Organisation to host conference ahead of BRICS summit
SDCEA continues its fight for clean air and encourage the community to stand with them.
THE BRICS group of major emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), will host heads of government at the summit in Johannesburg, from August 22 to 24.
Closer to home, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) will host a conference on August 18, at the Unite Conference Centre at UKZN Howard College from 17:00 to 20:00. The organisation is calling on communities to play critical roles in acting as a watchdog of the claims, processes and outcomes regarding the BRICS conference.
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SDCEA’s oil, gas and livelihoods project officer, Janeira Reddy said, “BRICS governments often use radical rhetoric alluding to anti-imperialism, and in this year’s summit, they will undoubtedly impress upon the rest of Africa that their corporations offer better investments in infrastructure, mining, energy, and agriculture than traditional Northern multinationals.
“The prospect that South Africa presents a gateway for investment on the continent could leave Africa overwhelmed by BRICS corporations and is indicative that the trajectory of the 21st century ‘scramble for Africa’ has already begun. Africa’s ‘Resource Curse’ will attract billions of dollars’ worth of BRICS infrastructure developments,” Reddy said.
This year’s BRICS summit is themed ‘Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism.’
“Africa’s survival is largely at the mercy of climate change. Climate change is driven by increased greenhouse gas emissions, which is fueled by South Africa and other BRICS countries that continue to rely on and supply their Northern counterparts with dirty, non-renewable sources of energy, or the products created from dirty energy.
“Inequality, lack of adequate infrastructure, increased levels of violence, state repression, and the exploitation of resources to the detriment of people’s livelihoods and their ability to live in a healthy relationship with their environments, are all symptoms of development not oriented towards people, but rather government and corporate profit,” Reddy added.
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