Photo credit: Lindsay Cray
The Oxfam International Hearing on Climate Change was held this morning with special guest, Nobel Prize laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu. He came with words of wisdom and brought with him individuals from around the world who offered us stories of their hardships and very personal tribulations with climate change.
The basic stats:
- 23 countries
- 14% of the world’s population
- responsible for 70% of global pollution
The bottom line:
- We all have one simple goal: persuade others to listen, persuade them to act appropriately.
This was the message derived as Bishop Tutu addressed the crowd. It was plain to see why a man like this has had so much impact as a speaker. He was engaging, he provoked feeling, making us laugh, making us feel the true seriousness of the events which lay before us.
“We have one Earth home, there is no other” the Bishop preached. We are in this together, yet it is the people that are least responsible for climate change who are facing the greatest threat.”
The floor was then opened to The Climate Witnesses who had come to narrate for us their stories and plead for help. One by one they were invited onto the stage.
“We the indigenous peoples will not pay for the actions of the industrialized countries. The indigenous peoples will keep speaking until we see real change. Our voice comes from far away.”
-Cayetano Pauccar, Peruvian farmer whose village is suffering famine and water shortages from glacier melt
“We are the front line. We may be the first countries to go down. We are looking for leaders who will stand up and will not be sold. Do not sell the rights of other people!”
- Kalenesa, a female representative from Tubalu/Keribash islands in the pacific
“15 years ago our river was contaminated by increased salinity from the rising oceans. We lost crops to feed our family. My husband started going to the forest looking for food as an alternative. One day didn’t come back. He was taken by tiger. We lost everything. I want my life back, and I need your help”
- Single mother of four from Bangladesh, India.
“I talk for the African continent. Because of climate change we have no season, no harvest, we don’t know when to plant, we don’t know when to eat. Sickness is killing our children. We want our seasons back. We want our generations back! We want them to stop the emissions! We are dying because of them!”
- Constance, a woman from a small border village in Uganda, Africa
I sat and listened to each of these people as they spoke. There was no speech written, there were no notes to review. They came before us with stories of real life and suffering. It was their faces that I will never forget. In the end, the message from Desmond Tutu and the others could not have been clearer. It is the stark reality and we must not ignore it. “There is not enough food and there is too little water. The situation is becoming increasingly desperate. These are not random events! We must act, for it is the difference between survival and doom. The poor are refusing the stay silent and you people are amplifying their voices, here in Copenhagen.”
We Africans are dangerously being affected in climate change due to developed country therefore we need them to be worried specially for us about climate change
I always participate in the “Earth Hour”. This event is a symbol that we should be more aware of our environment and that we should focus on protecting mother earth.