An agreement at the eleventh hour has moved the world closer to the global deal on climate change that eluded last year’s summit in Copenhagen, said international aid agency Oxfam Australia as the United Nations negotiations in Cancun, Mexico drew to a close.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s announcement that she will continue to open each Parliamentary year with a statement on how Australia is progressing in closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage shows government commitment at the highest level, the Close the Gap Campaign said today.
Oxfam Australia today welcomed Australia’s commitment to the Fast Start Finance Fund as an important step towards helping developing countries adapt to the devastating impacts of climate change but said climate finance should not come out of the existing international aid budget.
The revenue the extractives sector generates each year in poor countries is far greater than official aid flows and could see major improvements within countries if a portion was directed towards essential services for local people.
As the evening light rapidly faded, a group of children stood silently posing with wide eyes staring intently into my camera lens.
I was on my second trip with the international agency Oxfam as a Global Ambassador, to see for myself the devastating impact that climate change is already having on some of the world’s poorest places. Last year I traveled to Peru, my mother’s native country, to take photographs that were exhibited at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, which I also attended.
Oxfam Australia is launching its own 12 days of Christmas online campaign to highlight the gift of giving to those less fortunate around the world.
While in South Western Bangladesh last week, I watched as a woman named Shahana sat cross-legged on the ground with thirty members of her community noting down the many ways changing weather patterns were impacting their lives.
United Nations Climate Change Conference to begin in Cancun, Mexico today
Oxfam Unwrapped is on the search to find Oxfam Australia’s next top animal to help in the fight against poverty and injustice. You can vote for your favourite contestant by visiting the Oxfam Unwrapped website.
Queenslanders will get the chance to participate in one of the world’s toughest charity challenges on home ground with the announcement today that Brisbane will be the location for a new Oxfam Trailwalker event in 2011.