Kenya Leads Africa in Climate Change Battle

African governments can incentivize international film companies including global advertising firms to consider promoting content around sensitizing the globe on Africa's role in the fight alongside the planet on the climate change crisis.

I've been reflecting on the recent Africa Climate Week (ACW 2023) that happened in Nairobi, hosted by the Government of Kenya. A much-needed discussion amidst the current climate crisis. Many bold declarations came out of this meeting with African governments, international partners and civil society showing a unified front in the battle against the diverse effects of climate change. The highlights culminated in the Nairobi Declaration, which will push for accelerated climate action and financing mechanisms.

While numerous comments were made to defend the need for climate justice in favor of African countries, the truth is that climate change is not the cause of all development issues, including Africa's poverty. Yes, African countries have borne disproportionate burdens and dangers as a result of climate change-related occurrences. That said, when does Africa assume ownership of its current development predicament?

Do our leaders believe that by pushing for greater resources to mitigate the effects of climate change, Africa will automatically become resilient? The ethos of climate justice is a noble one; ideally, richer nations that have developed on the backdrop of industrialization have contributed significantly to the degradation of the continent through high levels of carbon emissions, while poorer nations that have not developed to the point of having national resilient mechanisms now face the brunt of climate change the most.

I’d like to make reference to Japan’s post-Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bomb incidents of 1945, as this shows the resilience of a nation determined to overcome one of history’s worst attacks on the environment. How was Japan able to rebuild itself and even reduce the effect of such an incident? I am not an expert on Japan or nuclear bombs; however, I believe Japan looked internally and decided to rise like a phoenix and transform its environment and economy. This was devoid of external help. Today, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are thriving cities.

It is my desire that African governments and their citizens will not keenly depend on external resources and solutions to fix their climate-related challenges. With or without this help, Africa needs to come to the realisation that it has the capacity to innovate and design solutions from within that will see it overcome issues related to climate change, similar to the way in which Japan overcame its Hiroshima and Nagasaki disasters.

Key to fixing this is creating transparent systems where government shows real accountability for public funds meant for development. Many international organisations want to help Africa mitigate effects of climate change; however, the risk of green-washing remains. In Kenya, we had the COVID millionaires, individuals, many in government, who took advantage for personal gain foreign aid meant to help Kenyans cope with the COVID crisis. How do governments in Africa hope to be efficient with global resources aimed at helping their citizens mitigate climate change if they cannot fix basic transparency issues regarding tax payer money?

For Africa's progress to be sustainable, a concrete and real sense of ownership of the problem is required, and this is the duty of all its citizens, not just the government. Most developed nations, including the most recent nations that moved from developing to developed, did so devoid of much external influence. The business of selling carbon credits if used wisely can be a lifeline in which many nations in Africa can overcome their debt burdens.

Role of Film In Climate Change

African governments can incentivize international film companies, including global advertising firms, to consider promoting content around sensitising the globe on Africa's role in the fight alongside the planet on the climate change crisis.

FindMyAfrica is would be an ideal partner in helping international companies seeking to navigate or contribute to the narrative of Africa's contribution in the fight against climate change.