In my recent trip to west Ethiopia, I was stunned by one particular group of people whose utter ignorance towards climate change could be labeled as the ?new low? even for the climate change deniers? conspiracy theorists.   I would not have brought it up here if it was an isolated incident.  However, such groups have sawn the seed of ?climate change is a hoax? not just in Ethiopia, but around the world.

The group I came across by was a well-funded lobbyist group that gathers students from primary schools and gives teaching sessions on how the west is trying to use climate change so that Ethiopians won?t be able to dig coal. On top of that, they tell the students that industries in Ethiopia can use coal, oil or any other polluting source of energy to run their production.

As an Ambassador of Tunza Eco-generation, I had the moral obligation to intervene and stop the false indoctrination of young students.  I introduced myself to the group and began challenging them by citing studies done on the effects of climate change in Ethiopia. To be honest, it was a heated debate. The group leader even accused me of taking a payment from Eco-generation to lie about climate change. However, I was able to convince some students to leave the debate and go home.

I am sure such kinds of groups are everywhere. That is why as Ambassadors of Eco-generation, we have to fight such ill-informed conspiracy theories and outright lies in our community.