• About
  • Become a Climate Reporter
  • Send Us Your Report
  • Submit A News
  • Support Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
NEWSLETTER
Africa Climate Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • CLIMATE CHANGE
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
  • FOOD
  • FOREST
  • ENERGY
  • WASH
  • LAND
  • OTHERS
    • FINANCE
    • HEALTH
    • OCEANS
    • TOP STORIES
    • MOST POPULAR
    • COLUMNISTS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • OPINIONS
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEOS
Africa Climate Reports
  • HOME
  • CLIMATE CHANGE
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
  • FOOD
  • FOREST
  • ENERGY
  • WASH
  • LAND
  • OTHERS
    • FINANCE
    • HEALTH
    • OCEANS
    • TOP STORIES
    • MOST POPULAR
    • COLUMNISTS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • OPINIONS
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEOS
No Result
View All Result
Africa Climate Reports
No Result
View All Result

Reconnecting to mother earth

by editor
June 23, 2018
in ECOLOGICAL ECHOES
0
Home COLUMNISTS ECOLOGICAL ECHOES
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Cecilia Teela searching the oil-covered shore of Bodo creek, where she used to collect periwrinkles, Nigeria, May 2011. Today, she has to travel to a neighbouring state to make a living.  (PHOTO: Amnesty International)
Cecilia Teela searching the oil-covered shore of Bodo creek, where she used to collect periwrinkles, Nigeria, May 2011. Today, she has to travel to a neighbouring state to make a living. (PHOTO: Amnesty International)

By Nnimmo Bassey

Humans are rapidly losing a sense of being, of being human beings, of being just one of the beings among other beings on Planet Earth. Our inventiveness has radically changed our relationship with nature and we give little thought to actions which severely disrupt the right of Mother Earth to maintain her cycles.

This disruption of our intimate relations with nature comes at a price and the cost keeps mounting. The fact that something must be done to correct this has brought us together here.

This gathering presents us with an opportunity to remind ourselves of the brutal assault being unleashed on Earth defenders in parts of the world as they struggle to live in harmony with the Earth, defend their territories and resources and to live in dignity. It is hoped that in this gathering we will spare thoughts on the heroic struggles by brothers and sisters against the assault of extractive corporations bent on amputating the Earth through exploitative activities in mining, oil and gas.

RelatedPosts

Extractivism, Impunity and Human Rights

Pesticides and Our Right to Life

It is hoped that we will stand together to denounce corporations assaulting pollinators and soil organisms with agrotoxics and eroding biodiversity through genetic manipulations.

As we reflect on the assaults on the Nature and fashion ways to hold those that commit ecocide to account, we should also roundly condemn actions such as fracturing of the bones of the earth in search of shale gas and oil. We have already literally scrapped the bottom of the natural resource pot. It is time to pause and think. This is why we are here.

The maxim in today’s global political landscape appears to be that might is right. The rightness of that right may be contested, but the rise of unilateralism has rendered multilateralism almost cosmetic. The rise of prescriptive neo-liberalism couched in terms that suggest the respect of democratic ideals of liberty and fair competition has allowed an upsurge of military humanism in the world.

The backdrop of this scenario has been appropriately captured as disaster capitalism – a situation where disasters are seen as opportunities to impose a pre-planned superstructure that inevitably denies powerless citizens of the world their rights.

The whole idea is to hit the people so hard that they are pushed into a state of shock and while in that condition they are unable to react, collectively or cogently, to the harm being inflicted on them. Such disasters are increasingly man-made, although even natural disasters are equally exploited to dispossess the weak.

The path of current petroleum civilization is strewn with blood and skeletons across the world. The recent situation in Nigeria is a glaring example. Many wars have been fought and nations destroyed over natures gifts or resources.

In 1999, as the first barrels of crude oil were shipped from Sudan, so did the war between government forces and those of the then Sudanese People’s Liberation Army escalate. While the bombs were still being dropped in Libya, oil was being exported. When Iraq was invaded and blown apart, the offices of the Petroleum Ministry were spared.

Everywhere there are conflicts and wars today we see the raw situation of war waged for profit and resource appropriation and control. If this scenario blossoms unchecked, what we experience today will end up being nothing more than a whimper.

There are also less openly explosive conflicts going on today in the world. The lack of climate action on the basis of justice and common but differentiated responsibilities show a tendency were more resilient nations care little about vulnerable ones, especially those set to go under the waves if sea levels continue to rise.

We see the burden of climate action being placed on nature rather than being tackled by checking human consumption appetite and polluting actions. Efforts are being made to label forests as carbon sinks and to displace forest dependent communities in order to secure the carbon stock in the trees or soils or rivers. Market environmentalism elevates ecosystem services as the new and monetized way to see Nature and our environment.

We cannot be silent over this posturing that permits business as usual and places the burden for this indulgence on the poor. We should denounce false climate solutions such as plans for seizing the planetary thermostat through geoengineering. We cannot close our eyes to extreme genetic engineering procedures (including gene editing) that are bound to have grave and irreversible inter-generational implications.

The commodification of nature has done humans and other beings much harm. Our alienation from nature keeps us from seeing the intrinsic value of her gifts. The quest to appropriate, transform and accumulate resources has bred all manners of iniquitous social relations, oppression and outright brigandage be they in the form of petty exploitation or outright neocolonialism and imperialism.

We are here on common grounds. We are on a firm ground. We care about Mother Earth and all beings, knowing that she is constantly fighting for our survival. Time is running out, and we shall not indulge in long talks, but spend time sharing on the way forward on the urgent matters impacting Mother Earth and our lives as individuals and collectives.

We cannot afford mindless conflicts and wars that we see in the world today. It is time to take difficult but essential actions including halting dependence on fossil fuels, stopping polluting activities and reducing consumption levels within planetary boundaries. Conflicts and harms are certain to intensify as the non-renewable re-sources run out and as habitable environment for the reproduction of renewable re-sources reduce.

Earth Trusteeship demands that we reconnect to our roots, to nature and remind ourselves that the Planet can do without humans and that our future can only be secured if we live in harmony with Mother Earth and in solidarity with one another.

This Earth Trusteeship gathering brings much hope. We may not agree on everything; we may not even have the same levels of intimacy with the Earth, but one thing is clear: we are gathered as children of the Earth. We are here on the common ground that we care about Mother Earth and all her children. We all realize that rapacious exploitation of the Planet cannot continue on the current trajectory except some clever guys can invent or have already invented and patented a Planet B.

Together we can make a difference and get back on track aligned with Mother Earth.

Nnimmo Bassey’s speaking outline at the Earth Trusteeship Gathering, The Hague, Netherlands

Continue Reading
Tags: oil spillPollution
ShareTweetSendShare
editor

editor

Related Posts

Extractivism, Impunity and Human Rights
CLIMATE CHANGE

Extractivism, Impunity and Human Rights

November 29, 2023

Human rights Extractivism is deeply linked to ecological damage and the negation of human rights. Ecological damage disrupts ecosystems, from...

At the Crossroads of our Food Future
ECOLOGICAL ECHOES

Pesticides and Our Right to Life

November 8, 2023

Welcome Words by Nnimmo Bassey at HOMEF’s Training for Legal Practitioners and Rights Groups Held in Abuja on 7th November...

Next Post
Abidjan abrite le premier sommet des acteurs non étatiques sur le climat

Abidjan abrite le premier sommet des acteurs non étatiques sur le climat

Recommended

Beninese Rice Farmers hail Climate Resilience and Regenerative Agriculture  at Mega Field Day

Beninese Rice Farmers hail Climate Resilience and Regenerative Agriculture at Mega Field Day

2 weeks ago
Only seven countries met WHO air quality standards in 2024, data shows

Only seven countries met WHO air quality standards in 2024, data shows

2 months ago
South Sudan shuts schools for two weeks after students collapse due to extreme heat

South Sudan shuts schools for two weeks after students collapse due to extreme heat

2 months ago
‘Surrounded by an Ocean of Sand’: Desertification pushes Ancient City to the brink of oblivion

‘Surrounded by an Ocean of Sand’: Desertification pushes Ancient City to the brink of oblivion

2 months ago
UN urges immediate Climate Action to cool “Season of Fire and Floods” Worldwide

Botswana flash floods kill seven, displace thousands

2 months ago
Radio’s commanding power in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Radio’s commanding power in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

3 months ago

Popular News

    Social Media

    ABOUT US

    Africa Climate Reports is Africa’s first and largest bilingual journal dedicated to opening new vistas in the coverage and reportage of climate change and the region’s environment. With a multi-lingual team of talented reporters from across the continent, we tell the African climate story in a refreshingly lucid, communally engaging and technically robust manner.

    SITE LINK

    • About
    • Advertise
    • Careers

    OTHER LINKS

    • About
    • Become a Climate Reporter
    • Send Us Your Report
    • Submit A News
    • Support Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us

    NEWSLETTER

    Be the first to get notified when we have something new to share. Get Africa Climate Reports newsletter directly into your email.
    we promise not to spam you!
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Careers

    © 2024 All Rights Reserved- Africa Climate Report - Designed by Prexy

    No Result
    View All Result
    • HOME
    • CLIMATE CHANGE
    • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
    • FOOD
    • FOREST
    • ENERGY
    • WASH
    • LAND
    • OTHERS
      • FINANCE
      • HEALTH
      • OCEANS
      • TOP STORIES
      • MOST POPULAR
      • COLUMNISTS
      • INTERVIEWS
      • OPINIONS
      • PHOTOS
      • VIDEOS

    © 2024 All Rights Reserved- Africa Climate Report - Designed by Prexy