September, 24 2020, 12:00am EDT
Actions Across Africa Calling for Urgent Solutions to the Dual Crises of Climate Change and COVID-19
Youth climate strikers under the banner of Fridays for Future have called for a Global Day of Climate Action on September 25th.
WASHINGTON
Youth climate strikers under the banner of Fridays for Future have called for a Global Day of Climate Action on September 25th.
In response to this call youth leaders, civil society groups and grassroots movements are organizing actions across the continent to send a powerful message to the leaders that there is need for a just recovery.
Photos and videos will be available after the events.
Key Activities by Country:
KENYA
- On September 25th and 26th, there will be graffiti installation in Mathare, Nairobi, followed by a community dialogue on climate impacts and its mitigation. Press contact: Ndereva Mutua Mwende, nderevamutua884@gmail.com, +254 790 657087
- On September 25th, there will be a live virtual concert to launch the Afrika Vuka song by local artists aimed at mobilizing young climate activists to join the climate movement. Press contact: Steeve Kezamutima kezamutimas@gmail.com +254 700 576154
- On September 25th, there will be a march and virtual strike targeted towards the Ministry of Trade and US Embassy in light of the recent US - Kenya trade deals posing to rekindle the once banned plastic use in Kenya to ensure that the plastic ban stays in place. Press contact: Eric Damien ericdnjuguna@gmail.com +254 719 555133
UGANDA
- On September 25th, there will be a film screening in Kasese highlighting oil exploration and its impacts. Press contact: Edwin Mumbere edwinfantam@gmail.com +256 773 558257
- On September 27th, the Uganda Little Hands Go Green will be hosting a virtual Green Kids Festival to bring together all the young green ambassadors to speak about the conservation of Bugoma forest and the environment as a whole. Press contact: Joseph Masembe masembe@littlegreenhands.org +256 756 249000
BURUNDI
- On September 25th, a march followed by a music concert will take place in Gitega by Espoir Scout Burundi. Press contact: Jean Claude scoutespoirmagarama@gmail.com +257 79 91 47 19
- On September 25th, over 900 students will come together in Kinindo, Bujumbura to raise awareness on climate change impacts and renewable energy. Press contact: Audrey Habonimana audrey.habonimana@rutareinitiative.org +257 69 86 88 00
EGYPT
- On September 25th, the Green Society Alexandria will unveil an animated video to create awareness of the climate crisis in Egypt as well as push the message for a need to build back better after the crisis. Press contact: Asmaa Hanafi asmaahanafi22@gmail.com +20 102 230 1723
DRC
- On September 25th, in Kinshasa, painters will join youth activists to draw and design posters with Just Recovery messages while calling for a stop to oil exploration in Virunga. The artwork will then be shared on social media during a twitter storm and delivered to the President of the Republic and Minister of Energy. Press contact: Andre Moliro andremoliro2@gmail.com, +243 811 607 726
- On September 26th, an open day for climate action will take place in Goma, bringing together youth, civil society will be held to call for a stop to oil exploration in Virunga. Press contact: Ephrem Bwishe ephrb@yahoo.fr, +250 786 772 165
CAMEROON
- On September 25th, a film screening will take place at the University of Yaounde to raise awareness on climate change impacts focusing on the vulnerability of women and renewable energy as an alternative. Press contact: Felicite Djoukouo, felicite.djoukouo@gmail.com +237 75787046
GHANA
- On September 25th, the group 350 GROC will be organizing a virtual debate on renewable energy in Ghana and a just recovery post COVID. Press contact: Portia Adu Mensah 350groc@gmail.com +233 26 268 5618
TOGO
- On September 25th, there will be a movie screening in Lome to showcase the effects of coal and renewable energy opportunities in Togo. Press contact: Esso Pedessi essoklnam@gmail.com +228 90 96 32 91
BENIN
- On September 25th, a Women's March for Climate will take place in Lalo to raise awareness on climate justice and the potential of renewable energy. Press contact: Maimouna Adamou, ongjupd@gmail.com +229 99992562
The climate youth movement was sparked by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg's solo protest in August 2018. Now is a year on from the biggest climate mobilisation ever last September. The 25th will be the movement's first major street protest of 2020 in many countries, and Fridays For Future have announced protests in over 3000 locations around the world.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
LATEST NEWS
Container Ship That Destroyed Baltimore Bridge Has Troubled History
The Maersk-chartered MV Dali—which lost propulsion just before the collision—not only was involved in a previous crash, but was also briefly detained last year over problems with its propulsion system.
Mar 26, 2024
The mega-container ship that lost propulsion before toppling Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in a Tuesday morning collision was involved in a previous crash, and was cited last year for propulsion-related problems.
Newsweekreported that the Maersk Line Limited-chartered MV Dali—which crashed into the Interstate 695 Patapsco River crossing just before 1:30 am, causing the span to collapse and sending a construction crew into the water—collided with a wall in the harbor at Antwerp, Belgium in 2016. The accident, which was reported by Vessel Finder and other outlets at the time, was attributed to errors made by the ship's master and pilot.
The 9-year-old Dali was also detained by port officials in San Antonio, Chile last June after inspectors discovered a problem related to the vessel's "propulsion and auxiliary machinery," according toThe Washington Post, which cited records from the intergovernmental shipping regulator Tokyo MOU.
The ship's owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and operator, Synergy Marine, "have been sued at least four times in U.S. federal court on allegations of negligence and other claims tied to worker injuries on other ships owned and operated by the Singapore-based companies," according toThe Associated Press.
Maersk was also sanctioned last year by the U.S. Labor Department for allegedly stopping employees from reporting safety concerns, documents published by The Lever revealed.
According to a July 14, 2023 Labor Department letter to Maersk regarding an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation, the Danish company "suspended and then terminated" a worker "in retaliation for reporting unsafe conditions and contacting the U.S. Coast Guard."
The fired employee "engaged in numerous protected activities" including reporting a leak and the need for repairs to a ship's cargo hold bilge system, alcohol use aboard the vessel by crew members, and inoperable equipment including an emergency fire pump and lifeboat block and releasing gear.
The search for six construction workers who were on the bridge when it collapsed into the river was suspended until Wednesday, according toThe Associated Press. The workers are presumed dead by their employer, Brawner Builders. Local media reported that multiple vehicles plunged into the river and that two workers—one of whom was briefly hospitalized—were rescued from the water.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Pentagon Urged to Just Say No to AI-Powered Killer Robots
"The Department of Defense should declare its opposition to the development and deployment of autonomous weapons."
Mar 26, 2024
The watchdog group Public Citizen on Tuesday led a letter urging Pentagon leaders "to clarify that the Replicator Initiative will not involve the development and deployment of autonomous weapons systems," also known as "killer robots."
Last September, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks "asserted that the development of all-domain, attributable autonomy systems (ADA2) is an essential way for the Pentagon to maintain its comparative cutting-edge and keep up with the technological advancements of other states," notes the letter, which was addressed to her and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
"However, those comments failed to specify whether or not supporting autonomous weapons systems is one of the key focuses of this initiative," the letter stresses. "When addressing whether or not 'ADA2 means weapons systems,' Secretary Hicks stated: 'That's a serious question to be sure. They are not synonymous. There are many applications for ADA2 systems beyond delivering weapons effects.'"
"Autonomous weapons are inherently dehumanizing and unethical, no matter whether a human is 'ultimately' responsible for the use of force or not."
Public Citizen and the 13 other organizations argued that "this is no place for strategic ambiguity. Autonomous weapons are inherently dehumanizing and unethical, no matter whether a human is 'ultimately' responsible for the use of force or not."
Deploying lethal weapons that rely on artificial intelligence (AI) "in battlefield conditions necessarily means inserting them into novel conditions for which they have not been programmed, an invitation for disastrous outcomes," the groups warned. "'Swarms' of the sort envisioned by Replicator pose even heightened risks, because of the unpredictability of how autonomous systems will function in a network. And the mere ambiguity of the U.S. position on autonomous weapons risks spurring a catastrophic arms race."
"We believe the Department of Defense should declare its opposition to the development and deployment of autonomous weapons," the coalition concluded. "However, even if you are not prepared to make that declaration, we strongly urge you to clarify that the Replicator Initiative will not employ autonomous weapons."
In addition to Public Citizen, the coalition included the American Friends Service Committee, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network, Backbone Campaign, Demand Progress Education Fund, Fight for the Future, Future of Life, National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, RootsAction.org, United Church of Christ, the Value Alliance, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom U.S., Win Without War, and World Beyond War.
The letter comes on the heels of Public Citizen releasing a report about the rise of killer robots, AI Joe: The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence and the Military.
The February report addresses the Pentagon's AI policy, the dangers of killer robots, the need to ensure decisions about nuclear weapons aren't made by automated systems, how artificial intelligence can increase not diminish the use of violence, risks of using deepfakes on the battlefield, and how AI startups are seeking government contracts.
The publication concludes with recommendations that Public Citizen president Robert Weissman echoed in a statement Tuesday.
"The United States should state plainly that it will not create or deploy killer robots and should work to advance global treaty negotiations to ban such weapons," Weissman said. "At minimum, the United States should commit that the Replicator Initiative will not involve the use of autonomous weapons."
"Ambiguity about the Replicator program essentially ensures a catastrophic arms race over autonomous weapons," he added. "That's a race in which all of humanity is the loser."
Keep ReadingShow Less
12 Palestinians Drown Trying to Retrieve Airdropped Gaza Aid From Sea
One campaigner called the incident "another deadly example of why airdrops are not the answer to famine in Gaza."
Mar 26, 2024
Human rights defenders on Tuesday pointed to the drowning deaths of 12 Palestinians trying to retrieve humanitarian aid parcels airdropped off the Gaza shore as yet another reason why Israel must stop blocking aid from entering the embattled strip by land.
Video published on social media shows Palestinians running toward the Mediterranean Sea in Beit Lahia as aid parcels parachute downward. Eyewitness Abu Mohammad toldCNN that the people who drowned "don't know how to swim."
"There were strong currents and all the parachutes fell in the water," Mohammad said. "People want to eat and are hungry. I haven't been able to receive anything."
Ramy Abdu, chair of the Geneva-based group Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said that some of the victims died after becoming entangled in parachute ropes.
BREAKING| 9 Palestinians drowned and 5 others missing in the Sea of Gaza while trying to get humanitarian airdrop aid due to falling into the sea. pic.twitter.com/tSPpbrKsTg
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) March 26, 2024
According to the U.S. military—which along with Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Singapore has been airdropping aid into Gaza—parachute malfunctions caused three of the 80 parcels dropped to land in the sea. The Pentagon did not say which country carried out the drop.
Earlier this month, five children were crushed to death and numerous other Palestinians were injured by U.S.-airdropped parcels on which the parachutes apparently malfunctioned.
The airdrops come amid widespread and increasingly deadly starvation in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been accused of using hunger as a weapon of war. Last month, Michael Fakhri, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, called Israel's forced starvation of Gazans part of "a situation of genocide" in the besieged enclave, where more than 114,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces since October 7 and around 2 million people out of a population of 2.3 million have been forcibly displaced.
While Israel claims there are no limits on aid entering Gaza by land, Israeli officials said Monday that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East trucks would be blocked from entering northern Gaza. Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked aid convoys and their police escorts, forcing UNRWA to suspend humanitarian deliveries.
Israeli forces have also on several occasions attacked starving Palestinians as they desperately attempt to get food for their families, including in the February 29 "
Flour Massacre" that left more than 870 Gazans dead or wounded.
Also blocking humanitarian aid from reaching starving Palestinians are Israeli civilians who have camped at border crossings to prevent convoys from entering Gaza. Last month, right-wing extremists set up a giant inflatable children's bouncy castle where aid trucks are meant to pass through the Kerem Shalom border crossing in an effort to lend a festive atmosphere to the action.
Medical Aid for Palestinians, a London-based humanitarian group, said Tuesday that "airdrops will not end famine and are a dangerous proposed 'solution.'"
Palestinians in Gaza expressed similar sentiments.
"We call for the opening of the crossings in a proper fashion," Mohammad told CNN, "but these humiliating methods are not acceptable."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular