Talking Points on Climate Change and the Environment
Watch eloquent short video by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
"The destruction of the earth’s environment
is the human rights challenge of our time."
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Global warming and environmental damage from the
fossil-fuel industry already affect all of us, although responsibility
lies primarily with the rich industrialized countries and the newly
industrializing powers. Africa is the most vulnerable continent,
but extreme weather and sea-level rise have hit New Orleans and
New Jersey as well as Lagos.
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When industries make decisions based on short-term profits,
encouraged by government subsidies to established industries, they
systematically discount damages from "externalities." Visible
results include the devastation of oil-producing areas in the
Niger Delta and of coal-producing areas, whether in South Africa or West Virginia.
The longer-term consequences in rising temperatures and more
extreme weather will be even more devastating.
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Action to combat climate change depends in part on decisions made in international
conferences, where the primary obstacles to action are
the rich countries and the newly industrializing powers. But
efforts at many other levels are also of decisive importance.
Fossil-fuel divestment campaigns, as they grow and multiply,
can affect investment choices. So can technological innovation.
Notably, clean energy can already be more cost-effective than large-scale fossil fuel plants
in supplying distributed energy access to Africa.
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Workers
install off-grid solar panels in Kirambo, Rwanda.
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AfricaFocus Bulletin
March 3, 2015 East Africa: Water, Wind, and Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana, in the far northwest of Kenya and extending over the
border into Ethiopia, is the world's largest desert lake, in a
region that is central to archaeological investigation into the
origin of humanity. It is now also central to two different projects
for expanding renewable energy due to come on-line in the next three
years, one based on hydropower and the other on wind. While both
will significantly expand the input to the East African power grid,
critics charge that expansion of hydropower on Ethiopia's Omo River
also poses serious threats to the livelihood of local people both
around Lake Turkana and upstream along the Omo River.
February 24, 2015 USA/Somalia: Rising Threat to Remittances
When President Obama addressed the White House Conference on
Countering Violent Extremism last week, the media buzz focused on
his message that it was a counterproductive error to equate Islam
and terrorism. Some critics also pointed out the contradictions in
trying to win hearts and minds by parsing language while continuing
to fuel terrorism with drone strikes and collaboration with
repressive regimes. Virtually invisible, however, was the deep
collateral damage from the "financial war on terror," which
continues to impede remittances from Somali immigrants needed both
for survival and economic development in their homeland.
February 18, 2015 Africa: Privatizing Land and Seeds
"The G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition was launched in
2012 by the eight most industrialised countries to mobilise private
capital for investment in African agriculture. To be accepted into
the programme, African governments are required to make important
changes to their land and seed policies. ... [for example] Despite
the fact that more than 80% of all seed in Africa is still produced
and disseminated through 'informal' seed systems (on-farm seed
saving and unregulated distribution between farmers), there is no
recognition in the New Alliance programme of the importance of
farmer-based systems of saving, sharing, exchanging and selling
seeds." - Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and GRAIN, January
2015
February 11, 2015 Africa/Global: Archbishop Tutu on Fossil-Fuel Divestment
"The destruction of the earth's environment is the human rights
challenge of our time. ... The most devastating effects are visited
on the poor, those with no involvement in creating the problem. A
deep injustice. Just as we argued in the 1980s that those who
conducted business with apartheid South Africa were aiding and
abetting an immoral system, today we say nobody should profit from
the rising temperatures, seas and human suffering caused by the
burning of fossil fuels." Archbishop Desmond Tutu
More on:
politics&human rights|peace&security|health|economy|ict
AfricaFocus Archive:
by date | by place | by topic
February 5, 2015
Africa/Global: Stopping Capital Losses
January 26, 2015
Burkina Faso: Hopes for New Beginnings
January 21, 2015
Africa/Global: Ebola Lessons & Questions
January 13, 2015
Nigeria: Elections/Security Disconnect
January 6, 2015
Sierra Leone: Losing Out
December 15, 2014
Africa/Global: Postponing Climate Decisions
December 8, 2014
Africa: Reflections from an Elder Statesman
December 1, 2014
USA/Nigeria: Uneasy Alliance
November 19, 2014
Africa: Past Time for Bandaids
November 11, 2014
Africa/Global: Fossil-Fuel Divestment Growing
November 11, 2014
Africa/Global: Climate Change Summary Report
November 5, 2014
Africa/Global: Public Health, Shared Responsibilities
October 30, 2014
South Africa: In Africa? Or Not?
October 20, 2014
USA/Africa: Decent Work Agenda
October 14, 2014
USA/Africa: New Statistics on Immigrant Communities
October 7, 2014
Africa: Ebola Perspectives
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