UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts recently collaborated with Radiocracy and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sports, Arts and Culture to present a public debate on issues around climate change and environmental sustainability.
The audience was welcomed by the Director of the Centre for Creative Arts Dr Ismail Mahomed who said the Centre was an interdisciplinary hub that annually hosted five festivals promoting artistic excellence, innovation, and experimentation to celebrate social justice and a human rights culture.
Panellists Advocate Robin Sewlal and Mr Siphumelele Zondi, with journalists Mr Tony Carnie and Ms Lyse Comins, examined issues in the global climate crisis and the fossil fuel industry; highlighting that human-induced climate change emerged 130 years ago.
Speakers agreed that climate change is a ‘slow-moving train crash, a complex and a depressing issue that happens gradually, making it easier to ignore.’ Climate scientists predict a significant drop in maize production and the spread of malaria due to changes in temperature, humidity and rainfall distribution.
Carnie said a variety of several species of fish, birds, animals, and insects were under threat.
He said China and the European Union were leading the way in transitioning to carbon-free, renewable energy, with China building massive wind and solar farms and becoming the world leader in the manufacture of electric cars and solar panels.
The panel believed that ‘climate crisis receives little screen, print, or air time, possibly due to the media’s complacency or preoccupation with sensational events.’
Carnie referred to how the rise of crop farming, modern medicine and other factors had led to more children surviving into adulthood and old age, saying this had negative consequences for other forms of life which were being eliminated or squeezed out of their former habitats.
He gave as an example industrial fishing fleets striping the oceans of food because of rivers being polluted by unmanaged flows of sewage, toxic chemicals and nano-particles of plastic.
Carnie said soils exhausted of all nutrients flowed into the sea from industrial agriculture or open cast mining pits.
He urged people to consider the possibility of water scarcity and the possible disappearance of species such as frogs, birds, and butterflies as well as the negative impacts of chemical fertilisers.
MEC for KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Sports, Arts and Culture’s Mntomuhle Khawula, praised UKZN for working with their department to promote such debates, stressing the value of news that transcends national boundaries and its significance in places where reliable news is difficult to find.