Undoubtedly, our nation faces a profusion of environmental challenges. Challenges which work in tandem with each other to intensify environmental degradation. These range from pollution to overexploitation of natural resources and the destruction of valuable ecosystems.
However, while it is an equally undeniable fact that successive governments have attempted to implement policies geared towards the reduction of the levels of destruction, one must consider the role youth play in combating this phenomenon.
Young people are the country's most important resource as they hold the future of the nation in their hands, as such their actions or inactions are of pivotal importance to this matter. It is through these actions or inactions that the situation will either be ameliorated or deteriorate at an alarming rate.
Therefore, one can unequivocally state that it is high time that we radically revolutionise our thinking with regard to our environment and its degradation. It is imperative that our parents, educators and peers seek to do this through socialisation in schools and at homes where a greater appreciation for the natural surroundings is inculcated in us.
However, one cannot expect that change will be brought about solely through a change in attitudes. One may suggest that successive governments must look past party divisions and devise long-term plans and initiatives that will be gradually implemented to tackle this polemical issue.
At the heart of these measures must lie youth participation as this would not only serve to successfully encourage young people to take greater interest in their country's development but would also assist in developing key skills that would allow for the professional growth of these youths.
A such I contend that it is by youth engagement that environmental degradation may see a significant decline and this can only come about through youth-centred policy-making.
Kevin Lalla,
Montrose, Chaguanas
The above article is part of a series written by a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Convention for World Youth Day Observances. Young people have their say on issues in T&T.