Oxfam is a leading international aid agency working with communities around the world for solutions to poverty and social injustice.
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Thursday 9 October 2008
Think bigger than our backyard on climate change
Learn how climate change is affecting communities in developing countries and find out how to
contribute to the solution at an Oxfam Climate Change Forum – Think Bigger than Our Backyard,
on Monday 13 October.
The forum will paint the bigger picture on the human impacts of climate change, highlighting the
global impact of Australia’s greenhouse emissions. It will include a question and answer session
with Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett and Tasmanian Climate Action Council
chair Dr Kate Crowley.
Mr Hewett said people living in poverty in developing countries were at the front line of the climate
change crisis.
“They’re least responsible for this crisis and have the fewest resources to cope with it,” Mr Hewett
said. “It is their livelihoods which will be most vulnerable, their lives most affected by the increase
in natural disasters and their health most affected by changing disease patterns. There’s a need
for urgent action — at local, national and global levels.
“In the Pacific region, people living in low-lying islands are already experiencing the negative
impacts of climate change, including rising seas and salt water inundation. This has contributed
to crop losses, destruction of fresh water sources and flooding.
“As one of the world’s highest per person emitters of greenhouse gases, Australia has a
responsibility to help developing countries cope with climate change.”
Dr Crowley, an environmental policy academic at the University of Tasmania, has written a framework for
reducing State Government emissions, which the government has adopted. From 2009, she will advise the
State Government on measures and actions needed to reduce emissions.
“Climate change is a threat to our way of life and our future prosperity,” Dr Crowley said. “But we
can reduce our emissions, adapt to change and contribute to global solutions by being clever and
working together.”
Oxfam is calling on the Australian Government to act on climate change, by: agreeing to cut
Australia’s greenhouse pollution by at least 40 per cent by 2020 and at least 95 per cent by 2050
(on 1990 levels); providing developing countries with adequate financial assistance to help them
adapt to climate change; helping developing countries to access renewable energy technologies,
and negotiating for a just and equitable post-2012 international agreement on climate change
(after the Kyoto Protocol expires).
Event details:
Monday 13 October
Republic Bar (upstairs), North Hobart
Free entry
6.30pm – 8pm
Enquiries to Ros Lewis, tasenquiry@oxfam.org.au, 0437 741 677
For further information or interviews, please contact Laurelle Keough, media coordinator –
Advocacy & Campaigns, at Oxfam Australia, on 0409 960 100, laurellek@oxfam.org.au
Media Release
Oxfam is a leading international aid agency working with communities around the world for solutions to poverty and social injustice.
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