By Tim Saunders on
Nineteen actors, musicians and activists signed a letter drafted by international aid agency Oxfam to tackle the issue of climate change in December.
The letter was written to world leaders who attended the UN climate negotiations in Poland and urged them to lead the way and show the political will demonstrated in the face of economic crisis so that dangerous climate change can be averted.
Scarlett Johansson, broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo, Colin Firth, Missy Higgins, Kristin Davis, Thom Yorke, Annie Lennox, Ian McEwan, Jarvis Cocker, Bill Nighy and Gael Garcia Bernal were among the stars to put their signatures to the letter.
“It is desperately unfair that the poor should again feel the brunt, despite being least responsible,” read the letter. “Wealthy nations, who are in their advantaged position because of heavy industrialization, are the most responsible and able to lead the world in tackling climate change. This is why they must show leadership in Poland and provide solutions that have the interests of the world’s poor at their heart.”
Oxfam says climate change is already affecting the lives of millions of poor people around the world and threatening progress made in pulling people from poverty, and progress must be made to stop global warming from exceeding 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
The full letter can be read here.
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