In Bangladesh the coast line have eroded and the county is reduced year after year. Floods push millions of poor farmers away from their lands – their
livelihood – and they are forced to flee to other country.
This is the unintended consequences of the industrialisation that has created the wealth that we enjoy in the western part of the world.
Our debt is right now being paid by developing countries, who are suffering the most from climate changes. Is that fair? Who is paying our debt?We owe it to the countries
of the Bay of Bengal to pay our debts for the repercussions of the industrialisation. When the worlds leaders sit down at the negotiation table at the climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009,
their focus will be reduction of CO2 emission and cessation of the climate changes. It is essential that we react globally and reach an agreement in Copenhagen, but it's critical that the developing
countries are counted in in the equation.
Dan Church Aid is collecting money to support Bengal and the many other areas that right now are affected by climate changes and need help to adapt to their
new reality.But who should pay? Unintended or not, the western countries are the big culprits of CO2 emission. This is why we say, that it is our debt, and we should pay it. From an assessment of
responsibility and capacity, it is fair, that we pay for the damages we have already made, and that the development of the affected countries is not stopped or slowed down. Historically western
countries have a big responsibility in the CO2 emission and we have the capacity to change it and also too pay for consequences that we see already today.
It is pivotal that the money that is
allocated for climate adaptation won't be taken from the development aid. It's no help if we give with one hand what we take with the other. Development aid should go to development, not climate
adaptation – new money is needed for dealing with climate changes. The money should not be found by rearranging foreign aid or by expanding the definition of climate programmes.
This is why we,
in corporation with Roskilde Festival, ask the festival guests to commit themselves to the climate problematic and together we will send a message to the politicians, that we cannot forget our debt,
which is right now being paid by the worlds poorest.
The humanitarian refund collection at Roskilde Festival 2009 supports Dan Church Aid's programmes in Bengal – which both concerns catastrophe
relief and adaptation and prevention of climate changes.
You can help the people of Bengal while having the time of your life by working as a refund collector at Roskilde Festival 2009. At the
Dan Church Aid Roskilde Festival campaign website
you can read more about Roskilde Festival, refund
collection and climate change.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
A resident walks his dog through a street at a flooded housing complex on the outskirts of Jakarta March 27, 2009. A wall of water from a burst dam killed 52 ...
