Reimagining Environmental Governance: Prof Lesley Green links Noni Jabavu's legacy to modern challenges

In a compelling and thought-provoking lecture delivered at the University of Fort Hare (UFH), Prof Lesley Green, Professor of Anthropology and co-founder of the Environmental Humanities South at the University of Cape Town connected the legacy of Noni Jabavu with present-day challenges in environmental governance.

Her address, part of the esteemed Noni Jabavu Lecture Series at UFH, focused on the dire need for a new approach to environmental impact assessments, especially in light of failed projects in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado region.

Inaugurated in June 2022, the lecture series forms part of an initiative led by Prof Neil Roos, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, to reevaluate, invigorate, and rejuvenate the disciplines of social sciences and humanities at Fort Hare.

Titled, Humans are not Homo Economicus: On the failed environmental and societal impact assessments and of Cabo Delgado’s offshore gas projects, Mozambique, Prof Green began her lecture by honoring Noni Jabavu, a South African writer and journalist, who was one of the first African women to pursue a successful literary career and the first black South African woman to publish books of autobiography.

“It is an honour to speak in honour of Noni Jabavu, at Fort Hare, and the Eastern Cape, which she loved. A writer and a traveller with an eye for contrasts and contradictions, Noni Jabavu embodied the capacity to connect worlds with the fellow-feeling that characterises ubuntu. The journeys she took, between the Eastern Cape, Europe and East Africa, were journeys of connection, humanity, and dignity even in the time of Verwoerd.”

“Can you imagine a world where these connections are possible, now? Her big picture of humanity, habitability, villages is an inspiration: a big picture that we need now, as neoliberalism crumbles globally.”

Reflecting on Jabavu's era, Green highlighted the contrast between the historical struggles for Pan-Africanism and freedom and the current global context of extreme inequality and neoliberal dominance.

“We are past the eras she lived through – the World War 2, and the time of Verwoerd. We are past the era of the 1960s and 1970s where African leaders like Cabral, Nkrumah, Sankara, Nyerere, Lumumba, Cesaire ushered in a vision of freedom and Pan Africanism. All that Nyerere and Nkrumah warned about – neocolonialism – is with us.”

In her address, Prof Green drew a stark picture of modern economic disparities, citing recent reports that reveal billionaires' wealth has surged by USD 38 trillion since the COVID-19 pandemic began—a figure that dwarfs the total debt of lower and middle-income countries.

She urged the audience to envision a world where the wealthy are taxed to repay colonial debts and where Southern African nations are freed from economic subservience. She argued that this vision is the responsibility of those privileged to work within academic institutions.

The core of Green's lecture addressed the failures of current environmental governance practices. She criticized the persistence of outdated disciplinary frameworks that fail to address the complexities of modern environmental issues. Specifically, Green pointed to the environmental impact assessments for the offshore gas projects in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, which have been marred by inadequacies and negative consequences for local communities.

She proposed a transformative approach to environmental science, advocating for a metadisciplinary framework that integrates emerging transdisciplinary insights. She emphasized the need for a critical zones approach, one that focuses on habitability and empowers local communities to reclaim their knowledge and assert their values in environmental governance.

The lecture also highlighted the ongoing crisis in Cabo Delgado, where over a hundred thousand people have been displaced this year alone due to the impacts of oil and gas exploitation. Green criticized the disconnect between environmental devastation and fragmented mitigation efforts, where corporate interests merge with governance and military power, creating a complex and often exploitative situation for local populations.

In closing, Prof Green called for a collaborative effort among environmental philosophers and academics to revamp the way universities approach environmental issues. She urged a return to a big picture perspective that encompasses the struggles over nature and knowledge, advocating for a unified and more effective approach to environmental governance.

Prof Green’s lecture not only honoured Noni Jabavu’s legacy but also illuminated the pressing need for a reformed, holistic approach to environmental and social justice issues in today’s interconnected world.

Watch the livestream recording here.