Pan-African Climate Change and Poverty Hearing hosted by Oxfam International and the Environmental Monitoring Group in Cape Town – 5 October 2009

Oxfam International and the Environmental Monitoring Group joined hands to host two day hearings in Cape Town under the banner: Pan-African Climate Change and Poverty Hearing. The day’s programme was thought-provoking and informative, and included heartfelt testimony, performance art and input from leaders, activists and climate change experts, all of whom exchanged ideas and discussed how “we should not lose sight of the real impact that climate change has on real people –  and what communities around the world are doing”. 


The delegation noted that climate change negotiations usually focus on emissions reduction, technology transfer, financing and other political arguments while paying little attention to real people.



There to pledge  support were Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson – who is the Honorary President of Oxfam, a former Irish president and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – and Lewis Pugh, the renowned environmentalist, swimmer, maritime lawyer and explorer.



The two hearings formed part of events scheduled across the globe in the build up to the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which will take place in December this year. 

The second leg of the hearings took place under the banner;  Cape Town Hearings on Climate Change, Food and Water.

* HD footage and photos available