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Perspective
AFRICA AS A SOLUTION TO THE CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS Africa finds itself in a very peculiar situation whenever the issue of climate change is brought up. However no one will hesitate to say that the role of Africa as a solution is much more plausible than Africa as the cause of climate change. We as Africans have to put ourselves in the position to restore our planet in a different way from the rest of the world. It is no news that a majority of African cities use far less energy than the rest of the world an better still emit lower CO2 and other green house gases than most continents in the world. So does this mean that Africa has a very small role to play when the debate of climate change is raised? definitely no. The African continent will still suffer enormously from changes in climate as the will be changes in climate, which will lead to changes in agricultural and tourist patterns. Agriculture which is a bread winner to the continent. The will be peace crisis which will stem from migration due to food shortages, desert extension and extreme climatic conditions. Etc A whole lot of these consequences are bound to be part of our future lives. How then can Africans come to the debating table when talk of climate security and the future of the planet are being raised? The first issue is with our lifestyles. Most people around the world are beginning to accept that they will have to change their lifestyles because of the concern they have for the environment. Most people still don't know how to change their lifestyles though they accept that it has to be changed. People must stop feeling that destructive lifestyles are synonymous to luxurious lifestyles. Africa sets the example of a low energy consuming, low CO2 emitting environment and this is largely due to their lifestyles. This by no means insinuates that the rest of the world have to live in abject poverty but what I am suggesting is that certain aspects of our lifestyles be copied and adapted to fit those of the other continents. The second issue I will like to stress is the important role Africa plays due to its large forest reserves. In Cameroon for example 40 percent of the land surface is covered by forest, and forest exploitation accounts for 6 percent of our GDP. These forest reserves do function like a lung to the earth the immense amount of CO2 that we emit in breathing or in pollution will be taken up by the trees in respiration how ever in partnership with so many African governments to logically eat up large chunks of these forest reserves. A 100 year old tree will sell at a meager 25 US dollars. This is shocking by any standard and very little is done to help the situation by replanting these trees. It is common knowledge for all of us that foreign governments do have enormous influence on our various government in Africa than the citizens .That is why we demand these countries to put pressure on the government to change and restructure their politics on forest conservation and also the greedy business men carrying out illegal logging and logging practices in the rainforest to stop. In this way we can have a bigger say on climate change than we do have now. The third issue has to be with research, if there has to be any chance of getting a source of renewable energy that is going to cover the need of all with the scale of coal or oil then attention has to be paid to Africa not just because Africa also boost large reserves of coal and oil but also because Africa is immensely gifted in natural resources. So it is important we invest in research so as to be competitive in the search for the next big energy source. The world has taken a new trajectory maybe because more and more people are being encouraged to go into charity work. So at present there is greater awareness of issues in Africa and Hollywood stars are bringing a lot of media attention to the global coalition for good. What does this signify? This there fore means Africa can play a bigger role on activism now than it could do before, this also means that the world is growing more sympathetic to causes in Africa and if the effects of climate change continue to be an issue tomorrow as it is now climate change will be the next Darfur. There are a lot of different roles we as a continent should and most do if the is going to be any sort of improvement or positive development to the global search of a climate change solution. This is an excerpt from my unpublished book: "AFRICA, IN THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE"  |