Quarterly Newsflash: Expanding our team, Cape Town Climate Week, and Cancel Coal Court Case momentum
A 2023 Third Quarter Newsflash From The ACA Team
It’s been a busy third quarter for the African Climate Alliance organisational team. Speaking of the team, we have welcomed six new team members since July. We are so excited to be expanding our capacity to be able to strengthen our work in the movement.
Here are a few highlights from the past three months:
JULY
Strategic Planning
July began with a team retreat and strategic planning weekend at Bertha Retreat in Franschhoek. We spent the weekend team building, understanding our theory of change, mapping out a strategic plan, and clearly defining our vision, mission, and values.
We took the time to reflect on, understand, and unpack all the work we do – and why we remain committed to it, wholeheartedly, as we work towards a more just future for all. It was an important moment to pause and reflect before we take our next steps forward. This strategic plan was the start of the first three year organisational business plan.
Africa’s Youth Voices Conference Series
July also saw the continuation of our Africa’s Youth Voices online conference series. Last year, ahead of COP27, youth came together for an online conference series intended to foster collaboration, build solidarity, and develop joint messages from youth living in Africa.
This year, ahead of the Global Climate Strike and COP28, youth came together again to further those alliances, strengthen existing messages and create new ones, and through advocacy and action take control of the climate justice narrative with Africa’s realities at the centre.
AUGUST
Welcoming the 2023 ACA Ambassadors
In August, we welcomed our new group of 2023 Ambassadors. This year, 29 enthusiastic young climate justice activists joined our year-long programme – from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola, Tanzania, Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda, Namibia, South Sudan, and Zambia.
The ACA Ambassador programme aims to create more opportunities for young people to lead the change they want to see in the world and build the capacity and collective experience of ACA youth as socio-environmental justice activists. We received a large number of strong applications this year and look forward to watching each Ambassador grow from strength to strength in their activism.
How History Shapes Our Climate Justice Work
August was also Women’s Month in South Africa. This was a fitting focus for our August online Back2Basics Workshop and ACA Dialogue which looked at how our history and current events shape our work for climate justice.
These discussions about acknowledging the importance of history continued in our August online Activist Gathering and the fourth session of Africa’s Youth Voices.
SEPTEMBER
Cancel Coal Court Case Update
September was a big month for the Cancel Coal campaign. In a significant development, South Africa’s first youth-led climate change case, the Cancel Coal campaign, has taken a new turn with the inclusion of the Minister of Electricity. Now, the Cancel Coal applicants – African Climate Alliance, GroundWork, and Vukani Environmental Movement – await the government’s responding affidavits as they continue grassroots mobilization and capacity building, striving for a just future.
Also in September, the University of Pretoria and the Tshwane University of Technology held panel discussions to raise awareness about, and rally support for, the Cancel Coal campaign. The discussions with university students were centered around the potential and future of climate litigation in South Africa, the role of science communication in the climate justice movement, as well as the power of artivism to inspire hope and challenge the status quo.
Final Session of Africa’s Youth Voices Conference Series
On the topic of challenging the status quo, the final session of the Africa’s Youth Voices online conference was held. The final session focused on refining the storytelling and advocacy campaigns that the participants have been working on over the past few months. These campaigns will be actioned in the lead-up to COP28 to ensure that the leaders at COP heed the calls of youth from across the continent.
Protesting the Southern African Oil & Gas Conference
Another moment of challenging the status quo was when we gathered outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre, on 13 September, during the Southern African Oil & Gas Conference. We were joined by different civil society organisations as we demanded that people and planet be put before profits and ambitious just transition plans from all carbon corporations and polluters.
Cape Town Climate Week
The highlight of September was Cape Town Climate Week. This year, in line with the annual Global Climate Strike, but with a uniquely Afrocentric lens, we hosted the second edition of Cape Town Climate Week, from 18 to 22 September, in partnership with collaborators and civil society organisations from across the city.
It was a hugely successful week of grassroots actions creating pathways for system change across the city. The week brought together diverse stakeholders and showcased innovative solutions across five thematic areas: Transport, Energy and Water, Food, Finance, and Artivism.
Throughout the week, Cape Town Climate Week 2023 featured a series of engaging events aimed at fostering dialogue, collaboration, and dynamic action between partner organisations, community members, and citizens from across the greater city. The events of the week achieved its mission to raise awareness about the urgent climate crisis and its intersection with socio-political injustices while emphasizing system change as the solution.
With this momentum, we are looking forward to seeing what the final stretch of the year holds.
