Climate change is an outstanding debt of the government of El Salvador with the society, said chair of CESTA – Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Ricardo Navarro.

Navarro said the Salvadorean policies around the climate crisis are contradictory. He linked them with the promotion of agrofuels and the raise in the prices of the country’s basic products.

The climate change policy currently applied by the government aims to tackle the impacts instead of the causes of the climate crisis, so they are insufficient tools to address the issue, says Navarro.

“The communities are under serious threat, they face increasing vulnerability due to the lack of huts in Bajo Lempa, Usulutan”, he said. He also considered that the government’s aim should be to accept the climate situation and incorporate it in all its development plans.

Navarro claims that the issue of climate change should be taken into account from the inclusion of an Agriculture and Forestry Policy that promotes the proper use of land to create less vulnerability.

Rejecting the crops aimed at producing energy is an important measure, said Navarro. “We should make sure that food is destined to the consumption of the Salvadorean population and not to serve other interests”.

Food and energy policies would be fundamental strategies in the development plan, according to CESTA, since fossil fuels are some of the main causes of climate change and of greenhouse gases.

The ecologist also spoke about the lack of initiative to implement an Educational Policy so that people understand and become aware of the environmental crisis.

To secure the planet’s sustainability in the future is strictly related with the kind of commitment taken, emphasized CESTA’s chair.

Photo: rel-uita.org