Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, President of SECAM, with Prelates from CELAM and FABC/Global South Bishops Conferences (Photo credit: secam.org)
Amid rising seas and record heat, Africa’s climate crisis is the defining injustice of our time, a profound moral indictment demanding justice, not charity, from wealthy nations.
In a world of rising seas and record heat, Africa is a continent of moral contrasts. Here, droughts devastate farmlands, and cyclones, fueled by global emissions, tear apart coastal communities. These are the scenes that define the moral indictment recently issued by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). This isn’t just a political statement; it’s a profound ethical and spiritual emergency that reframes the climate crisis not as a scientific challenge but as the defining injustice of our time.
A Radical Shift: From Plea to Principle
At the heart of this powerful message lies a radical shift from plea to principle. SECAM categorically rejects the condescending paradigm of Africa as a passive recipient of Western-designed solutions. Instead, it insists the continent must be the full architect of its ecological future. This vision is not aspirational; it is operational, rooted in the vibrant indigenous knowledge of rural communities that serve as laboratories of integral ecology. This translates into tangible action, like investing in decentralized solar energy, that does more than cut carbon; it creates jobs, empowers communities, and liberates them from energy poverty on their own terms.
Condemning “False Solutions” and Demanding Justice
In searing language, the bishops condemn the false solutions of harmful offsets and extractive projects that prioritize profit over people, such as carbon offset schemes that allow wealthy nations to continue polluting. They excoriate a global culture of empty gestures, of appearing to be concerned but failing to bring about substantial change and demand the courage to move beyond excuses and abandon fossil fuels decisively.
Their most compelling argument is an unequivocal demand for justice, not charity. Wealthy nations, the bishops argue, owe a long-overdue ecological debt. This isn’t a hand-out; it’s a form of reparations. The immediate operationalization of the Loss and Damage fund isn’t an act of generosity but a solemn obligation, the rightful repayment for a debt measured in erased lives, destroyed livelihoods, and futures stolen by a crisis Africa did not create. Crucially, they warn against the injustice of indebting nations further through loans disguised as aid, a practice that compounds the crisis it claims to solve.
A New Mechanism for Accountability
SECAM’s pledge to establish an Ecclesial Observatory on Climate Justice is a strategic masterstroke. It moves the Church from prophecy to practice, creating an unwavering mechanism to hold governments and institutions accountable, ensuring promises made in distant conference halls translate into action for the most vulnerable.
Conclusion: History Is Listening
Grounded in the teachings of Pope Francis’s encyclicals Laudato Si’ (2015) on care for our common home and Laudate Deum, this statement positions Africa not as a victim but as a clear-eyed moral leader. It offers a transformative pathway built on community-rooted energy, regenerative agriculture, and true ecological conversion.
The powerful moral voice from Africa has spoken with clarity and courage. The world has exhausted its supply of excuses, but one question remains: Do we possess the collective integrity to answer this call with the urgency and justice it demands, or will we let history remember us as the generation that chose indifference? The time to act is now.