By Agbonkhese Oboh

African journalists are in a better position to tell the African climate change story and expose the Big Con.

This was the position of the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, expressed at a one-day training it organised for journalists from across Africa in Lagos.

The training, held virtually, had journalists from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The objective was to raise a bar in climate reporting in the African region, amplify Big Con as a document exposing Big Polluters and their tactics, and capacitate African journalists to engage the UNFCCC processes, especially against the backdrop of the 26th Session of the Conference of Parties, COP26, slated for Glasgow from October 31.

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The resource persons were Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (The Role of Fossil Fuels Industry in Climate Change); Philip Jakpor, Director of Programmes, CAPPA, (Introduction to Climate Change Reporting).

Others were Rachel Rose Jackson, Director of Climate Research and Policy, Corporate Accountability (“Understanding BIG CON” and “Holding Big Polluters Liable Using the Liability Roadmap”); Ndivile Mokoena, GenderCC SA- Women for Climate Justice South Africa (“Mainstream Gender into Climate Reporting”);

Hellen Neima, Regional Director, Corporate Accountability Climate Campaign(“UNFCCC and the road to COP26”) and Ogunlade Olamide Martins, Programme Manager, CAPPA, (“Engaging the Nationally Determined Contributions, NDCs”).

It was in Akinbode Oluwafemi, CAPPA’s Executive Director’s opening remarks that he said “There was need to raise the bar in climate change reporting, stimulate interest and engage the UNCCC process.”

To achieve the objectives above, he said: “African journalists should tell Africa’s climate change story themselves, particularly exposing the Big Con.”

The training was anchored by Aderonke Ige, Associate Director, CAPPA.

Vanguard notes that a key aspect of the Big Con is the “Net Zero” climate policy, which the rights groups say is just an agenda to delay, deceive and deny the reality of damages being done to Africa by the Big Polluters.

The Big Polluters cut across the fossil fuel and energy, aviation, technology, retail, finance and agriculture industries.

The “Net Zero” plans, a report notes, are of dubious arithmetic, vague targets, and often unachievable technological aspirations.

Vanguard News Nigeria

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