“The history of climate change is also a history of capitalism, colonialism and apartheid, of which all have been accompanied by serious human rights violations that need to stop.”
This is according to Prof Oliver Ruppel, a professor at Stellenbosch University’s (SU) department of mercantile law, in a recent presentation given as part of International Open Access Week 2022.
Ruppel’s presentation took place on the first day of this three-day long event that was hosted at SU from 26 to 28 October.
Prof Oliver Ruppel, a professor at Stellenbosch University’s (SU) department of mercantile law, described how the Global North has contributed to climate change and its effects at the recent International Open Access Week event held at SU. AUDIO: Bianke Neethling
Open access for all
International Open Access Week is an annual event that is celebrated across the globe, according to Paulette Talliard, a librarian at SU, via written correspondence with MatieMedia.
“The event always takes place in the last week of October, and anybody can celebrate it,” she explained.
This global event is organised by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, an international non-profit organisation that advocates for “open access as the default for systems that support research and education”, she said.
This year’s theme was Open for Climate Justice and was focused on “coordinating across communities and a chance to join together, to take action, and to raise awareness around how openness as default can be an enabler of climate justice”, stated Talliard.
Prof Guy Midgley, acting director of Stellenbosch University’s (SU) School for Climate Studies, gave a presentation on the second day of the recent three-day International Open Access Week 2022 event at SU. In his presentation, Midgley showed the attendants En-ROADS, an interactive climate solutions simulator. PHOTO: Bianke Neethling
Climate (in)justice
In his presentation, titled “Climate justice vs climate responsibility: A South-North perspective”, Ruppel spoke about climate justice and its multidimensionality, as well as the “nexus between climate justice and climate responsibility”.
While international cooperation is key in the fight against climate change, “international corporations still tend to exploit African countries with lax environmental policies and safety practices [that are] not seldomly to the detriment of local populations”, he said in the presentation. “Climate change is a byproduct of an economic system that is heavily reliant on extraction, exploitation, accumulation and dispossession.”
Curtis Bailey and Prof Helen de Klerk from Stellenbosch University’s (SU) department of geography and environmental studies delivered a presentation on the third day of the recent International Open Access Week event held at SU. Their presentation was titled “In the Climate Change Fight: GIS [Geographic Information System] and Earth Observation is Might”. GRAPHIC: Bianke Neethling
Sustainability in the Global South
Prof Gyan Sharma, a professor from the University of New Delhi, India, attended the third day of the event, which he described as “very different and with excellent take-aways” via written correspondence with MatieMedia.
Sharma’s “take-home message” from the presentations on that day was that, particularly in developing nations, “higher education systems can inculcate sustainability only through the diffusive and infusive sustainability models working in tandem with each other”, he said.