What is global warming? It is said that over the past few decades, there has been increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, produced by the continued use of fuels which is formed from the remains of living organisms. These fuels are known as “fossil fuels”, and they include coal and gas. The emissions from burning fossil fuels are harmful to the environment, the air, and contributes to problems such as acid rain. They also affect public health.
Coal extraction in various regions is often connected to systems which has deep links to violence, blood shed and destruction of the environment. There is little corporate accountability and transparency in this field, globally.
Botswana has found herself having to adapt to climate change, for the reason that it is not only vulnerable and therefore susceptible to climate change, but also because she has a semi-arid climate. This vulnerability affects livestock, agriculture as well as the plant and animal life in our national parks and game reserves. It also has an impact on our health. It has caused declines in river flows, and heightened temperatures. Botswana has, as a result of global warming as well as other climate changes, suffered extended draughts in the region. This resulted in mass deaths of livestock, low crop production. The country has been advised to develop and transfer technology, finance and education, as well as promote education and public awareness of climate issues.
In the country, the Vice President, Slumber Tsogwane, has been said to speak about the need to effectively address the problems of climate change, which has caused grave socio-economic injustices.
In October 2018, amid relative silence on the area, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report. The report stated that the increase in global warming created a serious position in climate negotiation. The report discloses that the increase will affect the planet. Emphasizing that Botswana is a climate change hotspot, the report explains that countries such as Botswana will be even more adversely affected, with most areas damaged as a result. We know that fairly recently, Gaborone Dam had gone dry, leaving parts of our capital city without water. It is also without a doubt that this lack of water affected people in certain communities more adversely than others. We also know that tropical cyclone, Dineo, also in recent years, affected our infrastructure, compromising the lives of some, and resulting in a number of fatalities. These and draught declarations are as a result of climate change, and particularly, global warming.
In the weeks that have passed, we have borne witness to the disasters that have hit our neighbor, Zimbabwe, as well as her neighbour Mozambique, which left many people dead, many others homeless, and the countries devasted.
These are the outcomes of changes in the climate. The changes in the climate have taken place over decades, from the industrialization. African countries and other countries in the global south hardly contributed to the damage, which owes its existence to the legacy of the industrial age, which was driven by the global west. We do, however, find ourselves having to find solutions, as it affects us, to a greater extent than most others, due to our positioning.
Climate change exacerbates the difficulties already faced by local communities, including political and economic marginalization. We must, therefore, as people recognizing our love not only for our land, but for the legacy that it is, and the legacy it holds, we must commit to the planet, and local communities, to care for the environment in ways only we can do.
There are many indigenous solutions to climate change which Botswana, as a country continues to be instrumental in. one of the best is that Botswana has successfully preserved the natural habitats in various areas across the country. A lot of criticism accompanies this protective choice, of course because of the conflicts and tensions between humans and animals. But our country has managed to preserve areas like the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park and even the Kalahari Desert, leaving these largely untouched.
This column generally calls government to action on social injustices, and on human rights violations. This piece, however, wears a different cap. It is an invitation, for Batswana to be more aware of our climate. We are a nation that is internationally known as a climate change hotspot. So it should be on us, to effect the changes we would want to see in our nation, for the coming generations.
It is an invitation, for us to deeply interrogate our daily actions and to reform them for change. Small actions like deciding to preserve water go a really long way: taking shorter showers, watering our gardens with buckets instead of hose pipes and recycling water to water plants and washing dishes or even clothes, are seemingly small gestures, but their impact is far greater than we can imagine.
Saving on our use of power, spending more time in the outdoors, and ensuring that our geysers are off when not being used are other examples. Each home is of course unique, but if we stopped and took stock of our own impact on the environment with a view to save our earth, we would experience a great shift!
