FAQ for ‘The Big Climate Change Debate - How to play your part pack’.
How did you pick 20 countries?
We tried to pick countries that represented the world as a whole, but we also wanted to include countries which Wales already has close links with such as Lesotho and Uganda as many pupils would already have studied them.
Why is there no discussion of the scientific basis for climate change in these activities?
The scientific basis has been discussed at other UN conferences. COP 15 will focus on what countries need to do to make the reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic global warming.
Why have you used a Happy Planet Index as a measure of development rather than the Human Development Index?
In truth we would have like to use both but space on the cards wouldn’t allow it. Happy Planet Index was chosen in this context as it includes an element of sustainable development which is relevant to this pack.
Why have you used a picture of hurricane damage in Jamaica but not of their aluminium ore mines which may involve huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions to turn it to aluminium?
Picking a single image to represent climate change issues for each country was very difficult. We have tried to tackle this issue with activity 10. Every country has a more complex story to tell about climate change than can be represented by a single image.
How reliable is the data on the cards?
Original data sets can be downloaded from the following websites:
How are the packs being distributed?
Two copies of the pack have been sent to every secondary school in Wales. A very limited number of additional packs are available from the Welsh Assembly Government’s climate change team at climate-change@wales.gsi.gov.uk
