developing a policy brief on "Women and Environmental Leadership".

In addition to her work in the organization, Maryam has also taken part in high-level events, such as the Biodiversity COP (COP15) and the High-Level Political Forum in 2022, for which she wrote a policy brief on sustainable energy with the help of the "Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy" e-course.

"I believe that learning about environment and climate change should never stop as this is the keyway to achieving more as it sensitizes one to live sustainably and inspire and influence others to do the same. " - Maryam Eqan - 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

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The Earth Needs Love, Leadership and Gender Equality

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Maryam Eqam is a climate advocate and founder who has completed 10 UN CC:Learn courses. She founded the Earth Needs Love, a not-for-profit empowering youth and working in favor of the environment. Read more about her inspiring story below.

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Juan Fontalvo

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I am Colombian, I studied to be a teacher, with emphasis on biology, I hold a master's degree in environmental management for sustainability and recently started a doctorate in sustainability sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Currently, I'm living in the State of Veracruz (Mexico), where there are different regional problems associated with climate change, such as increased desertification, extreme increase in temperatures, changes in rainfall, early hot seasons, disappearance of glaciers, deforestation, etc. In particular, I have been considering the correlation between the globalised agri-food system and climate change, this being a sector that is strongly linked to the causes of this phenomenon, but also one of those most affected by it. In this regard, I am concerned about the carbon footprint of the agricultural sector caused by conventional practices and processes that do not allow carbon sequestration underground. For example, the excessive use of agrochemicals, the long distances that food travels and the inappropriate disposal of organic solid waste.

I have had the opportunity to take part in technical advisory processes for agro-ecological transition, training on sustainable agricultural management, and raising awareness of the multiple associated crises. These activities have been aimed at educational communities, groups of farmers in rural areas and citizens who practice urban and peri-urban agriculture. In particular, having urban orchards and rural plots, as ideal spaces for the exchange of knowledge and practices. My work has focused on promoting agro-ecology as a viable alternative to build sustainable agri-food systems, essentially through the adoption of good agricultural practices in urban and rural communities.

My objective has been to promote agro-ecological transition to design and manage agro-ecosystems resilient to climate change. This has led me to design didactic materials and encourage training processes on multiple agro-ecological practices. For example, fallow, reduced soil tillage, composting, organic fertiliser, soil mulch, use of native seeds, crop association and rotation, use of living barriers and hedges, integrated water management and short marketing circuits. All of this is crucial for agriculture to adapt to climate change and to continue to ensure food security.

During these multidimensional processes, the lessons learned on climate change obtained from the UN CC:Learn platform have been very useful to me; firstly, because they have provided the technical-scientific foundations for my social interventions and, secondly, because they have allowed me to relate climate change to the nutrition, health and well-being of communities. In addition, something that I value highly is the gender approach within the training, not only to highlight the vulnerability of women to adverse climatic conditions, but also to value their work as agricultural labourers.

During these last years, I have always had the support of valuable teams such as the Agro-ecological Garden of the Faculty of Biology (Universidad Veracruzana), Conselva Costas y Comunidades (Mazatlán, Sinaloa) and the Civil Association "Caminos del Buen Vivir" (Teocelo, Veracruz). Without a doubt, collaborating with different environmental groups that defend climate action, take care of the territory and contribute with concrete actions such as composting and local food production. Aspects that help to consolidate sustainable lifestyles, rebuild the social fabric, complete the circularity of city life and build resilient cities for new and future generations.

Thanks to different community experiences, I can now definitely affirm that the valuable participation of women is key in the agro-ecological transition towards sustainable food systems. Therefore, it is essential to consider their voices and discourses, as well as their desires and feelings when promoting this type of projects and initiatives. Personally, I believe that rural women have ancestral knowledge about favourable agricultural practices, as well as particular skills in conserving seeds and generating innovations for a better future.

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Agroecology as a tool for resilience to climate change

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Juan is transforming rural communities in Veracruz towards sustainable agroecological shifts after taking UN CC:Learn courses. As part of his initiative, he is designing educational materials and encouraging training processes on agroecological practices for women and men in rural areas.

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Ornélia Koumba Moussavou

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From learning about climate change to contributing to climate projects. This what Ornelia Koumba Moussavou, a young Gabonese women has to tell!
Ornelia has a degree in International Studies from the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences at Hassan II University in Mohammedia, Morocco. Throughout her life, she has always had an interest in climate change, which led her to the " Climate change: From learning to action" e-course on UN CC:e-Learn. She enrolled in the course and completed it, receiving an official certificate from the UN on completion.

As a young graduate, she started applying for internships in the environmental field. In her job search, she came across a position at the Economic, Social and Environmental Council ( CESE) of the Kingdom of Morocco, which currently holds the presidency of the Union of African Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions ( UCESA). Her knowledge of climate change, acquired through the online UN CC:Learn course, helped her get the job and has assisted her in her daily tasks in this new role.

The internship enabled her to work on some interesting projects, including one on climate change awareness in 16 other African countries. The project shed light on how Africa's citizens perceive climate change. To this end, a qualitative and quantitative study was put together, and 8200 citizens took part in it. The results were presented at COP27, in Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt. Ornelia contributed to drafting this document which provides policy guidance and practical recommendations for inclusive and coordinated climate action by and for African citizens.

"The UN CC:Learn course gave me the necessary foundation for carrying out my climate-related tasks. After this course, I'm sure I will be able to tackle new challenges in the climate change field." - Ornélia Koumba, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

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From learning to action. Literally. A success story from Gabon

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Ornélia Koumba Moussavou is a young Gabonese professional who developed her skills with UN CC:Learn. Read on to learn more about the projects she has contributed to.

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Suryakanta Acharya

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to work towards these goals and, eventually, came across the affiliated " As nature's stewards, indigenous people play a vital role in managing and preserving the environment. However, their interests are often overlooked. Suryakanta Acharya, an oncologist from India, is making sure indigenous people are getting their voices heard. Suryakanta has always had an interest in protecting health and safeguarding human rights and traditional knowledge of indigenous people. He founded PAY-W Clinic An Introduction to Human Rights and Climate Change" e-course on UN CC:e-Learn. He completed the course and learned about the correlations between human rights and climate change, which was new to him.

He set out to integrate this newly acquired knowledge into the work being done by his organization. In 2021, for instance, he and his organization helped an indigenous community in Assam, India, to get rid of a municipal garbage dumping site that was negatively affecting the community's health and environment. People were experiencing breathing and skin issues due to the high levels of chemicals being released from the dumping site and agricultural fields were made infertile due to the leakage of these chemicals into the soil.

His activism, along with the engagement of other NGOs, helped bring about judiciary intervention that compelled the municipality to shift the dumping site elsewhere. After a few months, the community was back in good health and the soil was recovering.

Suryakanta is now engaging with the local indigenous community to raise awareness of climate change and other environmental issues. He encouraged two of the community's literate members to act as a bridge and spread knowledge among the other members. They have completed UN CC:Learn courses and are passing what they learned on to other members of their community.

His story has already travelled far and got the attention of the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( ).

"I am quite positive about the UN CC:e-Learn platform. It offers the required knowledge free-of-charge to enable me and many others to perform our fundamental duties as well as safeguard our environment." - Suryakanta Acharya, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

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Empowering Indigenous Communities in India

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Indigenous people hold invaluable knowledge for biodiversity and environmental conservation but are often overlooked. Suryakanta Acharya completed the " An Introduction to Climate Change and Human Rights" e-course and is now helping indigenous communities in India face up to environmental, social...

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Dinh-Long Pham

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Breaking the Silence: How Podcast is Amplifying Voices to Take Climate Action

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Dinh-Long Pham is raising awareness of climate change and showcasing climate action efforts through “Life Line”: a youth-focused podcast series. Read on his full story below!

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Axelle Vera Nfono Efoulou

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What if taking a UN CC:Learn course meant opening doors for brand new opportunities? In February 2022, Axelle came across a call for applications for the Central African Women Initiative in Climate Action ( WICA), which is US-funded capacity building programme for women living in Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo on greenhouse gas measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), mitigation, and adaptation, as well as the climate negotiation process and implementation of the Paris Agreement. She decided to apply for it and soon got a response back from the WICA programme: they asked her to complete the " Climate Change: From Learning to Action" course in a week's time in order to get her application through. She put her hands to the task, completed the course and send them the certificate of completion. Two months later she was picked by WICA to join their regional project in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

As part of this project, Axelle took part in several trainings, both theoretical and practical, on Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU), Energy, and Climate Change Negotiations. She performed so well during the trainings that she was one of five people picked for a fully funded scholarship with the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute ( GHGMI) to follow a Diploma in GHG Measurement, Reporting and Verification, which will give her the opportunity to put her newly acquired skills into practice through a three-month internship.

While undertaking all these capacity building programs, Axelle got a full-time role at an environmental consultancy bureau in Cameroon working as an Assistant Carbon Project Manager and even managed to complete the " Mastering Adaptation Plans: From Start to Finish " e-course. As she put it:

"All this started with me validating a course on UN CC:e-Learn to apply for the WICA program. So, thanks to UN CC:Learn!" - Axelle Vera Eunice Nfono Efoulou, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

Axelle's story proves that by improving your knowledge on climate change, one can fulfil their dreams and progress their careers.

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Climate Change Literacy for Career Development: A Success Case from Cameroon

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Axelle Vera is a young professional from Cameroon who is building out her career with the help of UN CC:Learn. In 2022, she applied for an internship at the Central African Women Initiative in Climate Action (WICA) programme and, thanks in...

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Camile Clarke

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I am Camile Clarke, a nd I am a g eography teacher , writer and geologist in Jamaica. I grew up watching documentaries on nature and the environment, and so I always knew I wanted to do something in that field. I remember clearly the first time I learned about global warming , and thinking to myself that this is a serious problem .

I first discovered UN CC:Learn after conducting an online search for professional development courses, and I was immediately hooked! The first course that I completed on the platform was "National Adaptation Plans: Building Climate Resilience in Agriculture." I have since taken courses on the " Fundamentals of REDD+", and " Human Health and Climate Change." These have taught me that there was so much about climate change that I did not know.

As a geography educator, I am teaching climate change to the next generation. I believe that if I am to truly inspire them to make a change, I must be knowledgeable and that my students must know and see this through my actions . After taking the courses, I was able to give my students more information on climate change. I'm able to go into more depth when explaining concepts, and to provide more examples, especially on how climate change will impact our country.

I am also more confident teaching the topic . For example, texts books simply say that sea-level rise will impact the Caribbean islands. It's a bit general - but after taking the National Adaptation Plans course, it led me to discover a map of Jamaica that showed what the country will look like with a 1-meter rise in sea levels. Including this map in my lessons, as well as other real-world examples with accurate data, really helped to get the message across to the students. While climate change was recently included in the school curriculum, is not included in most available textbooks. My analysis revealed that students tend not to perform well on topics related to climate change, and I want to change this reality.

Since finding out about the UN CC:Learn courses, I have shared the platform with anyone who is willing to listen. It is my hope to be in a position to inspire others, and especially my fellow educators, to learn more about climate change so that they equip future generations with the knowledge and skills needed to lead in the fight against it. The fact that certificates are presented at the end of the courses is also a plus! I have actually presented a UN CC:Learn certificate to a supervisor to have my appraisal score for professional development increased! So I promote the platform as a means to also earn appraisal points.

I do expect that the curricula in Jamaica will start to cover climate change and education for sustainable development topics. I have actually seen that the new National Standards Curriculum has incorporated climate change more, and I recently read a draft of a new syllabus for Social Studies that covers climate change in greater depth. The topic was non-existent on this particular course before, so I was pleased to see this update. However, this also means that teachers will need to know more about climate change in order to plan and deliver meaningful and impactful lessons . The UN CC:Learn platform is now a valuable resource for teachers across the Caribbean , and I will definitely use this opportunity to promote climate change learning among my colleagues and Jamaican teachers as a whole.

Get involved

When was the first time you learn about climate change? Tell us a bit more about your experience on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and tag UN CC:Learn. We want to learn how climate change education has been addressed in your country.

Start your learning journey:

Access our e-learning platform on unccelearng.org and take free courses on climate change and green economy. You may be interested in learning about:

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Teaching climate change as a geography teacher in Jamaica

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Camile Clarke is a geography teacher in Jamaica and a UN CC:Learn Champion. She has told us how she is teaching about climate change in the classroom. Check it out and learn what challenges she is facing and what she has done...

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Jean Baptiste Katako Kayambi

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Building local climate awareness in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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Jean Baptiste Katako is a UN CC:Learn Champion from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our courses inspired him to create a non-governmental organization to address erosion, the importance of reforestation, and the impact of climate change on health. Keep reading…

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Karel Liseth Miranda Mendoza

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I'm Karel Miranda. I'm 27 years old, and from the province of Chiriqui in Panama.

I grew up in a small rural town called Santa Clarita - surrounded by nature, between coffee plantations and forest. However as time went by, all of this changed and I started to worry about the situation. The climate is no longer as cool, there are not as many trees as before, and the landscape has totally changed. My concern led me to study Biology at University, where I first learned about climate change. That led me to want to know more about the subject, and from that, I found the UN CC:Learn platform.

I took the course "Introduction to Climate Change", and it helped me to gain the basics on what climate change is, and to have a better understanding of this issue. Climate change is more than just an increase in global temperature. It is the biggest crisis facing humanity and includes all economic, social, and environmental sectors on the planet. The course helped me to see beyond an environmental problem, and to understand that we are all vulnerable - but also that some sectors, ecosystems and population are more vulnerable than others.

The course marked the beginning of a great action in my life. After enrolling I wanted to learn more, and to know where my own country stood in relation to this problem. This led me to apply and be selected to participate in the first Academy of Young Leaders on Climate Change in Panama, organized by the Ministry of Environment. Over the course of one week, I was able to learn how to lead initiatives to address climate change. At the end of the Academy, together with other young activists, we decided to form the Young People Facing Climate Change Organization of Panama. We have now established ourselves as the reference organization on climate change in our country. Our main pillar is education on climate change and citizen participation.

In 2020, the Young People Facing Climate Change Organization of Panama participated in the Climate Crisis and Water Forum, where we delivered a statement in which we call on all ministries, institutions and organizations in the country to work urgently and interconnectedly to address the climate emergency. The current COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped our work. In a virtual way, we are supporting the updating of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the Climate Change Law of our country. Personally, the course has inspired me to lead a more sustainable life, and to form an organization that has allowed me to share what I had learned with others.

Get involved:

Have you engaged in an organization that fights against climate change? Tell us what you do and how the organization contributes to tackling climate change. We'd love to hear your story. Drop us a line on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Start your learning journey:

Small steps can lead to impactful changes. Be inspired by our champions and start learning about climate change today through our e-learning platform www.unccelearn.org. After reading Karel's story, you may be interested in starting taking the following courses:

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Leading youth climate change activism in Panamá

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Karen Miranda is our 2020 UN CC:Learn Champion. She grew up in a small rural town in Panamá. After taking UN CC:Learn course, she started dedicating herself to climate change causes in Panamá and is currently leading a youth organization....

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Hassan Mowlid Yasin

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My name is Hassan Mowlid Yasin, and I am a public health and public administration professional from Somalia. I am also an environmental activist, co-founder and vice-chairperson of the Somali Greenpeace Association, and the National Chapter Lead for Somalia for the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC).
I took my first online course on the UN CC:Learn platform in 2017, and since then my life - in relation to the environment, and climate change issues - has changed completely. I have now taken ten different UN CC:Learn courses, including those on Gender and Environment, Human Health and Climate Change, and Children and Climate Change. These have helped me to begin advocating on climate change and environmental protection.
Through various initiatives, I have now trained more than 1,000 youth on what climate change is and how it is impacting our life. I have also co-founded the Somali Greenpeace Association (SOGPA), which aims to address climate change issues, food security and biodiversity loss in my country. Through the association, we have taken a number of different actions to raise awareness around climate change and environmental issues among different groups of people.

For instance, we have developed a number of tree-planting initiatives at different schools, youth centres and at the Somali National University. As part of these initiatives, we have conducted field training and education sessions on the importance of tree planting as a climate mitigation action, as well as awareness training on the negative impacts of deforestation, and sessions on plant protection.

We've also conducted different education programmes on climate change, and for World Environment Day 2020 trained more than 100 local youth on the importance of biodiversity for addressing climate issues. This including educating these on the interlinkages between climate, biodiversity, and peace and security. SOGPA also raised awareness on these linkages on World Peace Day, which we celebrated with the theme "Give Peace to the Environment". As well as youth groups, we've also trained the Somali police on the issue of environmental protection.

Finally, developing this knowledge and understand has also allowed me to partner with like-minded youth groups who share similar climate and environmental goals. I'm now a representative on numerous youth organizations in both Africa and beyond, including the United Nations Environment Programme for Children and Youth (UNEP MGCY), Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN), African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), Plant for the Planet (PFP), Climate Change Educators Network (CE Educator's Network), and African Union's Youth, Peace and Security Network for the East African Region (AU-EA YPS Network).

Get Involved:

Are you involved in training your local community on climate change? How are you doing that and what results have you reached? Share your testimonial on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and tag UN CC:Learn. We are looking forward to getting in touch with you!

Start your learning journey:

Access our e-learning platform on unccelearng.org and take free courses on climate change and green economy. You may be interested in learning about:

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Delivering educational programmes on climate issues to generate change in Somalia

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Hassan Mowlid is a public health professional and a UN CC:Learn champion from Somalia. He has co-founded the Somali Greenpeace Association and has trained more than 1,000 youth on climate change. He is inspired to keep training others on climate...

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Asha Alexander

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My name is Asha Alexander, and I'm the Principal at The Kindergarten Starters, a Primary School with over 5,000 students in Dubai, UAE, and Executive Leader for Climate Change at GEMS Education.

As a primary school tucked away in the heart of an oil-rich emirate country, we were perhaps the most unlikely of contenders to lead the charge against climate change. However, one morning I came across a newspaper article that talked of a local schoolteacher becoming climate change certified. That roused my curiosity, and I pursued the link to the UN CC:Learn platform. A week later, I had received a UN CC:Learn certification - and possessed more knowledge than I had ever imagined possible about climate change. I knew then that the time had come to change our school and every school in the world.

Within a month the school had 327 UN certified climate change teachers, with each of its 162 classrooms now prepared to deliver climate literacy as part of the curriculum - connecting these objectives to the real-life problems that existed around us in the desert, from water conversation, to ridding the school of plastic. The children were similarly enthused and began the fall season with a pledge to plant 15,000 trees each year as part of the "Plant a Legacy" project. They travelled to the desert to plant the local Ghaf tree, and engaged with more than 40 local organizations to plant trees on their premises. These efforts caught the attention of other schools and media, with The Guardian newspaper developing a visual feature on the school's climate literacy template.

Less than a month later, I travelled to Madrid to attend COP 25. Disappointed at the lack of attention being given towards climate literacy, we decided to create a new platform to amplify student voices - and it was here that the world's first School Conference of Parties Expo was born. What began as a venture to amplify our own students voices has now expanded, with 50 schools from Costa Rica to Australia registering at SCOPE 2020 to participate in climate debates and discussions.

The purpose of SCOPE 2020 is to empower students with high levels of climate change awareness, deep climate change research and collaborative, global problem-solving skills. It hopes to bring faculty, students and staff together in an ongoing dialogue, inquiry and discovery of more sustainable practices through embedding climate literacy in schools. It is also a platform for young student climate activists to share their journeys, and to hopefully inspire thousands of others.

Through an opportunity to be heard, we hope that governments and policymakers will ensure that climate literacy is embedded in every school in the world, and that students will never lose sight of the urgency needed to cut emissions, restore our habitats, and secure our planet for the future. This is therefore a story without an end. Its conclusion will be shaped by the teachers that were upskilled, and the students who have forever been changed by what they have learned.

Get Involved:

Is your school addressing climate change in curricula? Tell us about how you learn about climate change at your school or university on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and tag UN CCLearn. We are looking forward to hearing your say!

If you are a teacher and would like to learn more about climate change and gain confidence to include this topic in the classroom, access our programme dedicated to teachers here.

Start your learning journey:

Get the chance to learning about climate change free of charge at www.unccelearn.org. Our comprehensive course catalogue offers short and long courses for you to accommodate your learning hours into your schedule. After reading Asha's story, you may be interested in checking out the following courses:

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Climate Literacy in the Desert of United Arab Emirates

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Asha Alexander is the Principal at a Primary School in Dubai and a UN CC:Learn champion. She has been innovating the way climate change is addressed in school curricula. She has been playing a key role to leverage climate literacy...

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Thambiliya Godage Supun Lahiru Prakash

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I am Supun Lahiru Prakash from Sri Lanka. I am an environmental activist, freelance environment journalist, and researcher in Sri Lanka since 2005 and involved in many conservation campaigns in the country and investigative reporting. As an environmental activist and a journalist, my main focuses were local environmental issues such as deforestation, poaching, pollution, etc. However, I got the opportunity to participate in a training program on Climate Change in 2013 which was conducted by Sri Lanka Press Institute and it fuels my enthusiasm for this global phenomenon. Then, I completed the UN CC: Learn Introductory e-course on Climate Change and this has led to a paradigm shift in my way of thinking on climate change.

Journalists have a key role on climate change awareness and education. They can educate the people on climate change, expose the policy decisions that can go against the NDC and do everything that they can to alert the general public that climate change is the most fundamental challenge ever. As a small tropical island nation and ranked in a higher position in Climate Risk Index, Sri Lanka is more vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate change. People don't have good knowledge about climate change mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage. No idea about NDCs at all. If Sri Lanka people were aware of these things, they will demand essential policy changes and decisions to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change.

While covering the local environmental issues and climate change-related content, I learned that language is a bottleneck in climate education in Sri Lanka. There are very limited opportunities for the local people who communicate in Sinhalese to aware of climate change. The climate knowledge is mostly in English and reliable and updated climate information in Sinhalese language is lacking or limited access. Therefore, I have started to write the column entitled 'Climate talk' for the Irudina Newspaper in 2016, and later it was converted into a blog which now reached more than 4500 views. Climate change was also considered as a top priority in my column entitled 'Writing from the land without fear' for the Resa Newspaper, one of the national newspapers in Sri Lanka published in the local language Sinhalese.

I have done some awareness campaigns on climate change and public health inspector trainees and certain other youth groups have belonged to the audience. I think my writings and presentations inspire others to take action on climate change. The thesis topic for my M.Sc. in Forestry and Environmental Management degree was also related to Climate change where I try to find out the possibility to use dengue incidents as evidence of Climate change in Sri Lanka. I think that one of the leading forces of my undivided attention to climate change was UN CC: e-Learn platform.

Get involved:

How climate change has been communicated in your country? Do you find difficult to access information on climate change in your country? Share your view with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and tag UN CC:Learn. Looking forward to seeing your responses!

Start your learning journey:

Start making a difference by educating yourself about climate change. Access our learning platform at www.unccelearn.org and take our free courses on climate change and green economy. You may be interested in starting your journey by taking the following courses:

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Communicating on climate change in local language in Sri Lanka

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Supun Lahiru is an environmental activist, journalist and a UN CC:Learn champion from Sri Lanka. He has been educating the local community on climate change in Sinhalese language to overcome the lack of realiable information on climate change in local...

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Aikaterina Lengou

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My name is Aikaterina Lengou, and I am the President of The Children's Art Gallery of Greece.

The Children's Art Gallery of Greece is a pioneering educational and cultural organisation that aims at promoting and encouraging children's artistic creations on an international level. By organizing a variety of educational programmes, thematic competitions, painting exhibitions and artistic events, we release the expression of children through their innate language - art. We have now organized and conducted over fifty educational-cultural programmes for children and youth, between the ages of 4 and 18 - both in Greece and internationally.

After completing the UN CC:Learn course on Children and Climate Change, and being enlightened by the knowledge I had acquired, I was inspired to organize an international education programme for children and youth - focusing on empowering children as actors of change through art. Me and my colleagues at The Children's Art Gallery of Greece therefore conducted an international painting competition with the central theme: "Empowering Children to Act on Climate Change through Art."

Alongside the competition, we held seminars to inform the children about climate change - making the step from learning to acting. The children then understood what the problem means to them, as well as what key actions they can take to mitigate it - from adaptation and low-carbon development to climate finance and engaging in climate negotiations. The response was immense, and culminated in the creation of a digital platform featuring the distinguished artworks from around the world.

This collection, entitled "Empowering Children to Act on Climate Change through Art", is a great example of both the resilience of children and their strong will to change our world for the better. In the end, children and youth from 30 countries answered our call to create climate artworks, sending a global message of the need to protect our planet with respect for future generations.

Through their artworks, the young artists portrayed the urgent need to embrace our planet: by protecting the oceans, by preventing air pollution, by recycling and by protecting the forests. The message is loud and clear: the time to act is now. The example set by the young artists is illustrated in their creations, and forms a life lesson for all of us.

To be able to empower children as actors of change - and to give them a voice to teach, and to guide the world on how to strengthen their resilience to climate change - was a miraculous experience for all of us working at The Children's Art Gallery. UN CC:Learn's Children and Climate Change course offered us the seeds of change, which we planted in our children's conscience - so that a new future will flourish, on a healthier planet for all its inhabitants.

Get Involved:

Have you ever participated in an activity or competition that addresses climate change in your country? Share your experience with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. We want to hear what you have learned!

Start your learning journey:

Join our global learning community at www.unccelearn.org and take our free courses on climate change and green economy. Our course catalogue offers several courses that may be of interest such as:

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Empowering Children to Act on Climate Change through Art in Greece

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Aikaterina Lengou is the president of the Children's Art Gallery of Greece and a UN CC:Learn champion. She was inspired to organize an international education programme for children and youth focusing on empowering children as actors of change through art....

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Moussé Sane

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My name is Moussé Landing Sane and I am from Senegal. I am currently a doctoral student in hydraulics, and my thesis is in the field of water resources management.

So far I have taken two UN CC:Learn courses online: one on 'La prise en charge du changement climatique dans le bassin du fleuve Sénégal' and the second on 'Integrating Information on Climate Risks into NAPs'. These courses allowed me to have a better understanding of climate change issues, and particularly the key actors involved. I learned that two of the primary impacts of climate change are floods and droughts, and since a large part of the population of Dakar is frequently impacted by floods, we felt the need to find a way to help.

The knowledge and understanding that I've acquired from these two courses have allowed me to take part in challenge competitions that focus on climate change and water and sanitation. Recently, I was shortlisted to participate in the "Young Water Fellowship Senegal" competition, and now I am embarking on an awareness-raising project that will encourage young people to get involved in the field of water. We are hoping to engage with around 20 young people at first, and are currently working on the implementation of a communal tool that will allow local populations to face the negative effects of climate change.

For me, water control is the key element for adapting to climate change. As an example, I take the Manantali Dam in the Senegal River Basin. This is designed to regulate water flows and to produce energy, but if the releases of Manantali are not controlled this could lead to conflicts of interest between different water users. For me, the survival of the populations living around the Senegal River Basin depends in large part on the waters of the river. That is why I defend the idea of water control in order to face and adapt to climate change.

Finally, I am passionate about research and that is why I would like to share the knowledge that I have acquired on climate change, both in the field and from UN CC:Learn, with others. As a second project, I am aiming to include the teaching of climate change in high school. Personally, I only started to know and learn about climate change when I started at university, and I think it's important that this knowledge be introduced at an earlier age.

Get involved:

Are you dedicating your studies to climate change? How will you contribute to a sustainable planet? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and inspire others to take climate action.

Start your learning journey:

Access our e-learning platform on unccelearng.org and take free courses on climate change and green economy. You may be interested in learning about:

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Protecting the Senegal Basin River to face climate change in Senegal

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Moussé Sane is our UN CC:Learn Champion. He is a Ph.D. candidate and has been deepening his studies in the field of water resources management, especially related to the Senegal River Basin. He has started a project to engage young...

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Andrea Monroy-Licht

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My name is Andrea Monroy-Licht, and I am a Professor at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. Together with my colleague Ricardo Gutierrez, I lead the Cell Biology course, which is taught to first-year medical students.

Completing the UN CC:Learn course on Human Health and Climate Change inspired us to change our approach to teaching students taking the Cell Biology course, in order to integrate climate change and global warming issues. The increase in temperatures caused by climate change can activate the migration processes of vectors - such as mosquitoes - to other regions, thus increasing the likelihood of disease outbreaks such as Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, and Malaria in areas where these outbreaks were previously not common. Similarly, high temperatures in several areas tend to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases associated with heat shock.

This evidence led us to create a project called Salud 1.5ºC - a space to enhance critical thinking skills around the relationship between human health and the health of our planet. This initiative seeks to encourage students to take action against the health risks associated with climate change and global warming, through the completion of an environmental management project. Four topics are currently being worked on in parallel:

1. heat shock diseases,

2. vector-borne diseases (e.g. from mosquitoes),

3. health risks associated with water pollution by microplastics, and

4. the effects of environmental pollutants such as endocrine disruptors.

The project involves 159 students and 48 families. Within these families, the students implement actions related to environmental education on climate change issues which are aimed at mitigating the effects associated with vector-borne diseases - through prevention campaigns and the reduction of sources that induce the increase of mosquito vectors. On the issue of heat shock diseases, students carry out tree planting and eco-environmental initiatives to reduce high temperatures in some parts of their homes. For the microplastics project, students lead campaigns for the recycling, reuse, and reduction of this type of materials in their homes. Finally, on the topic of chemicals with potential endocrine-disrupting effects, students educate their families about the risks that these products pose to their health and ecosystems when discarded. They also propose the use of alternative natural products with low environmental impact.

Through the Salud 1.5ºC project, we hope to encourage more and more people to join these initiatives. To date, the project has reached 461 people: 199 students and 262 family members. It continues to operate under pandemic conditions, which fills us with happiness as there are no excuses for not taking care of the planet. Importantly, this project is demonstrating that with the commitment of each of us many actions can be implemented to mitigate climate change and the pollution of the planet. Looking forwards, we are planning to consolidate a strategy that can be replicated in other subjects, universities, and cities - multiplying actions for our health and the health of the planet.

Get involved:

Tell us about the sustainable actions you are taking at your home, school, or workplace that contribute to tackling climate change. Share your actions with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn. Any action is often better than no action.

Start your learning journey:

Access our e-learning platform on unccelearng.org and take free courses on climate change and green economy. If you don't know how to start, join our learning community and access our free course on Human Health and Climate Change.

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Implementing climate change education to mitigate the effects of vector-borne diseases in Colombia

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How climate change can impact on disease outbreaks such as Zika or Dengue? Andrea Monroy-Licht our UN CC:Learn Champion has been leading a project called Salud 1.5º. This initiative seeks to encourage students to take action against the health risks...

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Maurici Tadeu Ferreira Santos

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My name is Maurici Tadeu, and I am from Brazil. The environment in which I grew up did not provide me with the tools needed to understand environmental issues, especially in relation to global warming. Instead, everything I learned came from my own private interest. I remember one of the phrases of that marked me at that time: think globally; act locally. Having limited financial resources, I could only learn about the environment through free courses and activities. My friends told me about the free, online UN CC:Learn course on "Introduction to Climate Change", and I decided to take it.

Having taking the course, and reviewed all of the information that was inside, I could see that I did not in fact know many of the causes of climate change. I realized that I had been mistaken about anthropogenic variables, and the effect that these can have - which certainly also included my own daily actions. The course therefore stimulated me to ask: what is my part in all this, as a contributor to a more sustainable planet? Now, my vision has changed. I see that the serious problem of climate change will affect various dimensions of human life, and that we need to take effective and rapid action - or risk seeing the temperature of the planet rise to levels that will generate a cascade of catastrophes. As a result, I was encouraged to look for actions close to my community, in the hope that we could find possible alternatives together.

We have now created a small school, which we have named the "Lighthouse School". This school is a collective; a group of people from the community that we have brought together to think about the most pressing environmental issues. We found in the word 'Lighthouse' a reflection of what we were hoping to achieve - that is, to follow the educational path provided by the UN CC:Learn course, as a guiding light that has helped us change our view of the world. To begin with, we took an old shed and converted it into a small school. Then using an old computer, we downloaded the course contents in PDF and PowerPoint formats, and decided to meet every Monday. We divided the material up so as not to make it too heavy, and adapted some of the modules to make them easier to grasp - presenting the theoretical and scientific basis for climate change, and trying to contextualize this within examples that are close to our own daily realities. With this, the degree of understanding increased significantly, and people were able to relate global warming to their daily lives. We are, in these classes, qualifying our local observations and encouraging community initiatives, including activities that add to other disaster risk reduction strategies and focus on low-carbon development.

We hope to soon be able to cooperate with local schools to integrate climate change issues into their curricula, to develop in partnership materials to support quality learning, and to provide training to their teachers - taking care to protect the educational structures of our region against future environmental impacts. Through these actions, we hope to do justice to this global call for a better planet - using simple attitudes that depend more on people's will than on financial support. We are sure that we can effectively become a beacon, building the attitudes for adaptation and coping, and to take evidence-based preventive actions, through a simple and inexpensive pedagogical approach.

At the time of publication of this story, Maurici was appointed as the new Secretary of Education of his municipality and wants to integrate climate change learning into schools' curricula, find partners to develop learning materials, and provide training for teachers.

Get Involved:

Do you know of a similar initiative in your community? Share it with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and tag the UN CC:Learn. We'll love to hear your story!

Start your learning journey:

Start learning about climate change today through our free learning platform www.unccelearn.org. After reading Maurici's story, you may be interested in checking out more about the following courses:

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Lighthouse School is Shedding Light on Climate Change Issues in a Rural Community in Brazil

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Maurici Tadeu is one of the 2020 UN CC:Learn champion. He created the Lighthouse School, which aims to teach about the negative impacts of climate change on the environment and society, and to encourage actions for a more sustainable planet....