“The Rich should pay their debt”

Drought, heavy rains and failing crops. This is reality for Ester Mendai from Zambia, who is in Denmark to pledge to the rich industrial countries to pay their share.

By Jenny Jägerhorn
jagerhor@mappi.helsinki.fi

Ester Mendai wants industrialized countries to 'pay their climate debt'

Ester Mendai, 21, from Zambia is at the city hall square in Copenhagen to voice her opinion about how rich industrial countries should pay their climate debt. She is a member of the Climate Debt Agents, which is a group of young people from Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda cooperating with Danes.  Ms Actionaid Denmark has invited African youths to tell how the climate change affects them.

“We are a very peaceful organisation and believe that working together on the problem is the only way to solve it. The climate change concerns everybody and we have to act now,” said Miss Mendai.

She comes from a farm in the countryside outside the capital Lusaka. A few years ago the rain period in Zambia used to be from October to April but suddenly the inhabitants started to experience random heavy rains or severe drought.

“Economically it’s a disaster for us, because agriculture is an important part of our income. We have to come up with a different mechanism .”

“To compensate for the damages caused to developing countries, we want the rich industrialized countries to pay their climate debt and thereby give the developing countries a chance to deal with the new climate situation,” she said.

What would you like to say to the climate sceptics?

“Climate change is really true, it exists and it is happening now. Sooner or later they will realize it too.”

Finland is the first country to contribute to a 60 million US dollar FAO  (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) programme to support climate change mitigation in the agriculture sector in developing countries. The programme aims to promote sustainable low emission agriculture over the coming five years.

Finland will provide an initial support of around 3,9 million US dollars from the period 2010-2011. This was announced by FAO today in the context of  UN climate change Conference in Copenhagen. FAO will also approach other countries for further funding.