A POWERFUL pop-up exhibition called ‘Letters from the Global South’ is coming to Stourport to highlight the impacts of the climate and nature crisis.
The display can be viewed at the Wildlife and Countryside Fair which has been organised by the Wyre Forest Green Alliance and takes place at The Severns Club, Lickhill Road, from 10am to 2pm next Saturday, March 14.
The exhibition has been created using letters and pictures sent by school children from countries including Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa, the exhibition and seeks to show how the crisis is affecting people outside of the UK.
There will be other displays and stalls on similar wildlife and countryside themes at the Wildlife and Countryside Fair.
The exhibition’s creator Dr Alessandra Palange said: “We created this exhibition by asking children, parents, teachers and climate campaigners around the world to tell us how the climate and nature crisis was affecting their lives.
“Within a few months, we received handwritten letters, emails, photos and drawings from children and adults who are living in countries and communities experiencing the very real impacts of climate change and environmental destruction.
“The power of the exhibition comes from letting us hear the voices of people who we would otherwise never know existed.
“These are ordinary people, just like us, who live in communities that are on the frontlines of climate breakdown.”
Letters from the Global South is designed by Zero Hour and Muslims Declare to raise awareness of the cross-party Climate and Nature Bill currently in Parliament.
This proposed legislation aims to ensure the UK does its bit to keep to the 1.5C climate target agreed at Paris in 2015, as well as halting and reversing UK nature loss by 2030.
The Bill currently has the support of more than 130 MPs from all the main parties but, as yet, not Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier.
It is also backed by 200 scientists, 360 local councils, and over 500 organisations including The Women’s Institute, The Co-operative Bank, Ecotricity, Oxfam, and the River’s Trust.
Celebrity supporters include wildlife expert Chris Packham, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and businesswoman Deborah Meaden from TV’s Dragon’s Den.
John Rhymer, a Bewdley resident and Chair of the Green Alliance, provided the opportunity to host the exhibition.
He said: “I wanted to bring Letters from the Global South to Wyre Forest because it’s a brilliant way of reminding people that the choices we make in UK towns like ours have huge consequences for other people around the world, often those much less privileged than us.
“This exhibition gets you to think about what our responsibility is to others and about what changes we should be making to reduce our impact on the natural world.
“The biggest change we can make is to call on our politicians to take meaningful action on the climate and nature crisis sooner rather than later by backing the Climate and Nature Bill in Parliament.”
Visit: lettersfromtheglobalsouth.org for more on the exhibition and go to: zerohour.uk for more in the Climate and Nature Bill.
