Development organizations will continue to address the environment in their fight against poverty, even if climate change talks fail later this year in Copenhagen, Oxfam International Adviser on Climate Change Policies Antonio Hill said earlier this week at the Global Eco-Forum, an international conference on sustainability organized yearly by the Barcelona-based environmental network Eco-Union.
"There will be no development without a fight against climate change," said Hill as he discussed the link between environmental and development advocacy - among the main topics of the conference.
The Catalan capital will be hosting the United Nations Climate Change Talks Nov. 2-6 and representatives from international institutions and nonprofit groups are already gathering in the Spanish city. Meanwhile, country negotiators and international observers are gearing up for the U.N. Climate Change Conference at the Copenhagen summit in December.
Hill, who will also be attending the U.N. talks, told Devex he believed that NGOs and international organizations focusing on development would not loose interest in climate change whether or not a strong agreement is reached in Denmark.
"I think the attention of those who worry about poverty cannot but focus on this issue. This is a cross-cutting issue affecting all development opportunities," Hill said. "All the organizations I know are trying to focus on how to change the development model for it to be sustainable, able to face the impacts which are already unavoidable and help millions of people get out of poverty without increasing the emissions."