Last night the city of London proved it really was home to the world when it held a climate hearing in the chamber of the London Assembly.   Witnesses from a range of London communities, both diaspora and traditional, spoke of the impact of climate change on their own lives and why they were committed to take action. These voices included college student Charles Olisanekwu, whose Nigerian heritage meant that he was committed to act on behalf of those in East Africa; George Eric James whose Rastafarian principles and Jamaican background have convinced him of the need to live in harmony with nature; and Khaled Moyeed who remembers vividly the 1991 cyclone in his native Bangladesh, which blew his school away and killed thousands.  The hearing also heard from Barry and Dot Palmer, proud members of the working class of East London who have long campaigned against environmental injustice within London itself.

Blue Elephant youth theatre produced a powerful but uplifting drama based on the stories of women combating climate change in Bangladesh – their refrain that “we were not born to suffer, we were born to fight” then set the tone of the evening as two further witnesses then gave evidence of the ways Londoners are already taking action to fight climate change, whether in large-scale business solutions, or small community gardens.

The audience – which included Bangladeshis, Nepalese, Columbians, Peruvians, Bolivians, Nigerians and Jamaicans who all now call London home - were then able to put their questions to a panel of assembly members and NGO leaders, chaired by Murad Qureshi AM.

The hearing closed with a powerful reading from Ben Okri, the Nigerian Author and Poet, with a call to cast aside cynicism and embrace the best in human nature. 

A report from the hearing will be presented to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to take the Mayor’s summit in Copenhagen, along with an invite to attend the international climate hearing on the 15th December.  We hope that he takes some of these London voices with him. 

View some photos of the hearing and check out the whole webcast too!

Tags: Bangladesh, ben okri, Capacity Global, climate change, climate hearing, Copenhagen, London Assembly, Mayor of London, Murad Qureshi, Oxfam, Public Meeting, The Wave

This entry was posted by Katy Wright on December 1st, 2009 at 4.57 pm and is filed under Oxfam South East, You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.