Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to Environment, Career and Education Editor Petre Williams-Raynor.

I would like to offer my heartiest congratulations to you on the publication of your book, “Project Climate Save… a Jamaican Boy Looks at the Effects of Global Warming”.

I recently learnt of its publication and would like to commend you on your inspired decision to write about climate change and to highlight its importance, especially among the younger generation. I am acutely aware of the need to foster awareness about this very crucial and very relevant topic beginning with our children, as it is they who will inherit the world we leave behind. Your book is indeed a welcome addition to the efforts to sensitise our citizens, especially since Jamaica, as a small developing island state, is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

I am particularly pleased that your book is being considered by the Education Ministry for inclusion on the Jamaican school syllabus. This move will certainly serve to widen the exposure to this very important topic among school-age children, especially as the protagonist, 10-year-old Ray, is someone to whom they can easily relate. It is my fervent hope that in reading this book, the children will adopt Ray’s concern about climate change, and that they too will emulate his proactive measures to preserve the environment.

Once again, my heartiest congratulations to you, and I look forward to your future creative endeavours and to collaborating with you on this very important subject.

Robert D Pickersgill

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate ChangeKingston