World Development Movement blog

Bandile Mdlalose

Bandile is general secretary of Abhalali baseMjondolo, a shack-dwellers movement representing tens of thousands of people in South Africa. She's taking part in our speaker tour, Africa demands climate justice, which runs from 3-13 October 2011.

Climate change is one of the main issues facing the world at this moment. We all know that when things go wrong, like when there is an earthquake, a flood or a drought poor people are most vulnerable. And usually the response to these disasters is a second disaster for poor people. 

The UN climate talks, COP17, begin at the end of November. This could be the last chance to save the current international climate deal. The first period of the Kyoto protocol ends in 2012 and rich industrialised countries are pushing to replace it with a system that is based on voluntary reductions in carbon emissions instead.

Aamina Ahmad, used to be campaigns and policy intern

Last week Sarah Reader and I ventured down to Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh - in energy and climate change minister Chris Huhne's constituency - to talk about our climate justice campaign.

Food speculation - banks betting on food prices in financial markets - is a massive issue facing the world today. In the last few years, we have seen two major food price spikes, pushing millions of people into poverty. These food spikes were caused by speculation and could have been prevented through effective regulation. 

A year into our campaign against speculation on food, have we made any difference?

Dan Iles, WDM's south-west mobiliser, interviews Christina Schiavoni of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance.

In recent meetings with campaign groups, the government has finally admitted concerns with the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds (CIFs). In spite of these concerns, the UK government continues to provide over 80 per cent of its climate finance, siphoned off from its aid budget, through these funds, ignoring opposition from developing countries. Meanwhile, the UK has failed to give a single penny to the fairer and more democratic alternative: the UN Adaptation Fund, which was set up through the UN climate talks.