ActionAid Malawi calls out banks for climate crisis
The campaign "Fund Our Future" seeks to champion a transition from industrial agriculture to agroecology as a pivotal strategy in addressing the climate crisis.
LILONGWE, Malawi - ActionAid Malawi is gearing up to unveil a transformative climate justice campaign titled "Fund Our Future" on September 13, 2023, writes Winston Mwale.
This campaign aims to confront the critical issue of climate change, which has been compounding extreme weather events, food insecurity, poverty, and inequality, particularly in vulnerable nations such as Malawi.
The campaign "Fund Our Future" seeks to champion a transition from industrial agriculture to agroecology as a pivotal strategy in addressing the climate crisis.
The highly anticipated launch event is scheduled to be held at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe and is set to feature Michael Usi, the Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change.
The campaign's centrepiece will be the release of a comprehensive research report titled "How The Finance Flows: The Banks Fueling the Climate Crisis."
This report casts a spotlight on a worrisome trend: Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016, banks have provided 20 times more financing to fossil fuels and industrial agriculture activities in the Global South than the climate finance contributions made by Global North governments to frontline climate crisis countries.
Pamela Kuwali, Executive Director of ActionAid Malawi, underscored the campaign's objectives, stating, "Malawi, standing on the frontline of the climate crisis, must take ownership of this campaign. For instance, as a nation, Malawi must take decisive action regarding the Affordable Input Program. Besides its susceptibility to corruption and burden on taxpayers, the program is harming the soil and perpetuating smallholder farmers' dependence on it for food production. The government must contemplate defunding AIP and redirect resources towards agroecology, which ensures sustainable cultivation without soil degradation."
Kuwali also issued a call for banks and corporations to cease funding climate-damaging industrial agriculture and energy sources, instead advocating for proactive measures to boost climate-resilient investments.
She urged development partners to increase investments in climate resilience programmes targeting those most impacted by the crisis.
The launch of the "Fund Our Future" campaign follows closely on the heels of Cyclone Freddy, the longest-lasting cyclone on record, which wreaked havoc in Malawi.
The cyclone claimed over 1,000 lives, displaced 563,771 people, and left more than 220,000 farmers grappling with the loss of their fields, crops, and infrastructure in southern Malawi.
Doreen Fatch, a smallholder farmer from the disaster-prone district of Nsanje, expressed hope that the campaign would lead to increased financing for climate resilience in her community.
"In Felo Village, where I live, we can no longer cultivate enough food for our families. We are either affected by disasters or floods that destroy our crops. We hope this climate justice campaign will help us find solutions to climate change so that we can cultivate crops and feed ourselves without relying on food support from well-wishers," said Fatch.
ActionAid is a global federation operating in over 40 of the world's poorest nations, working alongside more than 15 million people.
Their mission is to create a just, equitable, and sustainable world where everyone enjoys the right to a life of dignity, free from poverty and oppression.
ActionAid is committed to advancing social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication.