COP27 Done and Dusted- So What Now?
COP 27 which was dubbed as an African COP because it was held on the African soil happened at a time when inequality in South Africa and the entire world was and is still worsening; costs of living are going up tremendously; and unemployment skyrocketing especially among the youth in South Africa, amid a crippling energy crisis and a life-threatening heat wave which has claimed the lives of Seven Farm Workers in the Kakamas in the Northern Cape in South Africa.
Climate Change is increasing the intensity of heat waves and all heat waves across the world. Extreme weather events from the scorching heat waves to unusually heavy downpours and devastating floods have caused widespread devastation across the globe in 2022. Millions of people have been killed through climate related disasters and disastrous floods in Bangladesh; the brutal heat waves in parts of South Asia and Europe and the worsening and prolonged famine in East Africa reveals that the worsening climate crisis requires bold and decisive action. Closer to home the devastating floods and landslides that happened in KwaZulu Natal in South Africa caused by heavy rainfall on April 11th- 13th 2022 and causing the loss of 448 lives, trauma; and loss of livelihoods are still painfully fresh in people’s minds. Communities have not yet recovered from the loss of lives, livelihoods, and the displacement of more than 40 000 people. Droughts, severe storms, heat waves, and wildfires are some of the ways the climate crisis is already affecting humanity on a large scale and mostly women, youth, and most vulnerable communities. Climate change continue to ravage communities in the urban and rural areas of South Africa.
Every year and every COP is critical to drive multistakeholder action across all areas as broad as raising climate ambition and moving from pledges to action; financing the net-zero transition; accelerating industry’s’ decarbonisation; ensuring water and food security; adaptation finance and innovation and more. Before the historic COP 27 started in Sharm El Sheikh, in Egypt so seek solutions to the climate emergency, GenderCC-Southern Africa had gathered the voices of what grassroots communities; women; youth and Indigenous Communities would expect from COP 27 in Egypt.
NEWS &
PRESS
Energy Democracy Declaration
Energy is crucial to life for all beings. It cannot be subjected to the laws of the market. Agree? Find out more and sign the Energy Democracy. Without intervention from a strong movement, capitalists’ embrace of green energy will wreck the planet and leave the working class behind. We must work together and fight for a real #JustTransition globally.
Movements Declaration: Our Future is Public – Energy Democracy
The influence of profit-driven energy corporations on governments, international institutions, and environmental conventions is evident. These policies prioritize greed and capital accumulation over ecological and human needs, revealing flaws in neoliberal market economics. As energy poverty and high bills affect billions worldwide, there’s a critical opportunity to transition to a just, democratic public energy system that prioritizes people and the planet over profit. This movement aligns with the broader struggle for climate justice, addressing intersecting issues of racism, classism, capitalism, gender exploitation, and environmental harm. While challenges exist, groups advocating for energy democracy are leading the way toward systemic changes for a better future on local, regional, national, and international levels.
PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL FOR JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION (PTJR)
The Make Big Polluters Pay global campaign was launched in 2019 to ensure that those largely responsible for the climate crisis are held accountable, and alternative paths are found for reparations in the face of corporate abuses, human rights violations, and destruction of the planet.
Conveners of the Make Big Polluters Pay campaign in Africa held a retreat in Uganda from the 15th – 17th of May 2023 and were hosted by the Kasenyi community in Buliisa District. This retreat included a community visit, dialogue, and a mock trial which was referred to as “The People’s Tribunal on Justice and Reconciliation.”
The People’s Tribunal was used as a platform to amplify the voices of community members, and to bring their claims of environmental and human rights infractions against them to light. The tribunal also assessed whether Total Energies has a case to answer, and to ensure these communities get the justice they deserve