The Africa Make Big Polluters Pay Coalition, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has trained journalists across Africa on covering climate crisis from an afro-centric perspective.
The two-day virtual training with the theme ‘Communicating climate change: Realities, impacts, and the need for action’, was hosted by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) in partnership with Corporate Accountability (CA), from April 22 to 23.
Elvis Méndez, CA’s managing director, said that the aim of the training was to renew the call for just climate reparations for Africa and the global south, that bear the most brunt of environmental crisis.
Méndez emphasised the need for journalists to hold corporations accountable for their actions against the environment through storytelling.
“Corporations must be held accountable for their actions, most pollution is generated in the global north, yet it is the global south that suffers the most,” Méndez said.
Speaking during the training, Nimmo Bassey, the executive director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, (HOMEF), reiterated that there was the need for developed countries to scale-up climate finance for global south, to help vulnerable communities adapt to the changing environment.
Bassey who spoke on the topic ‘Loss and damage fund, climate finance: Where is Africa? noted that the continent has been stripped of its resources for centuries without receiving corresponding benefits. He called for international cooperation and support for African nations in their fight against climate change.
Kwami Mkponzo, executive director of the centre for environmental justice, Togo, expressed concerns over the effectiveness of the carbon market trading systems, warning that it would encourage polluters to continue degrading the environment.
“While this system aims to incentivise emissions reduction, it may disproportionately affect developing nations, particularly in Africa,” Mponzo said.
The training also featured media-focused sessions, with a call for journalists to expose the realities of the climate change issues and also to put to practice what they have learnt.
Story was adapted from the Cable.
