QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The Climate Reality Project Philippines, led by its Youth Cluster, in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) Disaster Risk Reduction Management Service and youth-led environmental group Wavefarers, released yesterday the first installment of its Experts Explain Series, which featured Climate Reality Leader and House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda discussing “Climate Change 101” for Filipino students.

Experts Explain Series is a five-part video series of experts discussing climate change and sustainability concepts in three levels of difficulty (basic for elementary, intermediate for high school, and advanced for college). It aims to serve as an alternative set of learning materials to educate the youth on climate change and related topics.

This inaugural release of the “Climate Change 101” video will be followed by a weekly release of the succeeding explainers videos, which will feature the following topics and corresponding expert speakers:

1. “Ocean Acidification” by Ms. Lourdes Tibig, former climatologist at state weather bureau PAGASA and one of the lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report;

2. “Renewable Energy” by Atty. Angela Consuelo Ibay, Climate Reality Leader and Head of the Climate Change and Energy Programme of WWF Philippines;

3. “Green Climate Fund” by Ms. Nazrin Camille Castro, Branch Manager of The Climate Reality Project Philippines and Advisor to the Philippine Alternate Board Member to the Green Climate Fund; and

4. “Circular Economy” by Mr. Carlo Delantar, Climate Reality Leader and a Circular Economy Pioneer at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an international institution working to re-think, re-design, and re-build economic systems to make them regenerative and circular.

All five explainer videos will eventually be made available at the video section of DepEd’s Microsite of Curated Resources for Teaching Climate Change, which was launched last year by the government to strengthen climate and environmental literacy among students.

“All action starts with education. By producing this series of explainer videos, we aim to sustain the momentum of youth climate advocacy in the country. We are thankful to the DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction Management Service for supporting this initiative by making our educational materials accessible to teachers and students across the country,” Castro said.

The Experts Explain Series is part of The Climate Reality Project Philippines Youth Cluster’s Niche: My Space in the Climate Space Campaign, which aims to highlight the multidisciplinary nature of solving the climate crisis and encourage the Filipino youth to join the climate change and sustainability movement.

The Niche Youth Forum, which will feature talks from youth climate action leaders, will take place this Saturday, 03 July, 2 p.m., via Zoom. Young and aspiring climate advocates are invited to join the forum by registering through this link. (TCRP/PIA-NCR)