Not in Our Name, Not in Our Community, Not on Our Soil 🌱
The Role of Civil Society in Climate Justice
Dear ReWilder,
“...when people come together and make a commitment to stand up against something, that's the voice of civil society that needs to sound louder than anything else. Not in our name, not in our community, not on our soil.” - Shanice Firmin
What is Civil Society? 📢
The UN describes Civil Society as: “A civil society organisation (CSO) or non-governmental organisation (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens’ group which is organised on a local, national or international level.” Civil Society plays a vital role in regulating governmental processes and providing a platform for communities to have a voice. Civil society is integral to the way we understand democracy, the way we organise grassroots activism and collective action, and the way we gain attention for issues such as climate change realities on the ground.
Civil Society is known as the watchdog; holding institutions accountable, promoting further transparency and advocating for necessary change. The development of online groups and communities have played a large role in growing attention around the issues of the climate crises and environmental issues within local communities. The film above is part of a series we produced for Action 24 and the African Climate Reality Project that highlights the role of civil society within climate realities in South Africa. In this film, we talk to Shanice Firmin and Desmond D’Sa from the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) - an organisation that has been fighting for environmental justice and clean air in South Durban for 25 years.
“We are vulnerable to so many things here in South Durban. Industries can literally blow up in a matter of seconds, and nobody would know what to do. We do not have an emergency plan; we are surrounded by industries. Does this really benefit our community? Does it? That’s the big question, and that’s what fuels us to keep fighting. Fighting the giant.” - Shanice Firmin (pictured above)
Civil Society activism groups are often representative of minorities, or the most vulnerable, who are generally the first and most affected by the climate crises and local environmental issues. Civil Society is known to help foster new, unique knowledge and experience to shape policy and strategy for building solutions to climate justice. Shanice describes this process, saying that policy change needs to be informed by the people who have the lived experience on the ground:
“A democratic country? What is a democratic country when we do not inform the policies that govern us. So if we could change policy, where it really comes from people; then we can say we are moving in a step that will bring the change we want to see. We are now celebrating 25 years of environmental justice, and we’ve grown so much, we’ve developed much deeper campaigns.” - Shanice Firmin
Many voices are louder than one 👩👩👧👦
The role that civil society plays helps to build citizen engagement towards the particular themes of the climate crises; it helps define standards, create new norms and shape how we collectively engage with complex issues. Governmental systems often appear distant and complicated - an amalgamation of red tape, politics, and unempathetic processes - which results in many citizens finding it difficult to relate to or engage with these processes. Often it seems that the institutions that are meant to represent the people are distant and abstract. This is where Civil Society fills this gap; by responding to real, lived and embodied realities of communities on the ground and their experiences. Civil Society offers us the opportunity to have our collective voices heard and resound loudly; so that we cannot be ignored.
Shanice Firmin and Desmond D’Sa (pictured above) highlight when people come together, it is amazing what we can achieve. Our voices are so much louder when we speak together. Democracy means power of the people. The fundamentals of a working democracy is that the people have the right to influence decisions that will affect their lives. It is our responsibility to make sure we use our voices, be active citizens, and educate our communities on their rights.
News from ReWild Africa 🐾
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Wild Regards,
The ReWild Africa team