16 March 2022, Tashkent – Climate change caused by the "greenhouse effect" is a key issue on the global agenda. What are the connections between various climate change problems, and how can these be solved with the use of modern technologies? These issues were the subject of the ‘Climate Change Map’ seminar participated in by students from the International Digital University (IDU) and TEAM University, and organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in cooperation with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

“The seminar was devoted to climate change and specifically to the outcomes of the 26th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where Uzbekistan had taken on new commitments in terms of achieving greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 35 percent by 2030,” project consultant Aleksey Semyonov said.

At the seminar the participating students worked on creating cause-and-effect maps which will help mitigate the consequences of climate change, and identify the contributions of human activities in its acceleration. They also developed prototypes of mobile and computer applications to increase public awareness and people’s better adaptation to adverse environmental phenomena associated with climate change.

“Today I have realized that climate change is a serious problem. Everyone should take responsibility for it and contribute to environmental protection,” said Madina Fayzullaeva, an IDU student.

The participants also got acquainted with the activities and directions of the regional project ‘Policy actions for climate security in Central Asia - Phase II’, as implemented by UNDP jointly with the Centre for Hydrometeorological Services of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzhydromet). They learned how the project intends to involve young people in addressing climate change issues.

One of the seminar’s objectives was to shape students' understanding of climate change, its consequences, and the best means of addressing these. To this end, the project has developed an online course for young people that will help them learn more about climate change issues. Registration for the course is open to everyone through the link: https://forms.gle/sXRBuwhFDQVuWLbaA.