The U.N. Plaza, NYC Day Two #ClimateVoice
This morning we're up early and out headed to the first of the #ClimateVoice briefings.
Billed as "A morning session for policymakers and members of country delegations to brief #ClimateVoice participants and take questions", it certainly looks like it could be an interesting morning. Sure enough, I've not even finished my coffee and already I'm sat down opposite the CEO of Oxfam GB, Barbara Stocking, who's here to tell us why Oxfam is just so involved with Climate Change.
"The number of extreme weather events has increased four-fold since 1990."
She continues:
"We're very clear that Women are going to be on the front line when it comes to climate change; the forests, gathering food, fetching water, feeding children, even clearing up and moving the home when they're effected by flooded. Women are the buffer for climate change, it hits them first. The frustrating thing is that here we are in the 21st century and yet women are not represented at the upcoming summit in Copenhagen."
I'm reminded of yesterday's visit from the four courageous women. "A lot of villagers still haven't realised what's going on. In Uganda, I met an old man said...
"We have floods and we have never had floods like this before. Tell me, is this because of the war?"Â Â
...Well why wouldn't he think it would be caused by war? That's the only extreme thing that's happened to his country in his lifetime. In Nicaragua, they think they have displeased their Gods. These people aren't stupid, they base their decisions on the set of information that they have. If they don't know why, then they can't plan ahead to helps themselves in the future. So a lot of what we're doing here is to get the message out to the local people who are effected by climate change, educating them with the knowledge they need to diversify their lifestyles, be that through crop rotation, stockpiling food or even moving house."
I ask Barbara about my own personal discovery yesterday that in some countries aid itself can take up to two years to merely apply for:
"First of all, adaptation money shouldn't be aid, it should be the responsibility of the developed world to do that. Adaptation money is different. The UN should handle this. There is no money flowing anywhere right now. When it goes through the World Bank it isn't even between donors and recipients... If I said Oxfam was going to do something and we didn't, then our donors and all our donations would dry up overnight. It's frustrating, utterly frustrating about how slow this whole thing moves." Still fielding questions as she leaves the room, Barbara has already set the tone for the morning. Decisions need to be made and action needs to be taken, fast.
