- 3 out 7 families won, each family spoke about certain dangers and solutions.
- Al Hajri: Climate change has become an issue and endless concern.
- Al Ali: One of the most important constituents of solving the issue of climate change is to reinforce the values, skills and behaviors which lead to friendly attitude towards the environment.
- Al Seirafi: Developed countries must hold responsibility towards less developed countries.
QC concluded a competition entitled 'Climate Change Assembly Simulation' in cooperation with Al Wakra Municipality and Friends of the Environment Center. The winners were announced after the competition took place between 7 families.
Each family represented a different country in the competition. Families would speak about the countries they are representing, offer research papers discussing the possible challenges of global warming and the damage it would cause, and offer solutions.
Mohammed Nasser Ali family representing Russia won the first prize, Khaled Mahmoud Adwan representing Palestine won second, and Hassan Mustafa Shatta representing Saudi Arabia won third.
An Issue and Concern
Dr. Seif Al Hajri, President of the Climate Assembly Simulation Conference and Head of the Qatari Committee for Sports and Environment, announced the beginning of the competition. He pointed to the fact that the countries' participation in discussing climate change was highly connected to the future of the coming generations. "Climate change has become the issue and concern of everyone, not just certain continents, islands, or neighboring countries".
Mr. Ahmed Al Ali, Director of Media Administration at QC and Representative of the hosting countries in the conference, said, "This competition seeks to raise the awareness of families regarding climate issues. It requires the increase of social awareness about global warming, the responsibility of every and each one of us. One of the most important constituents of solving the issue of climate change is to reinforce the values, skills and behaviors which lead to friendly attitude towards the environment". He stressed on the importance of educating children and youth who will be in charge soon. They need to learn how to face the multiple complicated challenges of climate change of the coming decade. Since they are at a young age, their mentalities and habits can be altered to become more effective and environmentally friendly. "QC is interested in holding such competition because it believes in the importance of reinforcing environmentally friendly values and raising the people's awareness about their importance," he added.
Hostility towards Nature
He also said that winning over nature was a costly concept adopted by humanity. "Man's fight against nature has been going for a while; it is the cause of severe climate changes. We cannot reverse what happened; however, we can adapt with the situation. What we need to do is to stop any further negative results and prepare capable human capacity to lead the coming phase. We need to adopt a phase that is based on partnership with nature," he added.
Low Carbon Economy
Dr. Mohammed Al Seirafi, UN Representative, said, "After long years of negotiations and talks, experts have identified most issues related to environment and offered new solutions. We have now an agreement that might stand as a base for further negotiations. Some of unresolved issues have been decided. Although I do not take part in negotiations, I advise negotiators to make their decisions based on the international vision. There is no time for local solutions. It is for the best to think universally. Once we have found a solution for the world, local problems can be easily resolved.
At the end of the contest, financial rewards were distributed to the winning families of the first three prizes: 5,000 QR, 3000 QR, and 2,000 QR.
Appreciation certificates were distributed to the families which did not win. All participants received honorary shields and appreciation certificates. The conference of the competition recommended granting the participants and winners home plants from Al Wakra Municipality in an attempt to encourage them to protect the environment.
The competition had certain rules for participants: the participation had to be in Arabic, each family member presents a certain topic in 3 minutes. They should mention the following: introduction, possible consequences, solutions and recommendations. They need to be reasonable and objective. The results are final and incontestable.
QC inaugurated the competition in cooperation with Friends of the Environment Center and Al Wakra Municipality so as to raise the social awareness about global warming and climate change. The inauguration was on the same ay of Qatar Environment Day. QC held this competition to encourage taking care of the environment and climate where people live. Global warming can cause great problems to humans. There also other universal and climate issues that would hold researchers responsible.
