Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity today. Effects of climate change are being felt all over the planet albeit in an asymmetrical manner.
For a long period of time Africa has been enduring climate crisis more than any other continent mainly because of its dependence on rainfall for agricultural purposes, and its history of high rates of social inequalities. Climate change impacts on the dynamics that drive socio-economic tensions, and fuel the likelihood of violent conflict. Therefore, climate justice demands that the world, especially Africa, confront the challenge of containing environment change risks.
The African Union Transitional Justice Policy, which deals with redress and accountability for past harm done, omits to engage with the issue of climate change in a direct manner. The African Union (AU), on 12 February 2019 adopted the African Union Transitional Justice Policy which works “as a continental guideline for AU Member States to develop their own context-specific comprehensive policies, strategies and programmes towards democratic and socio-economic transformation, and achieving sustainable peace, justice, reconciliation, social cohesion and healing”. Scholars, institutions, and organisations on the African continent that are connected under the common banner of peace and reconciliation view the AUTJ Policy as “a game changer”, in terms of providing countries with a roadmap to ensuring just, equal and inclusive societies through local, national and regional initiatives. Nonetheless, peace and reconciliation cannot happen when environmental issues such as climate change are not addressed.
Climate change affects peace and security in Africa. Africa as a continent is highly dependent on agriculture for food production, employment, and income. Consequently, climate change poses severe risks to agriculture crop production and the availability of pastures for livestock. Furthermore, climate change increases the rate of rural depopulation and rural to urban migration which as a result affects dynamics of on-going conflicts in urban areas and increases the likelihood of violent conflict. Therefore, climate change will not only impact on human development but on peace and security in Africa in general. Hence, it is important and imperative for the AU to pursue to mitigate the effects of climate change on the African continent.
Peace-building operations that aim to promote building fair, democratic and inclusive societies are increasingly becoming difficult, because climate change is directly affecting the dynamics of on-going conflict in today’s societies and perpetuating the likelihood of violent conflict.
This interaction has been seen in recent years. For example, South Sudan, but can also be found in countries across the whole African continent: such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Botswana. The South Sudanese society has experienced decades of protracted conflicts. Some which was caused, in part, or exacerbated by climate change, which causes scarcity of resources forcing communities to raid neighbouring communities and causes people to migrate to new areas in search of resources for their own survival, thus increasing the competition for resources with the indigenous people, which then leads to violent conflicts.
The increase in flood and drought disasters in South Sudan since 1900, the decrease in rainfall and increase in temperatures in South Sudan since 1970s, has created conditions which have reduced the accessibility of communities to natural resources. Logically, the phenomenon of, conflicts occurring after floods or drought suggests that climate change has been contributing to conflict in South Sudan. In southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, and Mozambique climate change has caused catastrophic damage, and humanitarian crises that has led to political tension and conflict.
Due the climatic related change, the above mentioned countries have seen a decline in their ability to utilise natural resources to sustain their societies. Zimbabwe’s arable land to plough crops has decreased in size, due to hot temperatures and drought. Most of the land where maize and tobacco are grown has been decimated. Zimbabwe once known as the breadbasket of Africa has been reduced to a society that is reliant on external assistance.
Like many other Southern African countries, climate change has threatened human health, food and water security, and social, political and economic instability of many Zimbabweans. A significant number of Zimbabweans have fled the country to richer countries in search of better living conditions while majority of citizens live in poverty with an unemployment rate pegged above 90%, with only 5%-10% of the population working.
Tensions are bound to worsen in the country with a precipitous increase in popular unrest. Furthermore, cross-border migration has its consequences. For example, the influx of people from Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique increases the misery of the host nation’s population whose lives are already disrupted by conflict. This is evident in the xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. Mozambique has been hit by floods and cyclones, notably the floods of 2000-2001, and more recently Cyclone Idai, as well as droughts over the past two decades which have led to resource scarcity, which has caused unmanageable competition between communities.
Severe drought increases the prices of basic foods, and with the absence of employment opportunities the people of Mozambique have found adaptive measures to deal with the crisis. Some have migrated to richer countries, such as South Africa, whereas others have resorted to popular uprisings. For example, in September 2010, the uprising caused communal violence in Chimoio. The uprising took place after the government of Mozambique announced the successive rise in price of basic commodities and public transport fares. The government was entirely blamed for the uprising, popular unrest and collective violence.
However, one can argue that the real culprit is an extended period of climate change which is fuelling and will continue to precipitate crisis in Mozambique. The inference is that climate change causes drought, immigration, global warming, cyclones, and flooding, which triggers tension and conflict. Consequently, we cannot ascribe these tensions exclusively to the effects of governance, corruption and political suppression.
In Namibia, climate change is a matter of life and death. The country is highly vulnerable to disasters and natural hazards such as floods and drought. The effects of climate change pose serious threats to socio-economic development and the livelihood of rural communities, “which makes up 70% of the total population, who are heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture (livestock and crop production)”. Due to the increase of extreme weather phenomena, Namibians, in the short term, are found migrating from one area to the other escaping flood or drought-stricken areas in search for arable land, and water to enhance their survival and livelihood causing competition over resources. Therefore coastal populations have become climate refugees, triggering additional societal and political tension in the country.
For the past few decades, on the African continent, people have been migrating from one country to the other for various reasons and some of these reasons include environmental issues. Due to climate change, there has been a significant growth in natural resource scarcity, which has caused local competition, which has become unsustainable in societies where conflict resolution institutions do not exist. Therefore, in order to promote and sustain peace, strategies and policies that tackle climate change-related issues have to be considered.
Thus it was very important for the African Union to have included climatic related change issues in the, otherwise important, African Union Transitional Justice Policy.
Tanaka Manungo is Programme Intern, Peacebuilding Interventions, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town, and is finalising his Master’s Degree in Political Studies, University of Cape Town.
Article first published on News24
Re-Glaring Climate Change Omissions in the African Union’s Transitional Justice Policy
Let me first congratulate Tanaka Manungo for his/her excellent reflections on the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) and interest in the work of the African Union. For a Programme Intern to analyze the Policy from a climate change perspective the way he/she has done, certainly deserves a commendation.
The post-adoption phase of the AUTJP has witnessed few criticisms of the Policy. I will not attempt to reference all the backlashes, but the following three, namely, disregard for climate change, psycho-social counseling of the victims, and the African traditional approach to justice.
A critical scrutiny of the Policy will show that it emphasizes and provides for a victim centred approach to transitional justice programming. The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), one of the AU’s core partners on transitional justice, based in South Africa, is a specialist on transitional justice and psychosocial issues. The Centre brought to bear its expertise on this issue during the policy development and in the Policy.
On African traditional justice, some scholars were very critical of the African tradition(s) and their respect for human rights in justice process(es). Meanwhile, the AUTJP clearly indicates under the indicative elements of the Policy that all interventions should respect the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. This is how the Policy attempt to guarantee respect for human and peoples’ rights under the African Traditional Justice mechanism. It is also important to emphasize here that anything traditional does not necessarily means backwardness as some analysts have concluded.
At this juncture, it is also imperative for me to indicate that it took the African Union (AU) almost nine years (2010-2019) to develop, finalize and adopt the Policy. While developing the framework, the AU had more than three versions before arriving at the adopted edition. The previous versions, dealt virtually with all the transitional justice issues, including ‘‘climate change’’ as a violent/armed conflict causative factor and other issues like forced displacement, ethnic minority, psycho-social and others too numerous to reference here.
The volume of the previous drafts Policy was a concern to the AU Policy makers to the extent that the technical experts working on the document were asked ‘‘is the draft Policy a Ph.D. thesis?’’. The AU Policy makers made the technical drafters of the document realized that the Policy cannot cover everything under the sun, as the Policy is meant to be a continental guideline for AU Member States to develop their own context-specific comprehensive Policies, Strategies and Programmes towards democratic and socio-economic transformation, and achieving sustainable peace, justice, reconciliation, social cohesion and healing.
The foregoing underscores why all the transitional justice issues, although mostly referenced, but were not fully exhausted as expected in the Policy. The AU Member States are expected to use their discretion on the provisions in the Policy, bearing in mind their specific contexts in the development of their specific TJ programmes and interventions.
Finally, there is also the African Union Commission (AUC)’s Inter-Departmental Taskforce on Post-Conflict and Reconstruction and Development. This Taskforce is made up of different AUC Departments, including the Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) responsible for AU’s Climate Change. Members of the Taskforce are expected to provide all the necessary assistance and supports to the AU Member States implementing transitional justice programmes and the AUTJP. DREA has many impactive programmes on Climate change in Africa and is currently supporting some of the AU Member States in this regard.
Ikubaje John Gbodi, Coordinator, AUC’s Transitional Justice programme, Department of Political Affairs, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; E: mail: jikubaje@gmail.com: