Climate change is already a phenomenon. It represents one of the biggest threats of the planet at several levels: social, environmental and economic.
That climate change occurring is clear from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea levels.
"Most of the warming that has occurred over the last 50 years is very likely to have been caused by human activities".
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Source European Union website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm
"Climate change” means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods."
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In United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf)
Climate change will be an international theme supported by the Eco-Schools International Coordination through the HSBC Eco-Schools Climate Initiative. To make schools aware of what can be done to combat climate change, examples of best practices will be shared. This will help schools understand that they can contribute by reducing their CO2 emissions, and must adapt to a new reality: climate change.
The Eco-Schools Programme incorporates seven steps which schools at any level can adopt as part of their methodology. After a period of participation, an evaluation of the success of these initiatives and the methodology used is undertaken, and the entire Eco-Schools programme for each school is assessed.
Successful Eco-Schools are awarded the Green Flag, an internationally acknowledged symbol for environmental excellence. In some countries, this recognition happens through a three level system, where schools are awarded before getting the Green Flag.