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OAS TO LAUNCH “GREEN WEEK” TO BOLSTER ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS THRUST

The Organization of American States will launch “Green Week” next Monday with a series of activities to raise awareness about protecting the environment and about practices and sustainable use of resources as “the way to go.” The activities will seek to raise the level of the political discussion of climate change as well.

Green Week at the OAS includes a tree-planting program that the Permanent Council Chairman, Belize Ambassador Nestor Mendez, said symbolizes the “greening” of the OAS—“a new beginning, a raising of consciousness that employment of practices that contribute to the protection of the environment and sustainable use of the resources are the way to go.”

Ambassador Mendez explained in an interview that because change always happens in small steps, “the entire concept behind [Green Week] is to move slowly in the direction of creating an awareness, and changing attitudes and behaviors. The OAS is well-positioned to assume its rightful role as a leader in this hemisphere on the issue of climate change.”

The OAS Permanent Council Chairman had announced the initiative to Member States ambassadors and other representatives earlier this week. He said the move is part of his own country’s determination to use its three-month chairmanship of the hemispheric organization’s powerful Council to “highlight the issue of climate change; and raise the level of the political discussion on this issue, which is clearly one of the most serious threats being faced by especially the smaller countries of the Caribbean and Central America.”

OAS country offices will also be involved in activities that include media and school outreach to talk about the importance of Green Week. Mendez stressed that there “simple but very important things that can be done” to contribute to sustainable practices, among them turning off lights that are not in use; carpooling to work; dressing in appropriate, lighter clothing; and adjusting the thermostat to conserve energy. “We hope this will be institutionalized in the organization,” he added.

“We want it to become a part of the organizational culture; to become a part of the awareness in the Member States. We especially want the young children in the schools to know about it; to know that there are ways in which we can live that are not necessarily damaging or are less damaging to our environment. These are small steps towards changing behaviors and attitudes, and to a greener future.”

The Belizean diplomat further stressed that “climate change is not a fashion; it’s not fad. Climate change is a real, serious issue. It is a real threat.” He said, “We have seen in the last few years a tremendous increase in the frequency and strength of natural disasters. Three months into the hurricane season, we already have had so many storms, so many evacuations and loss of life.”

For countries like Belize, which is near sea-level, “the prospect of rising sea levels is very serious,” Ambassador Mendez warned. “We are in the Hurricane Belt and have had our share of natural disasters, and we have seen how changing global weather patterns are impacting agriculture and rainfall. We have seen the effect on our coral reefs.

“These things are real and the more we can do to get more people to be conscious of this and to take action to prevent further deterioration of our environment, the better we all will be,” Mendez concluded, underlining the importance of next Monday’s launch of Green Week at the OAS.

Reference: E-345/08