By Njeri Irungu.
Africa, especially the church and indigenous communities have been called upon to speak against fossil fuels and extractive industry because of the evident human rights violations, family displacements, cultural interference, and the impacts on the environment associated with the said industries.
Speaking during the launch of the GreenFaith-Africa office in at All African Council of Churches in Nairobi, Meryne Warah, the GreenFaith Global Director for Advocacy, drew the attention of the multi-faith gathering to the destruction that the fossil fuel industry had caused people in Africa.
“We have enough renewable natural capital that can be harnessed to provide energy in Africa while at the same time living harmoniously with biodiversity,” said Ms Warah, adding that the faith communities were best placed to speak truth to powers that make decisions allowing foreign companies to destroy Africa’s beauty, environment and biodiversity through the oil and extractive industry.
The meeting was attended by representatives of indigenous communities, women and youth from several parts of Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and the DRC. There were also faith leaders from the Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and other communities.
Reacting to presentations by the various presenters, Rev. Dr Gibson Lesmore, the Director of Programs at the AACC, said: “We, as human beings, have a moral duty to preserve the embodiment of God in humanity, and that is by protecting our habitats.”
He rebuked efforts to sustain fossil fuels proliferation by playing with the language, especially at the global climate talks. “They are now talking of phase-down when we need a phase-out. The oil exploration in Africa is aided by insiders. We know the insiders, but we are not telling them the truth. Let us be united to speak truth to power around issues of climate change because these are matters of life and death. Silence is violence,” he said.
He called for more attention to the solutions different African and indigenous communities offered. “Listen to African indigenous knowledge and nature-based solutions, even in the face of development and technological advancement,” he said, adding that the global North’s efforts to dangle the carbon market when they had refused to honor the $100 billion climate fund pledge was pretentious. “Faith communities are our only hope. We must not politicize issues of climate change. Capitalism places its efforts on profits against human well-being. Matters of climate change are matters of life and death. No hypocrisy. No deceit. No lie,” he said.
GreenFaith Executive Director Rev. Fletcher Harper said: “Africa is on the frontline of the climate crisis. Global North corporations want to exploit the continent’s resources and addict Africa to fossil fuels. This is patently immoral. Our GreenFaith Africa team is campaigning for clean, safe, affordable, reliable energy for every African. We’re calling for millions of green jobs to lift people from poverty. We demand an immediate stop to new fossil fuel projects and loss and damage funds for those who have suffered permanent losses from climate change. Our faiths require nothing else.”
GreenFaith-Africa is now in 12 African countries. It brings together Christians, Muslims, traditionalists, Hindus, and others towards speaking on and about climate justice. It works with grassroots people of faith to stop new fossil fuel projects, and to call for universal access to clean energy and green jobs that can lift communities to a better future.