zur StartseiteVideo | Climate Justice A Harvest of Drought
Southern Africans are straining under the devastating impacts of climate change
A Harvest of Drought
In the 2010s, Southern Africa went through one of the longest droughts in its history. Many people lost everything: farms, livestock, jobs. Over five million people had difficulty getting food to eat. Two million small producers stopped farming altogether in South Africa. The drought also hit the other countries of the region: Madagascar witnessed the first drought in the world caused by climate change, with one million people facing hunger. Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other countries of the region bought grain or received food aid from countries like the United States.
Global warming is making it more and more difficult to farm. Rainy seasons are erratic, unpredictable and extremely short. These threats are real and we need to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees relative to preindustrial times. It is time that the world sat up and paid more attention to the unfolding that are hitting many communities, especially the poor, really hard.
At the same time, South Africa itself is the biggest emitter of CO2 on the African continent. Its economy is heavily dependent on coal - stuck in a "coal lock-in", as activists criticize. This video not only shows how the country is already affected by global warming, but also how activists fight for a just transition - and to turn state-owned power company Eskom, the biggest emitter on the African countinent, into an agency of renewable energy.