Demands just reparation for Africa, Global South
As the Africa Make Big Polluters Pay (MBPP) Coalition wraps up a two-day training for journalists across the continent on climate change reporting, the media have been called upon to sustain coverage of the climate crisis from an Afrocentric perspective.
The coalition also renewed its call for just climate reparations for Africa and the Global South, which bear the most brunt of the climate crisis. The virtual event, which was held on April 22 and 23, featured no fewer than 51 climate journalists from the print, electronic and online genres, and advocates from at least eight African countries, in addition to experts from Nigeria, Togo, The Gambia, the United States and India.
Themed, ‘Communicating Climate Change: Realities, Impacts, and the Need for Action’, the training was organised by the MBPP Coalition and hosted by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), in partnership with Corporate Accountability (CA), with a focus on equipping journalists with the knowledge and skills necessary for promoting environmental justice and accountability.
The event also sought to demystify climate science and politics, providing participants with tools to effectively advocate for change. By uniting diverse stakeholders, the training aimed to cultivate a shared language around justice and environmental responsibility.
Day one featured presentations and remarks by leading environment and climate change experts, including the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr Nnimmo Bassey; Corporate Accountability’s Managing Director, Elvis Méndez; Executive Director of Centre for Environmental Justice, Togo, Kwami Kpondzo; CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi and CAPPA’s Senior Climate Change Programme Manager, Olamide Martins.
Mendez, who heads CA’s campaigns, said: ‘We are living in precarious times,” underscoring the urgency for collective action against climate change. He also highlighted the significant power that corporations hold over governments.
The training also addressed the disparities in contributions to global climate change, particularly between the Global North and African nations. Bassey, in his presentation, ‘Loss and Damage Fund, Climate Finance: Where is Africa?’ harped on the importance of climate finance for both reducing emissions and helping African communities adapt to the changing climate.
Elaborating on the historical context, Bassey said: “For centuries, Africa has been stripped of resources without reaping the benefits.” Oluwafemi explained that journalists play a crucial role in curating the climate change message.
‘We need journalists to educate the people to mount pressure on policymakers and governments to be able to take appropriate action, as well as mobilise communities, to build communities of resistance to the destruction of climate change and our world,” he added.
Director of Media and Press at CA, Kristin Salvage, said: “You might be telling stories to people, kids, maybe not just children in numbers, but you would be hired to face the atmosphere of the voice response.”
She advised journalists to use first-person storytelling by speaking directly with people, adding that having a good relationship with other people makes things easier, as one can have access to resources.
Communications Coordinator at Demand For Climate Justice (DCJ), Esthappen S, underscored the rampant issue of disinformation that distorts realities and undermines public trust in institutions.
“Accurate journalism is vital to shift public perception and promote informed decision-making,” Esthappen asserted, reminding attendees of the importance of scrutinising information sources, especially in the age of social media, where misleading narratives often proliferate.
In his closing remarks, Deputy Executive Director of Household Disaster Resilience Project (HELP-Gambia), Dawda Cham, urged journalists to expose the realities of the climate change issues and also put into practice at their various organisations what they have learnt.
