“Climate action is of critical importance. It is probably the most important issue for our generation,” declared Themba Mkhize, Project Manager of the UWI Mona Guild External Affairs Committee. He was speaking on November 29 at the Climate Action Conference, UWI’s tribute to World Climate Action Day, which was observed on November 30, 2019.

“Sustainable development is a concept that we will have to adopt into our lives as part of our lifestyle,” Mkhize continued. “From we wake up in the mornings to when we go to bed in the evenings, we have to be sustainable. We need to understand that everything is not renewable, or it won’t renew quickly enough for our future generations to benefit from it. As a result, we have to conserve.” 

The University of the West Indies Guild External Affairs Committee hosted their Climate Action Conference under the theme ‘Opportunities in Preserving Paradise’. This was aimed at raising the campus’ awareness of the intricacies of climate change, the necessary actions we ought to take, the economic and socio-political opportunities available, and creating eco-entrepreneurs. The conference had speakers such as Pearnel Charles Jr., Keenan Falconer, Eleanor Terrelonge, Raymond Pryce, among others. Panelists included Leneka Rhoden, Leanne Spence, Jaedon Lawe, among others.

The panelists had an informative discussion on eco-entrepreneurship, with each telling a little about their business and their input on climate action. Leanne Spence, founder of Instant Save Conservation, highlighted the need to debunk myths such as ‘Land of wood and water’ and that ‘water is free’.

With her business being focused on water conservation, Spence aims to go to other businesses and help them to reconstruct their places of work to conserve on their water usage. She was commended for saving more than 60 million litres of potable water in four years, to which her response was that there is a real economic value from saving water. 

“If you think of a colander or a pasta strainer, how we have been operating in the past is that we have been looking for ways to pour more water in the colander and while we are pouring more water, the water is escaping,’ Spence explained. “So we’ve been looking at ways to increase our water supply, rather than managing the demand. Instant Save tries to plug the holes of the colander because if not you will end up in a cycle, where you’re continuously increasing water supply without managing the other end.”

Leneka Rhoden, founder of Ebiome, called for improved social media marketing regarding eco-businesses; to not only improve their efficiency but to improve the spread of climate action for change.

“Eco-businesses often take time to flourish and produce tangible profits; however they are profits with a purpose,” she said.

Mkhize commented that the conference is only the first step towards awareness, noting that there are more projects to come, including a combined effort from UNESCO’s Youth Network and the UWI Mona Guild.

Climate change is a real phenomenon but to mitigate against this, we must employ climate action for change. In so doing, we create more opportunities to preserve our paradise, by one project at a time, by one person at a time.

–Akeelia Richards