More than 70,000 people in developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa now have access to clean, safe drinking water thanks to funding aimed at tackling the effects of climate change.
Since 2012, the SNP Government Climate Justice Fund investment in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Rwanda has also:
Provided 110,000 people with training in climate change and water rights issues
Established 217 village committees to support water resource management and resilience
Improved agricultural practices and irrigation services for more than 11,000 people which has helped to increase crop production
Planted more than 122,000 trees
Provided sources of alternative income to over 1,000 people in Malawi – including livestock-rearing, fish farming and honey production.
Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham MSP highlighted the SNP Government’s commitment to invest £3 million annually in the fund over the next five years. This investment comes on top of £6 million to support the fund between 2012 and 2016. She said:
“The damaging effects of climate change are being felt most severely in developing nations. With increasingly unpredictable weather leading to more frequent floods and droughts wiping out harvests, people have been left struggling to feed their families.
“I am pleased that our efforts through Scotland’s innovative Climate Justice Fund are helping vulnerable communities tackle the challenge of climate change. This links human rights and development, with a new and progressive policy platform for a sustainable climate agenda.”
Kenneth Gibson MSP added:
“Our investment has already provided thousands of people with training and an awareness of climate change issues and its unpredictability, and it has given people the chance to improve their lives by learning new skills to produce more and better quality crops.
“As a good global citizen Scotland wants to play its part tackling the challenges of climate change. We are also keen to work with other countries in this vital global effort.”
Lynne Paterson, Tearfund Scotland Director commented:
"In our work with some of the poorest and most vulnerable people around the world, we see that climate change is disproportionately having an adverse effect on those who have done the very least to cause it. This as an issue of justice and one we believe is rightly at the heart of the SNP Government's response. Thanks to the Climate Justice Fund, Tearfund Scotland has been able to work through our partner organisations to equip tens of thousands of individuals to adapt to the effects of climate change, and tens of thousands more to access clean and safe water. This work is saving lives and restoring hope where it is needed most.
“We commend the SNP Government's commitment to climate justice, and support any moves to tackle climate change and strengthen our commitment to be good global neighbours."
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