Fairtrade at COP17: building bridges for the future

By Bill Corcoran, freelance journalist

COP17 delegates and members of civil society took time out from the Durban climate change negotiations on Saturday to attend a cocktail party arranged by Fairtrade and partner organisation the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

From early evening those who attended the event at the Southern Sun Hotel in North Beach, a stretch of Durban’s impressive beach front area, quaffed organic wines and nibbled cashew nuts and peanuts – among other things - provided by Fairtrade certified producers from around the globe.

Guests included members of civil society groups agitating for climate justice, journalists as well as negotiators representing different nations at the United Nations-sponsored climate change discussions. After a week in which it appeared that little head way was made to secure a second climate change deal by international negotiators at the International Convention Centre in Durban, a light-hearted evening appeared to be just what the approximate 100 guests were looking for.

An initial welcome speech was made by host Chief Adam Tampuri of the Gbankuliso Cashew Farmers Association in Ghana, and this was followed by a brief address from Fairtrade International Chief Executive Rob Cameron. Cameron described the work Fairtrade has been doing in terms of climate change advocacy, among others, before a toast was made by Head of Public Policy at the UK’s Fairtrade Foundation, Toby Quantrill.

Fairtrade producer Tomy Matthew from Kerala province in India also described how being Fairtrade certified had enabled farmers in his district to do more than just improve the living standards of their communities. ‘One of the first things we spent our Fairtrade premium money on was to erect solar panels that powered electric fencing we put up around our crops. We had experienced a lot of human/elephant conflict in our area, as the animals often would stray into our fields. Now though we are able to keep them at bay, protecting both of us. I think it is safe to say the nuts you are eating this evening are elephant friendly,’ he joked.

Cameron explained the purpose of the cocktail evening was to simply put a ‘Fairtrade stake in the ground’ at the United Nations climate talks (COP17) by inviting people along to a fun evening amidst the seriousness of the negotiations.

‘We want to bring people together who have an interest in Fairtrade and what is going on here in Durban. One of the things we do well is to get producers, consumers, non-government organisations and business into the same space. So in reality, this is what we are trying to do here: to build bridges between like-minded people so we can work together in a more fruitful manner in the future. With that in mind I am really delighted with the number of people who turned up,’ he concluded.

The Place in the Sun range of organic wines were kindly provided by Distell; the Cashew nuts and Peanuts came from the Fairtrade Alliance Kerela and the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi; coffee was supplied by Bean There, while the Rooibos tea came from South Africa.

Video by Fairtrade Africa: How climate change has adversely affected African farmers in terms of production