Climate change 'hearings' on tour

Greenpeace activists fix a banner near a former checkpoint during celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall

The effects of climate change and how people cope with it are to be recorded around Wales and sent to a United Nations (UN) conference.

The "climate hearings" organised by Oxfam begin in Aberystwyth on Wednesday, and are also in Cardiff next Monday and Llangefni on 19 November.

People's stories will be recorded and passed to government officials going to a conference in Copenhagen next month.

Among the speakers in Aberystwyth will be writer and activist George Monbiot.

Oxfam has said that the number of people hit by climate-related disasters was expected to rise by about 50%, to reach 375m a year by 2015.

Accounts of honest first-hand experiences will be turned into effective pressure Luned Jones, Oxfam Cymru

Current humanitarian systems are barely able to cope, said the charity.

Luned Jones, of Oxfam Cymru, said the focus of the hearing would be "first-hand witness accounts, from home and abroad, of what people are suffering".

'Give a voice'

"Held all over the world from Australia to Peru, Malawi and the USA, hearings give a voice to those most affected by climate change," she said.

"Accounts of honest first-hand experiences will be turned into effective pressure."

Oxfam said the climate hearings would hear testimonies from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Colombia, Kenya, Nepal, as well as Wales and England, demonstrating the current impact of climate change.

Among the speakers at the National Library of Wales on Wednesday will be environmental writer and activist George Monbiot.

Meanwhile, dairy farmer Wyn Evans, from Pembrokeshire, will speak about the changes he has seen on his farm and how he has been forced to change his farming methods.

Among the speakers at the hearing at Cardiff City Hall on 16 November will be council leader Rodney Berman, talking about climate change in the city.

At Oriel Ynys Mon in Llangefni on 19 November, speakers will include Martha Musonza Holman from Zimbabwe.