All Hands on Deck, World Environment Day 2020 – Humanity at the Crossroads
Human civilization has been put on notice. And the fundamental issue of our time is the climate crisis. This climate emergency integrates so many of our present-day concerns with issues of economic sustainability, energy production, and social responsibility We are literally at crossroads.
We need to seriously reflect on our systems of social, political, and economic choices and how best we are responding to the enormous problems that have been and continue to be created by this climate crisis?
We cannot limit ourselves to a single solution if we are to avert this climate crisis. It will require the rigor of scholarly input, a sober analysis of our environmental bodies, a strong political will but most important of all, a massive resounding and civic awakening in response to this monumental challenge. As the voices of global environmentalists develop a consensus on clean energy resources, countries like Uganda are just getting excited about the discovery of oil as an economic saviour. Therefore, a variation of solutions needs to be tabled on how to effectively respond, how to transform our organizational setup, recognizing the need for new ecocultural collaborations, recognizing interspecies codependency, and frankly, spiritual awakening to the dire fate of our "Common home."
Specific to Uganda, among many solutions, and in response to this crisis, is the awakening of not only the youth but also children as spirited activists in this effort. A lot more needs to be done to bolster the civic imperative of non-government actors in the pursuit of a better, cleaner, and sustainable environment.
As the world continues to get ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, we still have to maintain some semblance of civility and order. 5th June will see humanity celebrate World Environment Day with a call to humanity to respect Nature and its Biodiversity.
With a constant concerted push to keep fossil fuels in the ground, advocacy for alternative renewable sources of energy, and the urgent need to beat plastic pollution as well as plant more trees humanity needs to step up her efforts with precision and diligence. Without this concerted effort, locusts and rising water levels from our lakes and rivers will be the least of our worries.
For this reason, Uganda’s Little Hands Go Green in partnership with 350Africa.org, NEMA Uganda, the National Forestry Authority Uganda and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Uganda is hosting a candid virtual workshop about Nature and Biodiversity and our role as the human race to ensure it is preserved on June 05th.
This online conversation will start at 2.30 pm East African time and will be streamed live on various social media pages including the 350Africa Facebook page, Uganda’s Little Hands Go Green Facebook and Twitter handles as well as the NEMA Uganda pages.
Join us and let’s share our voice of change and reason with the very custodians of our environment.
By Joseph Masembe, founder and team leader of Little Hands Go Green.
Ugandan communities concerned over oil’s deal amid COVID-19 crisis
The Government of Uganda has applauded the recent agreement that will see Tullow Oil Plc transferring its assets for Lake Albert Development project and the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline System to Total Uganda at $575 million (Sh57.5 billion).
According to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, “it is a critical development that takes the (Oil and Gas) sector towards the Final Investment Decision (FID) that the country is eagerly waiting for”.
That joy isn’t however shared with communities in Western parts of Uganda. They are deeply concerned that if the Ugandan government allows the presence of oil activities in the eco-sensitive areas such as the Ngaji block which have been put up for bidding to the investors, their lives will be ruined because they have depended on the tourism for their livelihood which will disappear.
If the government allows the oil exploration in the Ngaji oil block, which is located in the ecosensitive Lake Edward and Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP), this seriously will put such sensitive ecosystems at risk, triggering the slow but certain disappearance of the rich ecological, economic and social importance of such ecosystems. Agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and other income-generating activities for local communities are also likely to be negatively impacted.
Communities and activists are also worried about oil exploitation activities will also result in the generation and release of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, which goes against the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement ratified by Uganda.
As the world is going through a terrible situation of preventing and ending global coronavirus pandemic, Uganda, like all other signatories to the Paris Agreement should be more concerned about a Just Recovery Plan that focuses on health emergencies, addresses the urgent needs of people and support public health systems currently under severe strain. As of April 26th, the country has a total number of 75 COVID-19 confirmed cases.
By Edwin Mumbere - Kasese
Defending the Defenders
Last week Ugandan environmental defenders working around issues of environment and extractives met in Kampala for a 5-day workshop on risk assessment and security planning. The workshop was organized by Defend Defenders.
Five organizations working in the environment and extractives were present at the training that aimed at equipping participants with basic knowledge and skills on physical and digital security alongside empowering the participants to conduct security risk assessments and to identify strategies that would help them mitigate risks.
The workshop was inspired by a risk assessment done by DefendDefenders of the organizations that participated in the court case against Total for alleged human and environmental rights violations triggered by its operations in Uganda. Total is one of two operating companies of the Lake Albert Oil Project, together with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), and of the giant pipeline EACOP project., The risk assessment concluded the need to build the capacity of the organizations involved in order to ensure they are ready to prevent and respond to any security threats related to their work.
This comes a few weeks after a similar gathering organized by 350.org took place in Brazil that brought together climate defenders from 5 continents and 23 countries whose aim was to equip participants involved with similar skills and capacity related to safety, resilience and cross-regional solidarity.