Decolonising the fight against climate change

The world is not prepared to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, making climate change already a generational crisis for Africa.

Sam Cheptoris, Ugandan Minister of Water and Environment (UNFCCC, 2021)

In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report set off alarm bells for activists and governments by confirming that some of the consequences of environmental degradation are already inevitable. These alarms have long been sounded by communities in semi-arid areas that are losing their production to the advancing desert and their families in community conflicts. As Fousseny Traore, president of Friday's for Future Senegal, reports: "Floods, heat waves, high winds and famine are giving way to the threat of terrorism," as men and women find themselves in need of protection and sustenance and join extremist groups.

The report details the outlook for the coming years by region, noting that temperatures in Africa are rising faster than in the rest of the world. With it, extreme weather events, such as torrential rains, which affect agriculture (Ongoma, 2021) and housing, are becoming more acute. The most affected area is the northern and Mediterranean region, which along with southern Europe is experiencing extreme heat waves, droughts and an increase in forest fires. South Africa and Madagascar also face multiple challenges. The most vulnerable sectors are agriculture, water, electricity production and health. Finally, what is happening in the east is paradoxical: rainfall is projected to increase, which could be positive for agriculture, but at the same time generate flooding in drier areas. However, outside of a global pandemic, the most alarming consequence should be an increase in malaria as temperatures rise (Ongoma, 2021).

Climate change and environmental degradation have a direct impact on social and economic dynamics, as well as being considered a risk to national and international security (Busby, 2008). Understanding the phenomenon as a structural issue emanating from the post-industrial relationship of humans in society with nature puts the focus on the root of the problem rather than its consequences. It can therefore promote a holistic resolution (McDonald, 2018).

In the specific case of the African continent, this dysfunctional human-nature relationship is accelerated in the colonial era. The Western industrial boom coincides with the colonisation of the continent, the exploitation of which is necessary to increase production levels. There is a correlation between European settlement and the systematic destruction of the ecosystem. With the imposition of the Western model, a transformation of modus vivendi, culture, cosmology and overexploitation of the environment begins.

Figure 1: History of global temperature change and the causes of recent warming (IPCC, 2021, p. SPM-7).

After independence, far from returning to pre-colonial models, the ideology of "development" is promoted, a transitive concept that praises economic growth. After the Second World War, the United States promoted the end of colonies and replaced the coloniser-colonised scheme (Rist, 1997) with the solidarity-needy one. In his inaugural address in 1948, President Truman first used the term "underdeveloped", characteristic of colonised states. While this issue is used in the critique of economic development, it is also useful in understanding climate change. Development programmes not only allow for the deployment of what Rist (ibid.) calls a new "anti-colonial imperialism", but also promote the ideology of economic growth and resource overexploitation, leading to the environmental crisis.

These models of overconsumption have catalysed a series of risks and threats to human security, national security and international security. The acceleration of global warming and its associated meteorological and geological consequences are in themselves a threat to the livelihoods of thousands of communities. However, the indirect impact is even more worrying. We can take a journey from west to east and link major crises to environmental degradation.

Figure 2: Fishing pier in The Gambia. Credit: Viviane Ogou

Let's start in Senegal. Thousands of communities make their living from fishing. In the morning, the men go out to sea with their dugout canoes and nets. In the afternoon, they land a haul of food that the women clean and tidy for cooking and selling. And so it goes methodically until the Senegalese government and the European Union agree that the blue boats will be allowed to fish in the Atlantic waters (Portell, 2020). The cayucos that used to accompany the fisherman will now accompany the young people who travel to Europe to find work. The production model that increases the global temperature is the same one that pushes people to emigrate.

We return to the cayucos, this time against the current. We go up the Senegal River to the junction with the Niger River and, from there, straight to the centre of Mali. A state that is actually two, or many, since the northern and central areas are controlled by different groups under the banner of Al-Qaeda or Daesh, among others. Boubacar Ba, a renowned Malian analyst, explains how part of the root of community conflicts is due to ecological issues. Environmental degradation affects property, which increases conflicts over land. The country, which is in a semi-desert area, the Sahel, is experiencing first-hand the advance of the desert.

The last trip will not be by cayuco. We will fly to the centre of the continent, where coltan is stained with civilian blood. The production of technology, with which we will be able to make an ecological and digital transition that will facilitate the reduction of carbon emissions, continues to respond to the logic of the system. The aim is not to achieve a global transition to an innovative model of relationship with the environment and people, but to mitigate the consequences and slow down the process. These three examples are also three of the strategic priorities of Spain, the EU and other member states. In other words, the social and economic models that we export through public diplomacy and development policies are models that are part of the causes of instability in the first instance. These are the models we started exporting in colonial times.

Vanessa Nakate, a young Ugandan woman internationally known for leading the climate justice movement with Greta Thunberg, denounced on social media this summer that although Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, lack of vaccination, lack of funding and difficulties in obtaining visas denied her communities' participation in spaces such as COP26. How can a community be saved without the community? Is this logic not a colonial vestige? To curb climate change, it is necessary to focus on intra- and extra-continental relations with nature and promote sustainable patterns of living so that the deterioration can be slowed down. Young people and indigenous communities have a central role to play in this.

Stella Nyambura, Kenyan scientist and activist, explains that one of the biggest challenges to tackling climate change is knowledge. Most of the documents discussing the challenges and proposals for change are in English. However, the most affected communities speak indigenous languages. To innovate, these communities must understand the challenges they face and gain tools to strengthen their resilience.

While solutions must come multilaterally and globally, there is a need to move away from appealing to individual conscience and focus on patterns of living, production and consumption and put the spotlight not only on the climate consequences, but also on the human rights consequences. Sustainability work is not possible as long as our companies directly or indirectly finance child labour or exploitation. Decolonising climate change activism and advocacy means putting vulnerable communities at the centre, listening to their needs and proposals, and not leading a problem whose cause lies in the patterns of life we promote. Indigenous communities live their daily lives with sustainable practices from which ideas and models can be drawn. Africa is an agent of its own path towards sustainability, resilience and the fight against climate change, and in turn can contribute enormously to the global stage.

In conclusion, the fight against climate change is not about remedying the consequences, but about transforming the way we relate to the environment. This kind of dysfunctional relationship also exists between human beings, in both cases in the form of colonisation or unbridled exploitation. Today, colonial history continues to have consequences. Although Africa contributes only 3.2% of greenhouse gases, and does not directly consume the products derived from the exploitation of its mineral resources, it is the continent most affected by environmental degradation. If we are to offer a real solution, we must transform the rules of the game and offer more leadership, at least in vision, to a continent with multiple models of relationship with the environment. We must therefore strengthen the agency, give more visibility and provide tools to the activists, entrepreneurs and social movements that are already transforming the continent.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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McDonald, M (2018). Climate change and security: towards ecological security? International theory (2018), 10:2

Ongoma, Victor (11 August 2021) Insights for African countries from the latest climate change projections. The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/insights-for-african-countries-from-the-latest-climate-change-projections-165944

Portell, J (2020) Cinco motivos para entender por qué han venido 20.000 senegaleses a Canarias. Blog África Vive, Casa África. Disponible en: http://blog.africavive.es/2020/12/ cinco-motivos-para-entender-por-que-han-venido-20-000-senegaleses-a-canarias/

Rist, G. (1997). The History of Development. pp, 70-75.
UNFCCC, 27 sept. 2021, Africa Climate Week 2021 Builds Regional Momentum in Advance of COP26. Available at: https://unfccc.int/news/africa-climate-week-2021-builds-regional-momentum-in-advance-of-cop26

Viviane Ogou, CEO del Think-and-do Tank juvenil La Puerta de África
Blog Es Africa