Turning Heatwaves into Action
In response to rising temperatures along the Riwo-Nagada coastline in Madang, students from the Green Impact Club at Ambarina Primary School planted more than 30 trees around their school grounds. With support from World Vision Papua New Guinea (WVPNG), they also installed a hazard map to raise awareness and improve safety during extreme heat.
“Our classrooms feel much hotter now than before. By lunchtime, the heat makes it hard for us to focus on our lessons”, Daniel Auki shares.Mrs. Cecelia Naman has watched her students grow into young confident climate leaders.
Daniel is a Grade 7 student and the President of Ambarina Primary’s Green Impact Club, which is in Ward 7 of North Ambenob LLG, Madang province. Like the other 204 young people involved in the Empowering Youth-Led Climate Action Project, he is a climate champion in his school.
Traditionally, climate change conversations have been led by adults, leaving young people who are often the most affected excluded from decision-making and without a voice. When the project began in 2024, schools had limited education materials on climate change, communities lacked structured youth groups to lead local action, and young people were unable to participate meaningfully in climate adaptation and risk management.
Funded by World Vision Korea, the project has changed that by equipping youth with knowledge, tools, and leadership opportunities to take meaningful action. Some key achievements include the:
- Establishment of 6 Green Impact Clubs in 3 schools and 3 communities to build climate knowledge and leadership.
- Review of 3 School Learning Improvement Plans (SLIPs) to integrate climate adaptation.
- Introduction of World Vision’s Climate Change and Good Citizenship curriculum in partnership with the Madang Provincial Education and Disaster Offices.
- Carrying out of climate awareness sessions for all students.
- Fixing of waterlogged areas on school grounds.
“The Green Impact Club has helped me understand climate change and built my confidence to raise awareness and help my school to adapt to changes affecting us,” Daniel says.
His leadership reflects the growing awareness and confidence among young people. Many young people like him are becoming climate champions in their communities, identifying risks, acting and inspiring others to do the same.
“When we look around our school, we see a lot of trees growing. One day, these trees will give plenty of shade to the little ones who will attend this school after us,” Daniel reflects.
The act of thinking beyond themselves reflects a core project outcome to enable young people to step forward to protect their environment and ensure safer communities for the next generation.
Teacher in charge of the Green Impact Club, Mrs. Cecelia Naman shares that the club has provided a platform for her students to step forward with confidence, take ownership of climate issues and lead real change in their school and village communities.
“I am very pleased with our partnership with World Vision in establishing the Green Impact Club in our school. What we teach in our classrooms is now inspiring students to go back to their homes and educate their communities about climate change. Before, these conversations were left to leaders and officials, now our students are leading the way at the youth level.”
The six Green Impact Clubs are based at:
- St. Mary’s Malmal Primary School: In-School Youths
- Riwo Seventh Day Adventist Primary School: In-School Youths
- Ambarina Primary School: In-School Youths
- Amron Lutheran Church: Out- of- School Youths
- Riwo Seventh Day Adventist Church: Out-of-School Youths
- Malmal Community: Out- of- School Youths
Daniel and his peers have embarked on a new climate action initiative to address water shortages being faced in their school’s new ablution blocks by proposing for a small grant project to upgrade and rehabilitate the old school dam infrastructure as a sustainable water source for their ablution.
Through the establishment of the Green Impact Clubs, young people are not just preparing for a safer future; they are more aware, confident and taking the lead to respond to the realities of climate change and disasters affecting their communities.