Elsabe

🚨 The appeal hearing on the Lamu coal plant, set for today at the Malindi Environment & Land Court, has been postponed to March 3, 2025, due to missing court records. Amu Power has 7 days to submit the record of appeal. #NoworNever #ClimateAction #climateactionke

There is a strange idea in some environmentalist circles that human population is the main cause of ecological breakdown, and that humans have an *intrinsically* negative impact on ecosystems. Both claims are incorrect. First, human ecological impact is entirely a function of the system of production and provisioning. It depends on what is being produced, under what conditions, and how the yields of production are distributed. For instance, an economy that uses mostly public transit, renewable energy, multi-unit housing and plant-based protein can meet human needs with a fraction of the impact of an economy that produces a lot of SUVs, fossil fuels, mansions and industrial beef, and which allocates a bunch of totally unnecessary production to service the fantasies of overconsuming elites. Remember, we know it is possible to provide decent living standards (DLS) for 8.5 billion people with 30% of current global energy and material use, by ensuring efficient technologies and focusing production on socially necessary goods and services. That much is fairly straightforward. But one might say that, even so, every person will always have some negative impact. This too is incorrect. Again, it depends entirely on the production system, and specifically, what people are mobilized to do. Under capitalism, labour is mobilized overwhelmingly to produce things that are profitable to capital. But labour could just as easily be mobilized instead for regeneration. Using straightforward public finance mechanisms, we can fund massive programmes to reforest barren lands, regenerate degraded ecosystems, restore biodiversity, advance agroecological methods, etc. Under these conditions, it is possible for societies to not only have minimal negative impact on ecology, but to have a net-positive impact, actively improving ecological indicators. People buy into the myth of the intrinsic destructiveness of humans because we have come to take capitalism for granted. But it is 100% possible to organize production and labour differently. Under capitalism, we are compelled to produce whatever is most profitable to capital, even if it is destructive to humans and nature. Under conditions of economic democracy, we can produce what we know is necessary for well-being and ecology.

In this second installment of the symposium by @afronomicslaw, @elsabe_boshoff offers an incisive review of my book by examining how sustainable development presents both challenges and prospects for its renewal. You can access the book here: cambridge.org/core/books/sus…. Thank you.

🔊🔊Book Review II: “Many scholars have therefore questioned whether sustainable development offers any real solutions or is in fact part of the problem. @GodwinDzah gives two reasons for continuing to use the concept of sustainable development, first, that a new concept will not necessarily address the underlying challenges, and second, the “practical challenge of rallying international actors to agree on a new vocabulary” when sustainable development remains a concept around which there is wide political agreement.” - @elsabe_boshoff afronomicslaw.org/category/analy…

Kicking off 2025 with a bang! @afronomicslaw curated a symposium on my new @CUP_Law book. Reviews from @Temi_Onifade, @elsabe_boshoff, @belle_pearl27 & Rosemary Mwanza. It starts with my intro & the 4 reviews follow in subsequent posts. Tnx @JTGathii, @bisi_akins & @chionesoSam.

Update !! After nearly a month on remand in Luzira Prison, the 15 university students who were arrested for peacefully protesting against the #EACOP pipeline while demanding investments in clean renewable energy and green economic alternatives for local communities have been granted bail by the Chief Magistrate at Buganda Road Magistrates Court. The students will return to court for further hearing on 16th January 2025. We continue to condemn the government’s and @PoliceUg continued human rights violations on youth activists who exercise their constitutional right of peaceful protest and assembly as guaranteed by the constitution. #stopeacop. @stopEACOP @YGCUganda @oilwatchafrica1

Taiwan Ambassador Jeremy Liang donates Ambulances for Correctional Services as a token of appreciation after securing R5.2billion publicly funded Strategic Oil Reserve project from King Mswati.swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?ngu…

Land degradation threatens humanity's future: 6 of 9 planetary boundaries already breached. Our new report with @PIK_Climate urges transformative action to reverse land degradation and reform agriculture, securing Earth’s capacity to sustain us. Learn more as #COP16RIYADH starts.

Did you know subsidy reform could unlock at least half a trillion dollars for more sustainable use. Learn how in the #DetoxDev report: wrld.bg/OmWU50TU1Fa

#COP29: States must prioritise effective climate action and sufficient finance in accordance with #HumanRights, - say UN experts. ohchr.org/en/press-relea…

Short comment on the EU's 8.3% fall in emissions in 2023. Is it to be welcomed, or is it simply far too little far too late? If the former, then we need to roll out more of the same; if the latter, then we need to think and act very differently - & fast! climateuncensored.com/the-eus-climat…

Delighted to have co-authored a book chapter with Justice Kate O’Regan (@BonaveroIHR ) analysing the jurisprudence of the African Court to the Global Community Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence. It can be accessed here: lnkd.in/d2suh2qW

Permanent Associate Professor position in human rights available! The NCHR is strengthening its competence within interdisciplinary approaches to human rights research. Deadline 2 December 2024. jobbnorge.no/en/available-j…

Our new paper “Rethinking Industrial Strategies and the State: A Global South Perspective” has just been published in the latest issue of @SocResJournal: “Challenges to Democracy and the Future of Capitalism”. In this paper, @lmonaco13 and I highlight the distinct challenges faced by late industrialisers in the Global South. Against this background, we discuss the ways in which industrial strategy should be radically redesigned, proposing core “ingredients” for a purposeful mission-oriented approach that places stronger emphasis on the Global South and development. Read it here ➡️ muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/…

Rich countries could raise $5tn of climate finance a year, study says theguardian.com/global-develop…

Businesses that try to come clean about their impact on nature can end up concealing more than they reveal bit.ly/3zzVIKr

One of Uganda's most impactful decisions has been to pursue oil and gas developments, despite opposition from some environmentalists. This decision is now showing promising results, as projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicate that the country's economy is set to experience double-digit growth when oil production begins next year.

“We are gravely concerned that the draft Pact for the Future does not even mention fossil fuels”: Mary Robinson and Denis Mukwege join Nobel scientists’ climate warning ahead of #SummitoftheFuture. ft.com/content/d9918a…

Do not miss this indispensable resource from the @SabinCenter @columbiaclimate: *Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and EVs* This brief compiles the modeling & empirical research that will help you counter clean-energy and climate disinformation.🙌 link in next tweet

Wow, this is amazing! A new edition of @PhilipGAlston’s textbook on International Human Rights Law is available open access! What a gift for all the students who cannot afford expensive textbooks (but also teachers, who often equally cannot afford them)! humanrightstextbook.org