In 2002, a Canadian girl called Severn Cullis-Suzuki spoke at a UN assembly on climate change in Brazil. She was just 12 years old at the time of her speech, yet she brought the room to silence with her impassioned plea. Speaking about pollution, the hole in the ozone layer and the numerous other effects of climate change, Severn told the room "If you don't know how to fix it, stop breaking it". Severn was calling on the leaders of world to change their approach to climate change; asking them to not only reduce further emissions, but also to commit to finding practical ways to deal with the devastating everyday effects that climate change has on communities.
Sadly, almost ten years later, world leaders have continued to ignore the needs and demands of the people. The rich have continued to pollute, and the poor have continued to suffer the consequences. While Africa is the least polluting continent, it is also the continent which is suffering the most from our changing climate. For example, agriculture in Africa is being increasingly threatened by climate change, and this in turn has been contributing to the growth of the global food crisis. The debate can no longer only centre on emissions targets, percentages and protocols. The climate change conversation also needs to talk about the human consequences of climate change, hunger, famine and suffering.
Ordinary people hold some of the solutions, so it's time to stop the talk-fest and take real action by listening to the people of Africa. If the UN Climate Conference in Durban wants to make real practical change, they need to make a commitment to support women farmers. Small scale farmers produce half the world's food and most of them are women. If these women were provided with increased access to training, technology, financial services and markets, the number of people going hungry could be cut by 15%. That's real change.
So in the final days of COP17, help spread the message of the people and support women farmers by sharing ActionAid International's video, 'Climate Change and the World Food Crisis: A Solution'.
