In Montenegro, every fifth citizen of Montenegro believes that climate change and global warming are fake news, according to a representative survey by the agency Ipsos, which was conducted in July, UNICEF announced.
As part of the media literacy campaign "Let's Choose What We Watch", UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Antonije Pušić alias Rambo Amadeus hosted UNICEF volunteers - young reporters Lana Jovanović and Andrija Zeković and University of Montenegro professor Danilo Mrdak - on his solar sailboat.
It is said that Pušić hosted volunteers and Professor Mrdak in order to remind the public that climate change and global warming are not fake news and invited citizens to take actions that would provide a better future for new generations.
Mrdak said that climate change is a reality, but it is also a reality that with their irresponsible activities, people encourage and intensify the consequences of that process, which significantly threatens the future of children.
"We seem to be trying to cut down as many forests as possible, to destroy as many rivers and lakes as possible, to concrete as much space as possible, to produce as much garbage as possible... And we are so persistent in this that sometimes I wonder who came up with all this technology that makes us surrounds," said Mrdak, a professor at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics in Podgorica
She believes that if this continues, there is a justified fear that "a threshold will be crossed after which there is no return and then all our smartphones and the Internet and the reach of civilization will be for nothing".
"And it only takes a little good will and solidarity to prevent this from happening. After all, we are not the first advanced civilization on this planet and I am afraid that by working like this we will not experience the fate of those vanished worlds", said Mrdak.
Pušić explained that he built the solar sailboat in order to use his example to influence the reduction of global warming on Earth.
"As an individual, I know that I don't have much influence, but I hope that we will all make our small contribution in this fight. The least we can do is to plant one tree or two, three, five - as many as you can. Wherever you find a suitable place you plant a tree, and the tree is fruitful, so it will reward you", said Pušić.
UNICEF states that all over the world, children and young people are very worried about climate change.
A recent UNICEF survey conducted among five thousand children and youth in more than 60 countries of the world showed that climate change is one of the key challenges for 80 percent of members of that age group.
Zeković assessed that how important media literacy is for society and the future of our planet is shown by data on climate change.
"The process of global warming is underway, which threatens the entire planet and to which we all contribute every day, and a fifth of us in Montenegro deny that it is happening, believe that it is fake news and do not take responsibility or take any actions to solve this problem" , Zeković pointed out.
"In order to recognize fake news, we need to see who the source of the information is and how reliable it is, as well as what other, reliable sources say on the subject, and it is especially important to seek the opinion of experts," announced Jovanović.
Zeković, on behalf of UNICEF volunteers - young reporters, called on all their peers to plant at least one tree this year, parents to drive less cars and pollute the environment, and to walk more and use bicycles.
He also appealed to municipalities to enable waste recycling in our country as soon as possible," said young reporter Andrija Zeković.
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