Climate change will have a devastating effect on developing nations. As Copenhagen looms, Desmond Tutu tells Jehan Casinader why Africa’s voice cannot be forgotten

Desmond Tutu’s raspy cackle echoes down the phone line from Cape Town, South Africa. The former archbishop is humoured by the opening question of our interview: Do you feel like the rock star of international diplomacy? It’s a reasonable question. The 78-year-old jets between charity concerts, fundraisers and speaking engagements. He brokers meetings with diplomats, foreign leaders and his celebrity acquaintances.

Tutu’s public profile, however, is not for his own gain. After ending apartheid in South Africa, he has spent almost two decades fighting against the root causes of poverty and international conflict. Now, he has awoken to the magnitude of climate change, and wants to urge world leaders to secure the environment before tackling poverty. It’s a major change in his outlook, but Tutu wants to move with the times.

“When I was the Archbishop, I knew one bishop who was obsessed with the environment. Recently he was named Environmentalist of the Year, but in those days he stuck out like a sore thumb. Environmentalists were thought of as rather odd. We knew we were stewards of the planet and we had a responsibility to protect it, but that wasn’t our priority at that time. Our main priority was to get freedom for our people.”

Tutu makes no apologies for putting the fight against apartheid ahead of environmental causes when he was the head of South Africa’s Anglican Church in the 1980s. He is coy when asked if he regrets not tackling climate change earlier. But now, Tutu has made climate change his next mission. Next month, he will travel to Copenhagen, to ensure the African states are represented in the top-level discussions.

Africa contributes only four percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but the region may be hit hardest by climate change. According to securities firm Maplecroft, 22 of the 28 countries which are most vulnerable to climate change are in Africa. The continent is heavily reliant on subsistence agriculture, but many African states cannot invest more money in environmental science, research and development.

Tutu knows the resources are scarce. If he could solve either climate change or poverty, the Nobel Peace Prize winner says he would choose climate change. “I strived for the freedom of our people, but I can’t enjoy my freedom when I see what else is happening in the world. Poverty is a serious concern, but we won’t have a world to live in if we don’t address climate change. It would be a pointless salvation.”

Africa is already experiencing a rise in droughts, floods, and water shortages. Sustainable food production is being compromised due to poor irrigation and unstable land. As a consequence, the region will have thousands of climate refugees. Research also warns climate change will cause a 50 percent increase in sub-Saharan civil wars, as desperate civilians take up arms. The consequences will extend to other countries.

But this week it was revealed that wealthy nations are failing to help Africa to manage these threats. New Zealand was one of 20 major countries to sign the Bonn Declaration in 2001, which created a fund to help poorer countries to tackle climate change. The pot now contains USD$260m; well short of the USD1.6b it would have been worth if the developed countries had given the amounts they initially pledged.

“For far too long, the Western nations have watched their aid money being wasted,” says Tutu. “They have seen aid money being fritted away by corrupt people without principles and integrity. In many cases, if the money had been used for the right purposes, there would have been an improvement in the lives of the people. But the officials have not been accountable. I understand why the donors are frustrated.”

Even so, Tutu says countries like New Zealand should not give up on Africa, because the challenges we face are connected. For Africa and New Zealand, climate change hinges upon agriculture. In Nairobi, 60 top agricultural scientists recently warned that agriculture will be given little attention in Copenhagen, and that any deal reached in December could exacerbate African food shortages and economic woes.

The warning signs have been flashing for many decades. Africa’s population has quadrupled in the past 60 years, and has now reached 1 billion. That number will continue to swell. The main challenge is to feed a growing population which is already under-resourced. To avoid a major international famine by 2050, developing nations must double their investment in agriculture, according to the United Nations.

“In Darfur, conflict is already caused by climate change,” says Tutu. “The pastures are getting smaller, because there is drought when there ought to be rain. It is not worth trying to resolve poverty if we are left with an environment which is being diminished by the day. Reducing emissions around the globe is a significant part of the equation. Emissions in the industrialised countries have an effect in our region.”

If it is so important to fix climate change first, and ensure the environment is protected, one option is to shift all our resources to climate change, before dealing with poverty. Tutu wants the two problems to be tackled in tandem. New tools and technologies to reduce climate change must also be designed to produce positive outcomes for poor communities. The responsibility lies with governments, Tutu says.

But there is no guarantee that Copenhagen will result in a binding global deal to end climate change. In Denmark, Tutu will aim to persuade the decision-makers that the Earth is in crisis: “It’s beautiful, it’s fragile, and it’s at risk”. Few would deny that sentiment, but now it is crunch time, and there is a need for new climate policies and practices which go beyond the rhetoric. Tutu denies that his message is too soft.

“My greatest longing is for us to realise that we belong to one human family. People think that’s a wonderful and sentimental thing. It’s not sentimental; it’s real politics. If we believed it, we would not be investing money in death and destruction. It does make sense to spend billions in order to kill, when a small fraction of those budgets would protect the environment and give clean water and food to all people.”

Some African nations, such as Ethiopia, are demanding that wealthy countries pay billions in compensation to African countries to enable them to deal with climate change; a problem which is not of their own making. OECD nations appear unlikely to cough up, but it is possible to generate investment in Africa through other means. Korea has tripled its aid to Africa and is building business partnerships in the region.

Tutu says globalisation can be a “wonderful tool for creating development”. Agriculture is growing faster in Africa than in the West. If the expansion continues, the region may be better equipped to boost its yields, feed its population, and fund its efforts to tackle climate change. Many African countries have avoided the harmful effects of industrialisation which caused global emissions to rise in the first place.

Even if Africa has been overlooked by world leaders, it has not been ignored by celebrity benefactors, who have become environmental warriors for the continent. Tutu is fond of Bono and Bob Geldof. “They are friends of mine”, he whispers, with a hint of pride and a hint of self-deprecation. Yet, for many celebrities, the cause of Africa seems like a tap which can be turned on and off at will. Tutu does not agree.

“I am not sure whether you are being fair to many of these celebrities. There are one or two who may do that. But, in the main, the people who I know are not doing this to get kudos. They do it because they are genuinely committed to Africa. Sharon Stone, for example, uses her status to twist the arms of mining companies to make them use their profits to drill wells. Bono and Bob Geldof have also done a lot.”

For his part, Tutu is spreading the word. He features in countless YouTube videos, imploring young people to take action. His voice echoes across stadiums as his video messages are played in the middle of concerts and political rallies. Tutu is promoting environmental education and activism in Africa, encouraging locals to take ownership of the solutions, and imploring African leaders to present a united front.

“In Copenhagen, I will tell the decision-makers that they have a big decision to make. Am I optimistic? I have never been optimistic about anything. Optimism can evaporate very quickly when the circumstances look grim. Hope, on the other hand, never gives up. Hope is not determined by how things look at one time. Eventually, good will prevail. But sometimes I have to hold onto hope with the skin of my teeth.”