Africa’s Creatives Are Promoting Sustainability to Combat Climate Change
In her 2004 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Wangari Maathai, the late Kenyan activist, spoke of the “central role” of culture in the political, economic, and social life of communities. She also charged Africans and the rest of humanity with their responsibility to the Earth, saying, “Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system.”
With a population of more than 1 billion and growing, Africa contributes the least of any continent towards global carbon emissions, but stands to lose the most if the projections for climate change are realized. This is further compounded by the fact that since 1900, east Africa is estimated to have lost more than 80% of forest cover, while west Africa has lost more than 90%.
Photo courtesy of CHUTTERSNAP.
Source: Quartz Africa (link opens in a new window)
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- Environment
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- climate change, governance
