By Peter Makwanya
TOO much has been said about the environment as the epicentre of climate change while human activities have been cited as the main drivers of global warming activities. The placement of the human being in the whole climate crisis is sometimes not given much emphasis compared to what has been said about human activities.
Despite people being the main drivers of global warming through various activities, it is difficult to separate them from their anthropogenic activities. As such, we sometimes forget that it is the people who are on the receiving end of the climate risks. Therefore, human activities are sometimes given more coverage than people themselves. In this regard, human activities are not people, but the processes and the main ingredients of climate change.
With climate change least understood, least concretised despite the unfolding impacts as evidence, it is the most abstract, doubted and confused subject. The abstract nature of climate change is mainly pronounced through complicated science and statistics, although climate change is always referred to as an interdisciplinary and cross-cutting phenomenon. Interdisciplinary yes, but science dominates this community of practice more than human nature.
The facts, the ambivalences and the rhetoric from many sides and directions have not sufficiently placed human beings at the receiving end of the crisis as compared to the causatives.
In the midst of climate change calamities, the climate narrative needs to demonstrate that there is light at the end of the tunnel, the lighter side of climate change which can be humorous and satirical to a certain extent. Despite the urgency and serious nature of climate change, why can’t people joke and laugh about it and why can’t it be demonstrated that human beings have also come of age and are coming up with the amazing actions, responses and interventions that are instrumental in saving lives.
There are people who are dealing with extraordinary circumstances of climate change. These are climate heroes and foot soldiers as climate change has become one of the most challenging problems of the 21st century. The usual rhetoric and drama about forest rejuvenation and assumed afforestations around the world need to be matched with evidence on the ground with real heroes being acknowledged for putting carbon under the ground, cultivating and maintaining sinks. If done appropriately, these people will leave a legacy. Their stories will be spoken about for decades to come. Let these stories and their struggles shape the global climate discourse and be turned into lifelong testimonies. Investing in forest-cide or forest lies does not have a place in sustainable development because lies have short legs.
Mainstreaming climate knowledge and information dissemination for the rural people and the urban poor increases their preparedness for resilience and the overall knowledge and understanding of the broad climate phenomenon. It is critical for people to be able to translate climate information into pathways and actions in dealing with their own situations.
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As the majority of people’s lives are impacted negatively by climate change, there are people who are coming up with inspiring solutions in their communities. Their stories are yet to be told or documented. The reason why these narratives have not seen the light of day is because such voices are suppressed.
They cannot speak for themselves, someone has to speak and think on their behalf. They have limited access to platforms that assist them to air their concerns.
One aspect that many people do not seem to realise is that there is already too much carbon in the atmosphere (measurements don’t matter for now), which is enough to send shivers down the spines of many. Currently, there are people who are trying so hard to manage these emissions with or without the usual limelight which has chaperoned those from the developed communities, but they are in the background.
Back home, corporates like mobile telephone companies can help write the people’s history and also improve their corporate brands and images if they come up with the database for the disadvantaged and the marginalised, charge them less for data so that they are not left out from these developmental paradigms and also enjoy the benefits of technology.
It is common knowledge and in the public domain that these companies are in business, but as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), they can help people on the frontline of climate risks to help manage their situations. The same applies to energy companies, as part of their community engagement and CSR, they can situate people at the heart of sustainable development, climate resilience and mitigations. There is no form of climate justice which beats these climate action strategies-cum-corporate responsibilities.
Sustainable people-centred climate narratives strengthen livelihood options and help people avoid climate vices like climate migrations, climate-induced mental health problems and suicide, human-to-human conflicts, and human-wildlife conflicts as a result of competing for scarce resources.
Successful human-centred stories need the back-up of simple, clean and renewable rural technologies to produce electricity during the day, store it for cooking at night and lighting or power pumps that draw water from underground for household chores and small-scale drip irrigation schemes.
In this way, people will have been placed at the heart of green recovery, resilient and inclusive mainstreaming. It is instrumental and transformative to invest in people today for a better future.
In the resilience and mitigation discourse, people should be placed at the heart of sustainable development so as to strengthen their voices, livelihood options, for mitigations. This is important in changing lives, building strong institutions and infrastructural development.
- Peter Makwanya is a climate change communicator. He writes here in his personal capacity and can be contacted at: [email protected]
