Andreea Negru, ADAA: “A new model of civic education focused on sustainable development and climate change is needed in schools”
“Romania will face many challenges in the energy sector in the next ten years, but we are still at the moment when we can prepare. It will be up to us to make the necessary commitments for a successful energy transition. It is up to all of us – businesses and individuals – to play our part in addressing the challenges that threaten the future of our planet and the quality of life of people around the world,” said Andreea Negru, President of the Association for Local Entrepreneurship Development – ADAA.
She believes that the global strategy will help us make a difference, as well as mobilize data and technology to support these goals.
“In this sense, I believe that we need to take the Italian model and introduce the study of climate change in schools, so that one hour a week is allocated to the study of sustainability and issues related to climate change. I believe that civic education, a subject currently taught in schools, can be rethought as a new model focused on sustainable development and climate change. In this way, each generation will be able to realize the importance of the 17 goals of sustainable development of the UN, including those related to how individuals can live in a more sustainable way, how to fight pollution and how to address the issue of poverty and social injustice,” said the ADAA president.
“The transition to a sustainable and climate-neutral economy must take place fairly, without leaving anyone behind. Some countries, which are heavily dependent on extractive industries and associated energy production, as well as high-carbon industries, will need to restructure and / or diversify their economies, maintain social cohesion and train them. or to professionally retrain affected workers and young people so that they are prepared for future jobs,” reads an analysis by the Association for the Development of Local Entrepreneurship, ADAA. Dismissed workers will need support, training and retraining during the transition.
ADAA President Andreea Negru said: “The business environment should adjust its business models as conditions change and opportunities arise: to integrate climate-related factors into strategy, financing and planning decision-making processes of capital. Financial institutions, in particular, have a key role to play in supporting large-scale reallocation of capital, even if it manages its own risks and opportunities.”
She states that the Government and state institutions could use political, regulatory and fiscal instruments to set incentives, support vulnerable stakeholders and encourage collective action. “The pace and scale of the transition means that many of today’s institutions should be renewed and new ones created to disseminate best practices, set standards and follow-up mechanisms, lead to large-scale capital development, manage impacts unequal and to support the subsequent coordination of efforts,“ concludes Andreea Negru.