S6 E6: #GreenJusticeAfricaCampaigns: An introduction to Climate Justice in Africa

In conversation with Prof Ademola Jegede and Davina Murden

This is a podcast series brought to you by the HRDA Alumni Task Force on Climate Justice and Rights of Future Generations in Africa, hosted under the Africa Rights Talk – Centre for Human Rights podcast. The initial aim is to produce a limited series of six podcasts that form a coherent whole, introducing some of the main challenges related to climate change and
human rights in Africa.

In this first episode of the HRDA Alumni Task Force on Climate Justice and Rights of Future Generations in Africa podcast, Davina Murden (HRDA Class of 2021, Mauritius) welcomed Prof Ademola Jegede (HRDA Class of 2008, Nigeria) who engaged on an exploratory discussion on the concept of climate justice in the African context. While we agree that there is no universal definition of climate justice, Prof Jegede reflected on how climate justice must be dealt with under a different light in the African context, especially among marginalised communities who are the most vulnerable ones. When asked by the host whether Africa is the continent where the term ‘climate justice’ was first used, Prof Jegede replied in the negative. However, he affirmed that Africa is the continent that experiences considerable injustices with regards to climate change due to human actions and inactions. This also raises the question of fairness and equity according to Prof Jegede.

In addition, Prof Jegede reflected on the changes that non-governmental organisations working on climate justice face. These are, for example, lack of resources and capacities to engage with climate-related challenges. He also added how African leaders are sometimes reluctant to take actions on ‘climate violence’.

Another important point on which Prof Jegede engaged was the lack of education in Africa when it comes to climate justice. While he commended African universities for including climate justice in some academic programmes, Prof Jegede also noted that many Africans still do not know what climate justice is, which makes it difficult to raise awareness on the issue in Africa. In his concluding remarks, Prof Jegede stressed on the importance of educating everyone on climate justice by adopting a bottom-up approach at both an individual and community level.

Ademola Jegede is a Professor of Law in the School of Law, University of Venda, South Africa. He is also the Interim Director at the Ismail Mahomed Centre for Human and People’ Rights at the University of Venda. He has widely published on the interface of climate change on rights of vulnerable populations. In 2023, the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) appointed Professor Jegede to serve as an external expert to its Working Group on Children and Climate Change.

The Centre for Human Rights is the regional headquarters of the Global Campus Africa, which comprises 13 partner universities across Africa and forms part of the broader Global Campus of Human Rights, which is a network of over 100 universities in eight regions with the vision and mission ‘to foster new generations of human rights defenders contributing to a world in which human dignity, equality, freedom, security, sustainable development, democracy and the rule of law are realised.’ We acknowledge the financial support from the European Union through the Global Campus for Human Rights.

This conversation was recorded on 20 March 2024.