Experts Harp On Environmental Prudence And Sustainability In Africa

Experts on the environment have called on governments and individuals across Africa to develop a more pragmatic and sustainable means of interacting with the environment.

The experts made the call at the 3rd International Sustainable Development Dialogue (ISDD) held at Osun State University in conjunction with African Network of Environmental Humanities (ANEH), and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.

The Director, Global Affairs and Sustainable Development Institute of the university, Dr. John Agbonifo, said that the dialogue brought together world-renowned scholars and stakeholders to deepen the discourse and practice of sustainable development in Africa.

This would be geared towards reducing the effects of climate change and green house gas emissions on Africa, its people, forests and wildlife.

It would also be aimed at creating a responsible, mutually beneficial and sustainable relationship between man and his environment.

While setting the tone for the dialogue, the keynote speaker, Prof Sandra Swart of the Department of History, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, posited that history was not just about human beings.

She maintained that history would be incomplete if we left out animals and the environment as well as the interaction among the entities.

Swart said, “Human beings had a lot to learn from animals and that humans needed to also understand the best way to sustainably co-exist with other animals within the environment.”

Gregg Mutman, a Professor of Medical History and Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, pushed the dialogue further by stressing that Africa was an important place to begin the conversation around environmental humanities.

According to him, “Africa had contributed the least to global climate change crisis and yet ironically was projected to be most adversely affected by its consequences.”

He therefore stressed the need to develop more pragmatic approaches to maintaining local people’s relationships with the environment that would enable them eke out responsible livelihoods and move forward in a sustainable manner.

Responding to the charge, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, said his administration had an ambitious agenda for sustainable environmental management in its political manifesto.

He said his government was poised to deploy infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions, secure carbon credit and ensure climate resilience through multiple climate-related projects.

The Governor also said his administration would create a Climate Change Advisory Board and institutionalize climate change tracking and research in the state, which would be domiciled at the Osun State University.

The theme of this year’s dialogue was, “Making and Unmaking Africa: Global Developments and Environmental Humanities.”