AAITG ED Calls for Collective Efforts to End Fossil Fuels
Mrs Ndella Faye-Colley, Executive Director of ActionAid International The Gambia (AAITG), has called for a coordinated collective effort from all relevant stakeholders to end fossil fuels.
“Our fight to end fossil fuels must go hand in hand with our strive for food security because we cannot afford to do one without the other,” she said while addressing young people during the Global Week of Climate Action march.
The Global Week of Climate Action is organized by climate activists worldwide to raise awareness and demand climate justice. In The Gambia, AAITG and its youth movement, Global Platform - The Gambia, brought together more than 250 young people to demand urgent climate justice, end fossil fuels, and call for climate financing.
She said AAITG has several interventions designed, to help women, farmers, and youth engage in sustainable agriculture. “We support a land rights campaign that aims to foster the rights of women and smallholder farmers in the North Bank Region. We support farmers with farming implements and small ruminants; we engage in sensitization on climate resilience practices for sustainable agriculture, and we support disaster-stricken households with cash donations.”
She added, “We further engage in community campaigns to encourage farmers to use organic fertilizer instead of chemical fertilizer, and we also provide seeds for farmers.”
She said the global effort to address the devastating impacts of climate change has been loud and sometimes controversial, sparking an unending debate about who is responsible for the continuous destruction of the planet and what actions must be taken to remedy that.
“The threat to our survival is legitimate. If we do not find a way to work together to end the devastating effects of climate change, very soon there will be no planet to fight over,” she said.
She stressed that the government, civil society, farmers, ordinary citizens, energy industries, the media, NGOs, community-based organizations, and all other stakeholders should combine their different expertise to end this apocalyptic phenomenon.
“AAITG is committed to this fight and will continue to play its role in combating the impacts of climate change and supporting efforts geared towards sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture,” she assured.
Saikou Darboe, National Coordinator, Global Platform - The Gambia, said the day is meant to remind the Global North that they have a responsibility to repair, the damage they have caused for two centuries.
“We are motivated by our love for environmental sustainability, which cannot be achieved if we don't demand climate justice. We are not asking for too much; we’re just, demanding justice,” Mr Darboe stressed.