Ebola's Generation: Why Climate Change Matters to Us

Why Climate Change Matters to Ami

So, the world waits on tomorrow’s news from Paris – the International communicies response to climate change.

Climate change matters to Ami because children in Sierra Leone, like Ami, age just 1, one of Ebola’s 12,000 strong generation, and all children of her age will bear the brunt of the devastating impacts climate change will bring if the world fails to take action NOW.

We’ll wait ‘til the dust settles but surprisingly perhaps, we can already see that more progress has been made than we thought possible. And this is good news for Ami.

It may be that limits are not ambitious enough; the funding to adapt ends up too little and the monitoring less than robust but we can see that there is hope if everybody steps up to the plate and we all play our part and Ami might get to grow up in a better world.

Climate justice for Africa?

Over the past few days we’re particularly encouraged by signs that Africa might actually see some climate justice that reflects that we emits little but suffers greatly from the impact. If this leads tomorrow to Africa being fast tracked to clean energy – to skip a generation of dependency on expensive polluting energy - that would be a huge step in the right direction and offer real hope to Ami.

Citizens doing it for themselves

We’ve also seen some great local projects showcasing ordinary citizen’s and communities empowered to do things for themselves. To take action themselves. To do their bit - you can see the projects we like on our twitter feed here. Things that might help Ami grow up empowered to realise her potential.

We can see that the developed west has a big task. It is difficult for their countries to adapt - they have resourced and functioning health and education services, their citizen’s live in homes with full-time electricity, heating, clean water, TV and their transport and industries depend on fossil fuels. They have expansive and expensive welfare systems that children like Ami will perhaps only ever be able to dream of.

Rebuild a failed system?

But here, in Africa, many countries have none of these things in the first place. And some countries – shackled by a seemingly never-ending cycle of war, famine, HIV or Ebola or where the public body is eaten away by commissions and corruption – they have long lost these things. With these countries is there any point aiming to rebuild and repeat e failed system which leaves people behind?

In an Ideal World

Ami dreams of an ideal world

Perhaps a more noble and engaging endeavour would be to refashion the state to a new purpose: economies rebuilt on sustainable principles – clean energy and water for everyone; open-source machinery, plant and architecture; co-operative, fairtrade agriculture and businesses where workers and communities benefit too. A larger society where Ami is empowered to do it for herself.

So the World’s done good - do more World….

So we hope with all our heart that the world comes together tomorrow in Paris and delivers climate action and climate justice but the world must do more. Come together more to solve problems. Like the World Health Organisation has promised to do to tackle health in Africa.

We’ve learnt a lot about levels of access to the internet. Africa and the developing world needs access to reliable cheap intrnet.

This would be the greatest liberator for Ami. The greatest thing to empower Ami. The key to Government's with more citizen’s engagement, involvement and accountability. The key to a dynamic, entrepenurial economy. The key to quicker health diagnosis and advice. The key to better and wider access to education for girls like Ami.

Get on board – join our campaign!

Follow Ami's journey from the beginning and help us change children's lives, in every sense, forever and for the better.