STEM careers are crucial to combat climate change
South Africa needs people with the skills to deal with climate change. Photo: Eric Vidal/Reuters
From April to June this year, three international days focus our attention on the environment and on humanity's responsibility to curtail the devastating effects of climate change on the planet.
International Mother Earth Day, commemorated on 22 April, raised awareness of the challenges to the wellbeing of the planet and the life it supports, under the theme of 'Our power, our planet' to champion renewable energy. International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May aims to boost understanding of biodiversity issues, which include the planet's wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms; and World Environment Day on 5 June is the largest global platform for environmental outreach and puts a spotlight on pressing environmental issues.
In light of these, together with the global warming reality that South Africa and the world is experiencing and our clear need for environmental sustainability, it's worth considering how critically important it is to develop careers in ecology and the environment to ensure that efforts to meet the challenges of global warming and climate change increase at a quickening pace.
The STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and maths — are crucial to efforts to combat climate change, as they have been for many years. Scientists in a wide range of fields and professions play a key role in both our understanding of global warming and in addressing the effects. The causes, impact and potential solutions to the issues can only be adequately managed by people with intensive and relevant research, knowledge, education and skills.
Engineers develop strategies to help communities adapt to the effects of climate change, such as flood defences, coastal protection and appropriate urban planning. They must also ensure that all infrastructure is resilient to the effects of climate change.
Scientific learnings and data ensure that mitigation technologies are developed that will go a long way towards combating climate change. Technology is of course vital to finding new ways to tackle problems and innovate for a green future, which means that technologists in numerous fields are needed to join the efforts to ensure the good health of our planet in years to come.
The fact is that on South Africa's fairly extensive list of scarce skills are geologists, marine biologists, conservation scientists, environmental scientists, environmental engineers, environmental economists, climate change modellers, soil scientists, solar and wind energy specialists and sustainable energy engineers — and this is just a small sample.
This means that investment in the development of these careers is necessary and while many organisations, corporates and individuals throughout South Africa are heeding the call to address the needs of our environment head-on, a lot more can and must be done.
We face numerous challenges in South Africa, but protecting and ensuring the health of our environment — from one end of the country to the other, in our oceans and rivers, below ground and the air we breathe — must rate as among the most pressing needs that we and future generations must address. We can work together to assist young people to be well equipped to tackle the needs of the world they will live and thrive in.
Balan Moodley is the chief executive of Protec, an independent NPO that provides education support primarily to disadvantaged learners and teachers in STEM-gateway subjects as well as English and World of Work life skills training.
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