MP meets people affected by Climate Change
Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Moor View, met Christian Aid partners from the Philippines and Bolivia, to hear first-hand what it is like to live with the reality of climate change and how it is affecting the world’s poor most acutely.
Ms Seabeck met Voltaire Alferez, who runs a group of organisations campaigning on climate change in the Philippines, and Elizabeth Peredo, Director of Fundación Solón which campaigns on climate change in Bolivia. The meetings were part of Christian Aid’s
Hunger for Justice weekend, which also includes Alison meeting activists in Plymouth.
Alison Seabeck MP said: “It was really interesting to meet people like Voltaire and Elizabeth who have come face to face with a changing climate. Climate change is increasingly affecting new parts of the world but it is the world’s poorest who are affected by it most. The statistics are sobering enough but the problem is really brought to life when you meet someone who is living with it and they tell you their story.
“Christian Aid is an important organisation, which carries out its work across the world, addressing a variety of causes of poverty, including one that we often don’t consider - climate change.”
Simon Kirkland, Christian Aid’s Parliamentary Adviser, said: “We were very glad that Alison Seabeck MP took the time to meet Voltaire and Elizabeth. Climate change is a truly global problem with global causes and a global solution. In our ever more interconnected world it is important that our political leaders hear from the people that are affected by our actions.
“Emissions of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide causes climate change and it was industrialised countries like those in Europe burning fossil fuels which has created much of the current problem. That’s why Christian Aid is calling for the UK to push the EU to commit to at least a 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 when Heads of State meet on October 24, and then to work to push this further towards 50%.
“We’re also asking for the UK, following the Prime Minister’s speech at the UN Climate Summit in New York, to pledge its fair share to the Green Climate Fund of at least $1 billion before the next round of climate talks before Lima.”
To find out how to get involved with Christian Aid’s work then visit http://www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved
