And it’s only been 3 months

Courage. This is a powerful yet scary word, but we must be courageous to see climate justice in Africa.

This past two and a half months we’ve seen many acts of courage.

Just last week, Greenpeace Africa activists disrupted Minister Gwede Mantashe’s opening address at the Africa Energy Indaba at the Cape Town International Convention Center. They held up banners with the message ‘GWEDE STOP BLOCKING RENEWABLES’. They were protesting the continued resistance by Minister Mantashe to fast-track adding new renewable energy to the grid in South Africa and the continued high levels of daily load shedding since 31 October 2022.

In February, six Greenpeace activists occupied one of Shell’s oil platforms on its way to the North Sea that could pump out up to 45,000 barrels of oil daily for over 20 years. They had a clear message for Shell: stop drilling for new fossil fuels and start paying for all the death and destruction you are causing.

The protestors were calling on Shell to take responsibility for its role in causing the climate crisis, and to pay into loss and damage funds, to help countries recover from extreme weather caused by climate change. Particularly countries in the Global South that have contributed the least emissions. Shell attempted to shut down the peaceful protest by securing an injunction, threatening fines and up to two years in prison. But despite these court orders, we were able to sustain the occupation.