Climate Narratives Lab: Center of Solutions for Good Living

By Nasreen Al-Amin & Georgia Nicolau

In one of the statues along the coast of the city of Santos, in São Paulo, we see Father José Anchieta portrayed in a grandiose manner and an indigenous man crouching at his feet. It is estimated that there were between 600 and 1,000 different ethnic groups when the Portuguese arrived in Brazil, with the current census accounting for 270 ethnic groups. The statue demonstrates that the most effective way to make a way of life dominant is to exterminate, repress, or rape other forms of life. When we talk about worldview, this is what we are talking about.

There were many worldviews that inhabited the world before the process of colonization of the majority of the world by a European elite. The fact that one worldview has become hegemonic is also the reason we have gotten to where we are. The climate crisis is above all a crisis of a way of thinking and acting. It is the result of assumptions that shape our choices as a society. A view that nature is inanimate and at our disposal. And yet, the discussion about climate change often stops at technocracy. How can we then expand our understanding of ways of life, since the one we live is just a possibility?

The same countries that were colonized are also those that emit the least carbon dioxide, the main component of global warming. Countries outside Europe that had natural resources became cursed. As writer Amitav Ghosh tells it, the island of Bantam, where nutmeg was born, went from being a gift of nature to a colonial curse and the reason for the murder of thousands of people and the ruin of a territory, a people, a place, a language, a way of being.

Last year, during a call with industry colleagues, there was a round table on Pan-Africanism and the principles that should or should not underpin this concept. Many contributed, but we had difficulty agreeing that this versatile and diverse concept should be restricted only to the borders of Africa. We believe that Pan-Africanism, if applied well, can build bridges and disrupt social and cultural systems in a way that amplifies the voices, impact and identity of Africans both within and beyond the continent. To achieve this, we must reach out to the peoples and cultures with whom we share intrinsic similarities in terms of social norms, political and historical struggles, and aspirations for a better world.

Participants at a 4-day joint Climate Narratives Lab event worked towards the common goal of shaping a global majority movement where grassroots voices and activists across the global south can access opportunities, reinvent concepts, and create new ideas around social structures, and inclusive governance that integrates sustainable and inclusive development. At the heart of this are cultural organizations that shape narratives and amplify grassroots struggles through cultural and knowledge exchange, campaigns, deliberate and strategic communication, ensuring that our vision for change is well illustrated to define the future we want.

Nasreen Al-Amin is the Founder and Director of Surge Africa, while Georgia Nicolau is the General Director of the Procomum Institute.*