By Lurette Paulime
At the negotiation, many speakers are talking about legal binding and equity for developing countries. They say that governments should implement new policies that guarantee social benefits for the women of the world. They also mentioned that mostly indigenous people and women are suffering from inequality and human right issues. Civil society and politicians must be aware that climate change is a problem that has to be addressed by everyone. We believe that developing countries want a technical panel for capacity building. Without such panel, it would be difficult to adapt to climate change. I am wondering how many developing countries can adapt to climate change while they are still living in poverty and are characterized by poor governance and services. I also think that a lot of communities in developing countries still do not have knowledge about many terms of climate change. The most challenging is that every country has to be responsible of the amount of gases emitted to the atmosphere. According to UNFCC, developed countries should provide resources such as technology, education and finance to developing countries in order to be able to reduce their Co2 emissions. For example, the Kenya’s delegate mentioned that in this country most people do not understand the process of climate change. I believe that an important education program must lead to a better understanding of this issue and should be the approach taken in many developing countries. It is also essential that NGOs work together with local and national governments to contribute of the development of those countries. In Kenya, for example, people think that the solutions have to come from NGOs where local communities have to be assisted in the implementation of the adaptation’s process.
Women play an important role to alleviate poverty and combat climate change. Funding mechanism and implementation should support them to get involved in the process of climate adaptation. Support and development skills are two factors which can provide more respect to women. For example the India delegate focused in human rights and participation. He said that inequality represents a barrier to cope with poverty and climate change in India. They need strong voices to be represented in the society.He said “we believe that women represent a part of the solution”.
Moreover, in many developing countries, their main income comes from agriculture. For example the delegate of Mozambique mentioned that 52% of the population is women and the income of more than 60% of the population comes from agriculture. I think this statement proves that women should be part of the solution, because they are also affected by the negative impacts of climate change. Equity is a great way to grow a national economy and an excellent means of capacity building in developing countries.
I spent the whole weekend at the Development and Climate Days program. While I was eating my lunch on Saturday, two friends from Costa Rica and Honduras advanced me and said “We are sorry, where are you from?” I said “I am from Haiti”. They started to talk about the cholera outbreak situation that Haiti is facing now and also the serious challenge of climate change in their countries. They are wondering how the Kyoto protocol process could be useful for a better future in developing countries. The Kyoto protocol is the only ratification that aims a legal binding between developed and developing countries. Climate change is more than a crucial crisis in developing countries. This problem has to be addressed with equity and equality. We believe if governments are really taking into account the severe environmental problems in the world, they can come up with a significant outcome in Cancun.