Dialogue forum with Nigerian environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey: “Green Economy on the move – How can Africa benefit from the ‘energetic turn’?”, Monday 3 December 2012, 7pm, GLS Sprachzentrum

Within the framework of the project “Paradoxes of Sustainability – How socially equitable are ‘green’ technologies really?”, AfricAvenir invites you to a dialogue forum with Nigerian activist Nnimmo Bassey on the topic "Green Economy on the move – How can Africa benefit from the ‘energetic turn’?" on Monday 3 December 2012 at 7pm.n
Natural resources are a blessing that can rapidly change into a curse. Africa always has been and is again at an increasing rate becoming the main provider of resources for the Global North. Will this neo-colonial exploitation of Africa’s resources change with the “energetic turn”? Are renewable energies the solution for environmental problems, energy crises and climate change in Africa and beyond?

The co-winner of the ‘Right Livelihood Award‘ (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) Nnimmo Bassey will discuss these questions and present solutions from an African perspective: Are the so-called “Green Economy”, biofuels and instruments like REDD+ (“Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forests Degradation”) real alternatives? What can Africa do to prevent a new neo-colonial race for its resources needed for "green" technologies and what has already been done so far? Which conclusions can be drawn from the extractive industry and especially the oil sector that has so far been organised like a predatory exploitation of nature and humans, and which conditions do we need on a national and international level to prevent ongoing resource exploitation in Africa under the pretext of the “energetic turn”? nNnimmo Bassey is a Nigerian environmentalist activist and poet, elected chair of Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) from 2008 to 2012 and Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action (ERA) / Friends of the Earth, Nigeria. FOEI works on environmental and social questions, challenging the current model of globalization influenced by economic interests. FOEI sees its duty in helping to create a sustainable and socially just society. Bassey is one of Time Magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment” 2009. In 2010, Nnimmo Bassey was named co-winner of the ‘Right Livelihood Award’ (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize), the jury honoring his long-lasting effort for the environmental movement in Nigeria and worldwide and his contribution to uncovering the ecological and human costs of the oil exploitation. In November 2012, he was awarded the Rafto Prize for Human Rights for his dedication against the doings of multinational corporations and the environmental damage which they cause without considering the rights of local populations. Nnimmo Bassey is one of the leading activists for the protection of the environment and human rights in Africa.   

Publications

Books
2012: To Cook A Continent: Destructive Extraction and Climate Change in Africa, Pambazuka Press
2009: Knee Deep in Crude, ed., Environmental Rights Action
2004: Genetically Modified Organism: the African Challenge, Environmental Rights Action
1997: Oilwatching in South America, Kraft Books

Poetry
2011: I Will Not Dance To Your Beat, Kraft Books
2002: We Thought It Was Oil But It Was Blood, Kraft Books
1998: Intercepted, Kraftgriots
1994: Poems on the Run, Kraft Books
1992: Patriots and Cockroaches, Kraft Books 

The event takes place in cooperation with the Otto-Suhr-Institut (OSI), the Initiative Schwarze Deutsche (ISD), Afrotak/Cybernomads, Adefra and jozi.tv and will be held in English.

The project “Paradoxes of Sustainability” takes place with financial support from BMZ and Landesstelle für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (LEZ). 

Monday 3 December 2012
7pm
Admission: On donation

GLS Sprachenzentrum
Kastanienallee 82
10435 Berlin
U2 Eberswalder Str.
U8 Rosenthaler Platz
M1 Schwedter Str.nCooperation: Lecture by Nnimmo Bassey within the lecture series "Africa: rethinking it radically new?" by the OSI-Club: "Thinking the environmental crisis in a radically new way – an African Perspective", 4 December 2012, 18h, Henry-Ford-Bau (Hörsaal C), Garystr. 35, U 3 Thielplatz; |+| More infos