What is Africa’s specific climate agenda?

climate change

AFRICA continues to experience the negative impacts of climate change across all sectors including agriculture, energy, forestry, land use planning, transport, wildlife, weather, health, welfare and education.

The continent has tried everything to find solutions to the climate problem, but the remedies used do not seem to be the ones the continent needs. In this regard, Africa seems to be importing remedies to solve its climate problems, thus worsening the climate dilemma.

While it is in the interests of globalization for countries to network and collaborate on issues that affect the global landscape, Africa seems too intoxicated with borrowed and prescriptive dosages from elsewhere to adopt its own.

The continent does not lack its own climate agenda and should therefore mobilise its resources to finance its own climate agenda.

The continent is negligent in managing its natural resources, which is why it is constantly asking for funding to combat climate change. Without the endemic corruption and mismanagement of its natural resources, Africa could finance its climate challenges and not the other way around.

The continent has long played the victim card, while opening the door to abuses by developed countries. Africa needs to shine a light on some of the climate solutions it imports, as there are now more questions than answers. The issue of carbon markets and trading is controversial and subject to debate, while the issue of carbon neutrality is unachievable, which amounts to either greenwashing or climate propaganda.

The same goes for the invasion of genetically modified foods (GMOs) on the continent, thus destroying food sovereignty. Africans will never understand the interest of carbon credits for their situation when their forests are sold to foreign countries, especially those who are not fortunate enough to have natural forests.

Africa does not need GMOs, even though they can contribute to food security. It is their impact on people’s health and well-being and on the environment that is a major concern. One may wonder how these food systems can be part of the African climate agenda.

GMOs are the result of food colonization which has been a very powerful and deceptive tool, heavily imposed and poorly informed. Captured Africans now treat their own local food products with disdain, contempt, suspicion and distrust.

The capture and misappropriation of African food has led to people losing their food sovereignty, rights and belief systems to nations that always have new ways to enslave Africans without them realizing it.

Net zero refers to a state in which greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere are balanced by their removal from the atmosphere.

This implies that net zero means that, for carbon dioxide, this is the state where global warming stops. Furthermore, it is difficult to reduce runaway greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that ongoing emissions are offset by removals through carbon sinks.

Although it is part of the Paris Agreement, it is unclear how emissions would be regulated even with the 1.5 degree Celsius benchmark, given that there is no monitoring mechanism or consequences for those who pollute more.

The concept of carbon credits will never be clear to communities who consider forests as theirs, because carbon credits are a rip-off and kleptomaniac tendencies on people’s heritage. The concept of carbon trading is for developing countries to set up carbon credit systems that balance climate change adaptation, mitigation and climate finance.

Industrialized countries finance green projects in developing countries and, in return, these countries receive carbon credits to offset carbon emissions from elsewhere.

The carbon credit system looks good on paper, but very poor and ambiguous in practice, and one wonders to what extent it is an African climate program aimed at selling the people’s heritage to the highest bidder or to carbon criminals so that they continue to emit greenhouse gases.

Furthermore, to what extent is Agenda 2063 for Africa, “the Africa we want”, an African agenda? Agenda 2063 is Africa’s blueprint and master plan to make Africa a global power of tomorrow.

The Africa We Want runs from 2013 to 2063, judging by its major flagship programmes, which are unclear on heritage issues, particularly scientific systems and indispensable indigenous knowledge. In the flagship issue 14 “Great African Museum”, only the word culture is mentioned, but it is not specified which culture is meant.

When it comes to the buzzword, “Agenda 2030,” many Africans are not aware that this agenda is not the brainchild of their presidents but of the United Nations.

There is a lot of misinformation and too many conspiracy theories regarding the 2030 agenda, which leads to a distortion where some people think that Vision 2030 is a party slogan.

The construction sector also needs to demonstrate resilience by localizing building materials that are suitable for local conditions and environments. Importing quality building materials is beneficial for the beautification of buildings, but is not essential for environmental sustainability and the circular economy.

Some imported building materials are not designed for local conditions and emit greenhouse gases, which result in e-waste. The African climate agenda must transform and reform African building standards to make them climate resilient, especially in the face of recurring disasters.

It is in this light that the African continent has a clear, specific and well-articulated climate agenda to ensure sustainable development. Procedural and structural ambiguities work against the desired results and successes.

• Peter Makwanya is a climate change communicator. He writes in a personal capacity and can be contacted at (email protected)

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