WASHINGTON - April 22 - Today on Earth Day, Africa Action calls for responsible financing that will enable developing countries to adapt and mitigate the inequitable impact of climate change.  Robust U.S. action can create a fertile environment for environmental sustainability around the world.  This will further help alleviate conflict resulting from scarcity of resources in various regions.  With U.S. leadership, there is a possibility that hundreds of thousands of the world's poorest people could escape the cycle of poverty caused by environmental degradation.

According to a new resource released by Africa Action this morning, "Mainstream discourse on climate change needs to adopt a more holistic approach to development, as opposed to a definition of development that only takes growth into account and excludes environmental costs. Climate change mitigation and adaptation cannot be divorced from each other."  The new resource, Cultivating Peace and Sustainability: Africa Action Talking Points on Climate Change, is available on our website, www.africaaction.org. 

It is estimated that by 2020, agriculture in some countries in Africa could be reduced by up to 50 percent, bringing increased hunger and the destruction of rural livelihoods.  The U.S. can help prevent a humanitarian disaster by adopting policies that acknowledge peace and development are inextricably linked to environmental sustainability and supporting a responsible approach to mitigating the affects of climate change. 

"The U.S. cannot force African nations to divert critical investments in health, education and infrastructure in order to repay loans that were allocated to mitigate the affects of a problem they did not cause," said Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director at Africa Action.   He adds, "While Africa is responsible for only 4 percent of the world's carbon emissions, Africans have been disproportionately affected by the affects of shrinking lakes, recurrent droughts, and deforestation."

According to the resource released today by Africa Action, two ways which funds can be distributed to vulnerable countries include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the World Bank, which in 2008 initiated the Pilot Program on Climate Resilience. 

Michael Stulman, Associate Director for Policy and Communications said today, "New money should come in the form of grants, not loans.  This needs to be negotiated by the communities most affected by climate change, and channeled through the UNFCCC." Stulman adds, "A new international focus must be aimed at women in particular.   They are the primary beneficiaries of adaptation/mitigation funding because women are often the providers of firewood, food and water."

Africa Action calls for the U.S. to take action and exert leadership that will protect the poor and most vulnerable.  Find the new resource, Cultivating Peace and Sustainability: Africa Action Talking Points on Climate Change, on our website, www.africaaction.org.