Roskilde Festival

Are we paying our debts?

This summer DanChurchAid and Roskilde Festival are creating political awareness around the message that we don't run out on our obligations with the campaign “Green Footsteps”. When world leaders take their seat at this years highly anticipated climate conference in Copenhagen, we will make sure they don't forget or ignore the poorest countries who are suffering from climate changes today. If we fail to earmark money to pay our debt from the consequences of industrialisation,we will witness massive migration, fighting and hunger.

Climate changes are man made – a well-documented result of a century-long industrialization that has had greater consequences than anyone could have anticipated. The polar cap is melting and changing the fishing conditions in the north, due south draught is eating its way into fertile land triggering a fierce battle of scarce resources and all around the world extreme weather conditions have destroyed crops, homes and lives.

The money earned from this years indispensable and ever-important refund collection will benefit the poor people of Bengal, a vast and poor coastal region in Bangladesh and India. This fertile food chamber in the south of Bangladesh, which feeds the rest of the country, is in danger of being rendered useless due to flooding. It is vital that dikes are built and the agriculture is adjusted to the changed conditions of the environment. Conditions we unfortunately are responsible for.

During this spring DanChurchAid will feed you plenty of stories about climate consequences in Bengal. We will dig deep in the efforts by the Danish government to help third world countries adjust to climate changes to see if they are adequate.

Are we living up to our responsibilities – are we paying our part of the debts?