Savio Carvalho
Savio Carvalho is the Southern Climate Change Campaign Adviser for Oxfam International. He is a former country director for Oxfam GB in Uganda and Tajikistan. Savio supports and advises 14 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa on the Oxfam Climate Change Campaign. He coordinates the global campaign in southern countries, through strategy development and lobbying, and represents Oxfam International at key international events and U.N. negotiations.
Vulnerable in Haiti need climate adaptation costs covered
Can you imagine your country experiencing three hurricanes in one year? This is exactly what happened last year to Haiti, a small island in the Caribbean. Many other neighbouring island states like Jamaica, the Bahamas, Grenada, and the Dominican Republic were also battered and all have seen a reversal in their growth and development as a result. But it was Haiti - the poorest of the islands, with the least effective infrastructure - that bore the brunt of the terrifying storms. During a recent visit there, I met with a wide range of civil society organisations that are working on climate change issues. Last year highlighted how vulnerable the islanders are to hurricanes that climate models predict will become more intense and frequent. Action to protect them is urgently needed. ...
Don't shift poverty money to climate
In the early 1970s, rich countries committed to give 0.7 percent of their income in the form of aid to poor developing countries as Overseas Development Assistance. In the past decade a few countries have actually reached this target and others have plans to achieve it in the next few years. This money is used primarily for poverty reduction and long-term development goals in developing countries. But climate change is now creating additional burdens on poor communities across the world. This means that poor communities need additional support to adapt and cope with climate-related changes, including increases in the frequency and severity of weather-related disasters and other slow changes such as sea-level rise, melting glaciers and shifting seasons. ...
What Mexico must do differently on climate change
On a recent trip to boost Oxfam's campaigning in Mexico I had the pleasure of visiting Teotihuacán, or the "City of the Gods," an enormous archaeological complex outside Mexico City. While looking up at the ancient pyramids and listening to the theories on the city's demise, it struck me that 1,500 years on we have as much to learn about working with our environment as the city's residents did. ...
