People in Africa
are able to live
with their environment.
The natural environment
sustains their livelihoods.
But when climate change
impacts on
the natural environment
and people cannot live and
carry out their activities
to keep their
level of survival,
then of course they have
to move somewhere else.
Honored viewers,
welcome to Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
Africa is a continent
of diverse beauty
and natural resources,
but sadly this region is
increasingly being affected
by global warming.
The once majestic
Lake Chad, located
south of the Sahara Desert,
which spanned
25,600 square kilometers
in the mid-20th century
is now one-fifteenth
its original size.
Severe droughts and
serious food shortages
are currently
being experienced
by millions of Africans,
creating conflict
among peoples.
Africa’s
average temperature
is rising quicker
than the global average,
with experts projecting
that this trend
will cause even more
devastating droughts,
further food insecurity
as well as intense floods
and storm surges.
In today’s show,
we will speak with a true
environmental champion,
Mr. Nnimmo Bassey
from Nigeria.
For his role
in helping Nigerians
understand and protect
their environmental rights,
he was named by
the US news publication
TIME magazine
as one of the “Heroes of
the Environment 2009.”
Nnimmo Bassey is chair
of the highly respected
non-profit group Friends
of the Earth International,
which calls itself the
world’s largest grassroots
environmental network.
Friends has two million
members in 77 nations.
Mr. Bassey is also
executive director of
Environmental Rights
Action, also known as
Friends of the Earth
Nigeria, an organization
that addresses
environmental
human rights issues
in Nigeria.
He will share with us
his perspectives on the
environmental conditions
in Africa and discuss
the relationship between
migration and unrest
and climate change.
In our conversation
with Mr. Bassey,
he emphasized that many
of the harsh consequences
of global warming
that scientists
repeatedly warn of
are currently being seen
on the continent.
This is not an issue
of what will happen
in the future.
This is what is happening
right now.
And most of
these vulnerable,
poor communities
are being impacted
in many ways including
sea level rise already.
People are experiencing
coastal erosions.
Island states are finding
that their land
is being eroded and
getting submerged rapidly.
In Africa, you have
the additional problem
of desertification.
The Sahara Desert
is spreading southward
much faster than used to be.
Water bodies
are drying up already.
For example, Lake Chad,
the second largest lake
in Africa is almost a shadow
of its former self.
Global warming,
it means displacement
of poor local people,
destruction of livelihoods.
Farmers don’t have
the expectations
of good harvest
as they used to have.
They can’t predict when
to cultivate their crops.
So, there are multiple,
multiple impacts.
Desertification is
a serious issue in Africa
as it is being accelerated
by climate change.
The world’s largest desert,
the Sahara,
is located in Africa
and is advancing
at a pace of 6% a year.
It is estimated
that Nigeria loses
350,000 hectares of land
to desertification
annually.
And if I can use Nigeria
as an example, it gives me
a very good template
to explain the impact.
We have the desert
spreading from
the northern part
of the country.
In the southern part,
we have oil corporations
engaged in extremely
degrading activities,
releasing greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere,
carbon dioxide, methane
and the rest, and of course
causing global warming
and sea level rise.
And so, you’re having
people being displaced
from the south part
of the country
due to sea level rise
and coastal erosion
and salinization;
the coming in
of salt waters
contaminating what was
fresh water systems.
And then
movement downwards
of people displaced
by desertification.
So, you’re having conflicts
in the middle part
of the country.
And people think
these are ethnic
or religious conflicts.
But the real cause
of this conflict
as you understand
it is climate change.
So you feel that
there’ll be major conflicts
in the future
if we don’t address
global warming quickly?
Even now we are
having major conflicts
due to climate change
and global warming.
And we are going to see
a lot more of that
as more people
are displaced.
You are going
to find nations
who are erecting barriers
against migrants coming in,
those barriers
will be broken
by the migrating people
who’ll press
against the barriers.
It will become
simply unsustainable
to keep the people away
because people would
have no option
but to move from
where they used to live
to where they just can
find some level of survival.
So, we can expect conflict
over water...
Water is already
a very sore issue
when it comes to conflict.
In the Middle East,
water is like gold.
I am sorry to use gold
as an example, but
I mean just as a metaphor.
Water is like gold
and people are fighting
already over this.
There is a lot politics
going on,
a lot of conflicts going on
already about water,
water...access to water.
You have
a fresh water system
you could depend on before,
but now a lot of people
have to depend on
bottled water.
They call it spring water,
but most are not
better than tap water.
So you have
a lot of conflicts going.
We will continue our talk
with Nnimmo Bassey,
chair of Friends
of the Earth International
after this brief message.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home,
where we are speaking
with Nnimmo Bassey,
executive director
of the Nigeria-based
organization
Environmental Rights
Action and chair of
the environmental
protection network,
Friends of the Earth
International about
climate change in Africa.
The International
Organization for Migration
estimates that more than
24-million people
are currently displaced
worldwide because of
global warming, and
projects this number may
reach 1 billion by 2050.
Mr. Bassey now further
addresses this serious issue.
Many of the climate
refugees we have
in the world today,
some of them may not
really trace the root cause
of their displacement
to climate change.
And this is because
knowledge
of climate change
is still very limited.
People think that these
are natural occurrences
when rain doesn’t fall
when it ought to fall,
and when you
don’t have winter when
you ought to have winter.
You know all the things
are just going upside down.
But of course we know
that this is man-made
climate change.
It is not natural.
And so there are
a lot of people
being displaced already.
You know
in the small island states,
real climate refugees
are moving out because
they stand the risk
of being submerged,
and simply going
under the water.
I know a small island state
like Tuvalu in the Pacific,
many of the citizens,
I mean it is not
a very big country,
but many of the citizens
are looking for
where else to go.
They’re moving
to New Zealand
and other places.
And this is happening
in Africa.
A lot Africans
are moving to Europe.
It is not just because
there is no job in Africa
to do.
But now the question
we should ask is
why there are no jobs?
A lot people live outside
the formal economy.
They are not involved
in stock speculations,
they are not involved
in major banking issues,
and they are not employed
by government or by
transnational corporations.
They are just people
who make a living
by engaging in local
small-scale production.
Now when the environment
cannot support that
due to global warming,
then people have to
look somewhere else to live.
You find people
going to where
they can’t find anything
so they accept jobs
that others reject,
and then they are treated
with no dignity at all.
It is not out of choice,
it’s a matter of survival.
We asked Nnimmo Bassey
to comment on
how food insecurity
is being fueled by
livestock raising where
massive swaths of forests
are being rapidly cleared
to grow animal feed.
Let me just add to
the war and the troubles
caused by the addition
to meat especially
in the global north.
We campaign in the south
against genetic engineering,
especially our food crops.
Or genetic engineering
of anything at all,
we don’t support it.
Eighty percent
of genetically engineered
foods or crops
are destined for use
as animal feeds,
especially in Europe
and North America.
And to make this happen,
the monocultures lead to
degradation of forests,
deforestation,
and removal of space
for cultivation of crops
for human beings.
So, these are
real serious impacts.
And something needs
to be done about it.
In the west people are
consuming meat,
of course rearing animals,
factory farms
and all of that.
They even have
genetically engineered
animals and fishes,
and all these things.
People really need to know
what they’re eating
and what they are eating
is costing the planet.
Mr. Bassey feels
that to find solutions
to climate change
we should look to
the traditional way of life
led by our ancestors
which was simple
and emphasized
treating our Earth
with respect
and in a gentle manner.
I think generally
over-consumption
is a problem,
is a kind of sickness.
People are addicted to so
many things in the world,
even things when they know
something is unhealthy
for them somehow
people just say, “Well,
it’s going to happen
to somebody else.”
Take for example cigarettes,
it is written on the packet,
“This is dangerous
to your health,
they cause cancer;
it is going to kill you.”
And yet
people pay for poison.
Our forefathers lived
better than we do now, with
less material possessions.
And so they were happier.
People valued humanity,
valued each other,
valued the environment.
But today,
what’s happening, there is
competition everywhere.
People want to see
how much they can eat,
how much
they can accumulate.
And certainly
we have only one Earth.
We have a duty to,
of course, to share ideas,
share, share information
with one another about
what should be supported
and what needs
to be supported.
Also, we need to slow down,
eat slow food,
not fast food all the time.
Eat healthy.
Nnimmo Bassey,
we salute you for your
praiseworthy leadership
of two wonderful and
important environmental
organizations
and for helping
to inform the world
of how climate change is
seriously impacting Africa
and other continents.
May you continue
to be a guiding light
in advocating for
healing Mother Earth
so generations
that come after us
may live in a splendid
and clean environment.
For more details
on Friends of the Earth
International,
please visit
www.FOEI.org
To learn more about
Environmental Rights
Action,
please visit
www.ERAction.org
Thank you for joining us
today on our program.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
right after
Noteworthy News,
here on
Supreme Master Television.
May we always take kind
and compassionate care
of the environment.