PRESIDENT David Granger has urged over 200 young people from across the Caribbean to capitalise on their trusted position in society to champion the protection of the Caribbean region from the adverse effects of climate change and pollution.

Some 200 Rotaractors from across 17 Caribbean territories began congregating in Guyana on Thursday, for the 26th Annual Rotaract District 7030 conference which seeks to build camaraderie across the network of Caribbean youth, and focus on service-oriented projects.

Welcoming them to his State House residence, where the conference’s opening ceremony was held, and to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, President Granger said, “It is up to us, the Caribbean people, to protect ourselves against the adverse effects of climate change and pollution. Caribbean youth and their clubs like Rotaract must help to safeguard the natural environment from these perils.”

The President whose ‘Green State’ agenda is renowned and who has been very robust in environmental conservation projects reminded the gathering that, “Small island developing states and low lying coastal states like Guyana and Suriname are threatened by higher temperatures; by rising sea levels; by frequent and fierce hurricanes, as we had last year and other forms of extreme weather, which can cause floods or droughts.”

While he noted that Caribbean people are fortunate to belong to a “magnificent” region in the world where the natural capital and resources can be envied by the rest of the world, he also acknowledged that pollution has adverse effects on the environment.

According to him, “These are all the nations’ [and] the region’s richest resources. These resources constitute an essential element in the region’s economy and in the livelihood of Caribbean people. But to this end, the rotaractors and the rest of Caribbean youth are custodians of these resources.”

“So it is you who must secure the future, because the future is yours and you have an obligation to protect the environments from the threats of damage and degradation,” the President said. “Much of the damage and degradation we see, even in the Caribbean, is attributable to human activity,” he added.

Fortunately, he noted, the Rotaract clubs are the ones which have been able to garner public trust and as such are well poised to effect change in society, especially as it relates to environmental protection.

“Rotaract clubs can establish local and regional networks; they are promoting community and people-centered projects through volunteerism; they develop an understanding of the needs of people (and) most of all, they’ve earned public trust,” the President said. “Everywhere you go, people trust the Rotaract.”

This was evidenced by the presence of the rotaractors in Guyana for the conference. Although the young people will be using the opportunity to network and create developmental plans for implementation in their own communities, they will also be engaged in a collective community service project in Hauraruni.

The rural community will benefit from a five-phase project which involves constructing a home for a single-mother, a medical outreach, a symbolic tree planting exercise and care package distribution to occupants of a girl’s orphanage and the development of a play park.

Cognisant of this and the general mandate of ‘Service above self’, the President said, “Rotaract clubs have been able to earn a proud record of service; they are service-oriented, non-partisan and they quickly become experienced in working with communities and responding to the needs of those communities, especially at the time of natural disasters of which the Caribbean has had an abundance.”

Before declaring the conference open, President Granger encouraged the youth to continue working to the benefit of their communities. “I look forward to this conference as a forum for assuming greater responsibility to projects in and promoting awareness of the global situation of preventing damage and degradation and protecting the environment from pollution,” he said.

The conference is being hosted under the theme: “El Dorado Undiscovered, Experience the Adventure” and also coincides with the 50th Anniversary/ Golden Jubilee of the Rotary in Action, or Rotaract, worldwide.