• Selection Festival de Cannes  2012 – Un Certain Regard
• ARRI-Price at Filmfest Munich 2012, Best International Film
• Journées cinématographiques de Carthage 2012 – Tanit d’Or (grand price)
• Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou FESPACO
• 2013, Bronze Yenenga

• 2012 DIE PIROGE
• 1998 TGV-EXPRESS
• 1992 TOUBAB BI

• 2012 DIOLA
• 2009 LES TECHNICIENS NOS COUSINS
• 2008 LES YEUX GRANDS OUVERTS
• 2006 NOSALTRES (NOUS AUTRES)
• 2005 NANGADEF
• 2004 5X5
• 2003 NOUS SOMMES NOMBREUSES (TO ZALI EBELE)
• 2002 POUSSIÈRES DE VILLE

• Offizieller Wettbewerb Festival de Cannes 2012 – Un Certain Regard
• ARRI-Preis beim Filmfest München 2012, Bester Internationaler Film
• Journées cinématographiques de Carthage 2012 – Tanit d’Or (Hauptpreis des Festivals)
• Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou FESPACO 2013, Bronzener Yenenga

• Selection Festival de Cannes  2012 – Un Certain Regard
• ARRI-Price at Filmfest Munich 2012, Best International Film
• Journées cinématographiques de Carthage 2012 – Tanit d’Or (grand price)
• Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou FESPACO
• 2013, Bronze Yenenga

• 2012 DIE PIROGE
• 1998 TGV-EXPRESS
• 1992 TOUBAB BI

• 2012 DIOLA
• 2009 LES TECHNICIENS NOS COUSINS
• 2008 LES YEUX GRANDS OUVERTS
• 2006 NOSALTRES (NOUS AUTRES)
• 2005 NANGADEF
• 2004 5X5
• 2003 NOUS SOMMES NOMBREUSES (TO ZALI EBELE)
• 2002 POUSSIÈRES DE VILLE

• un autre économie, de manière à disposer des richesses de notre pays, et  à choisir librement des politiques qui nous mettent à l’abri du chômage, de la pauvreté, de l’errance et de la guerre ;
• un système politique véritablement démocratique, parce que intelligible pour l’ensemble des Maliens, décliné  et débattu dans les langues nationales, fondé sur des valeurs de culture et de société largement partagées ;
• la liberté d’expression et de circulation.

• Confession (2006)
• Munyurangabo (2006/7)
• Lost in the South(2007)
• Grey Matter (2011)
• Rwanda 15 (2011)

Green economy won´t save the planet, but green democracy will.
(Patel, 2012)

In Germany the “energy transition” is on everyone's lips. With slogans such as "High time for things to change" actors in the political and economic arena are campaigning for “green” energy and more energy efficiency. (1) There is considered to be broad political and social consensus on the irreversible phasing out of nuclear energy by 2022. The federal government is aiming for a 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, compared to base year 1990.

In the framework of its project "Paradoxes of sustainability - how socially equitable are ‘green’ technologies really?" the Berlin-based organization AfricAvenir International e.V. sheds light on African perspectives on the energy transition in Germany and Europe, as well as the associated rapid expansion of renewable energies. In 2012 AfricAvenir invited the African intellectuals and activists Nnimmo Bassey (Friends of the Earth), Many Camara (ARACF - Association of ressortissants et des Amis de la Commune de Falea), Dr. El Mostafa Jamea, Tidiane Kassé (Pambazuka), Jean-Claude Katende (ASADHO - Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l'Homme), Kulthoum Omari (Heinrich Böll Foundation South Africa), Silas Siakor (Sustainable Development Institute), Odile Tendeng (Gorée Institute), Prof. Judi W. Wakhungu (African Centre for Technology Studies) and Nozipho Mabebe Wright (Energia Botswana) to report on their experience with renewable energy in a series of dialogue forums, a conference and in published articles providing perspectives from various regional and scientific viewpoints of the continent. The participants discussed the consequences of the energy transition in the global north for the African continent.  The following questions form the basis of this project:

• What are the social, environmental and economic consequences of the extraction and trade of raw materials that are necessary for the production of renewable energies?
• Will the energy transition unleash positive development potential for Africa? Or will the continent experience a new "resource curse" and continue to be dependent on imported expensive technologies?

The African voices are clear. They too are saying, "High time for things to change!". However, only taking into account the nuclear phase-out and the development of renewable energies in Germany is still far too short sighted.
This is because the federal government gives priority to opening up new markets for German companies in the field of renewable energy (2) and sees the countries of the Global South as willing suppliers of raw materials for energy production without uranium or fossil fuels which takes place primarily in the North. The experts invited by AfricAvenir highlight the impact that the extraction of African raw materials which are required for the production of "green" technologies has on the continent. The current concept of the energy transition is merely a switch from fossil to non-fossil energy production that is still dependent on the exploitation of some partially non-renewable resources. Any form of energy transition for the resource-supplying countries is out of the question. The unequal power structures on which Europe's energy transition to resource exploitation in the Global South is based will remain in place without the local populations being given a say.

In this context the Moroccan energy expert Dr. Mostafa El Jamea presents the example of Desertec, a major project to generate solar energy in North Africa. Due to the size of the project, it devours hectares of land, as well as the important but rare resource water. A potential negative impact on the ecosystem cannot be ruled out. The local communities however were not involved in the preliminary consultations or the decision-making process and it remains questionable whether the project will benefit them.

Up until now, the energy transition in its current form has predominantly taken the form of greenwashing of the existing growth-oriented economies under the guise of "Green Economy". Instead of presenting serious alternatives to the continuous increase of fuel consumption and to the focus on resource security for Germany, public discourse remains restricted to the improvement of energy efficiency. However, the successful implementation of a socially just energy transition calls for a paradigm shift in global energy, commodities and resource policy. The basis of this policy must be the recognition of autonomous definitions and paths of development on the part of the concerned populations. All stakeholders - the northern and southern governments, civil society, companies and development cooperation - need to do their bit.
 
AfricAvenir International demands, together with the experts involved in the project:

1. "It's high time that the conditions of resource extraction change in the commodity producing countries and that violent conflicts are no longer tolerated and fuelled due to economic interests!"
The utilisation of renewable energies requires certain raw materials. In order to declare these technologies "green", human rights, social and environmental standards in the extraction of raw materials such as copper, bauxite, zinc, indium, selenium, gallium, tellurium, lithium and rare earths must be consistently maintained. Here African civil societies together with European initiatives are called on to hold African and European governments and investors accountable, and to, for instance, renegotiate closed mining contracts so that local populations are taken into consideration.

2. "It's high time that local peoples themselves have the freedom to make decisions about the access to their resources and how these are used and processed!"
Adapted to local contexts, communities should be able to represent their interests in terms of “Green Democracy“, instead of being forced by the “Green Economy” to submit themselves to market interests dictated by the Global North. Certification of what is sustainable cannot be left to investors and consumers in the Global North alone. The German federal government should support countries of the Global South in putting into practice the principle of Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) so that the sections of the population that are affected by energy- and raw material projects can develop mechanisms to safeguard their rights to free, timely and informed consent. The "Green Economy" is based on the valorization of nature and of habitats. (3)  Based exclusively on a financial rationale, as is currently the case with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), this valorization can at best be one tool for the implementation of a global energy transition. The decision-making authority and the right of disposition of the valorization of resources needs to be solely in the hands of local communities and governments and must give them the right to exclude certain raw materials from exploitation, especially when they are connected to the basis for life, like water, land and food products.
 
3. "It's high time for permanent transparency in the renewable energy sector!"
The entire production chain, from raw material extraction to the generation of renewable energy, must be made transparent for consumers in the Global North and populations in commodity extraction regions. Civil society in Europe and Africa must claim its right to participate in the formation of (major) projects in the field of renewable energy and in the distribution of profits.

4. "It's high time that decentralized regenerative and autonomous energy supply is given priority over centrally organized solutions!”
The central message of AfricAvenir’s guests is the call for the development of decentralized energy supply with renewable energies. Herein lies the significant advantage of "green" technologies for the African context. Rural areas that have no access to the national electricity grid can thereby be supplied with energy. The democratic right of citizens in the South and the North to participate in decision making about their energy supply is centrally important. The long term goal for Africa and Europe should be energy sovereignty adapted to local needs and markets, as well as the promotion of regional development.

5. "It's high time that added value and production of green technologies takes place in Africa!"
As with other areas of production, it is imperative that Africa free itself from its dependence on imported technologies and set up its own production of green technologies. At this point Germany as an experienced producer of renewable energy can offer valuable support in capacity building, but it can also champion an alternative trade mandate (ATM) of the EU. (4) However, this should primarily benefit the development of independent African production and not primarily serve the backup markets for German companies. The right of the Global South to determine the conditions of investment and export in the energy and raw material sectors must be respected.

6. "It's high time that corporate responsibility and social entrepreneurship in Germany and worldwide is promoted and demanded by governments!"
Economic activities that take account of their responsibility for producers and consumers in the North and South must be strengthened. Only then will a decentralized, autonomous energy supply and transparent projects and investments have a chance.

7. "It's high time that the German government champions an EU-wide nuclear phase-out!"
The decision made in Germany to phase out nuclear energy is not enough. As a driving force in Europe, Germany should demand the phase-out of nuclear power in the entire EU and help put a stop to exports and business transactions that support nuclear power stations abroad. The risks that nuclear energy poses for uranium-producing countries and for producers and consumers are no longer acceptable.

These experiences gathered from exchange with African experts provide the main objectives of a transition from "Green Economy" to "Green Democracy" for politics, business and development cooperation.

Minimum standards for the exploitation of raw materials that form the basis of renewable energy production, or rather the specific technologies needed for this production should be applied in order to guarantee their social and ecological compatibility. Certification procedures can at best complement the implementation and control of existing international standards. By no means can they replace a broad change of views in society, towards a change of lifestyle, reducing our resource consumption and increasing democratic participation of civil society in raw material extraction countries. Conventional strategies for market protection should be reviewed for the benefit of a long-term, social, fair and ecologically just resource policy. The federal government of Germany has the possibility, within the EU and the G20 as well as the United Nations, the World Bank and the regional Banks for Development, to exert influence on the situation of the people in the Global South. The more coherent the German policy becomes in the field of foreign affairs, development, environment and energy, and the closer it orientates itself to the goals of human rights and environmental protection, the more positive this influence will become. (5)

The active promotion of structures based on decentralization and on self-initiative is essential. Only then can real participation by the Global South be realized, for example through targeted promotion of local mini-grid and off -grid initiatives or alternative projects for mining raw materials.
 
For joint preservation of the inalienable rights of all people (6) and the limited resources of our planet it is necessary to implement the vision of collaboration between North and South on equal terms, because:"It is time for citizens of the world to urgently reclaim their sovereignty and not watch helplessly while political-corporate powers ride roughshod over everyone and everything." (Nnimmo Bassey)

Endnotes

1) http://www.bmu.de/service/fotos-und-filme/fotogalerien/detailview/?no_cache=1&tx_cpsbmugallery_pi1[showUid]=49493&tx_cpsbmugallery_pi1[image]=1
2) Compare „Export initiative renewable energy“ of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology : http://www.exportinitiative.de/
3) Compare Nnimmo Bassey (2013): “The green economy idea that environmental services can be monetised and paid for, makes the planet one huge market and those that can pay for these services become the ‘true’ owners of nature, even as the majority of citizens are relegated to the role of mere customers.” The whole article “Between Eti Uwem and Green Capitalism (Green Democracy)” is available from: http://www.africavenir.org/news-archive/newsdetails/datum/2013/02/04/between-eti-uwem-and-green-capitalism-green-democracy.html
4) http://www.alternativetrademandate.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ATM-Vision-Paper-Deutsch.pdf
5) Compare: Anforderungen an eine Zukunftige Rohstoffstrategie – Vorläufige Stellungnahme zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationen zur Rohstoffstrategie der Bundesregierung (2010), page. 2.
6) African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Article 21, (June 1981): (1) All peoples shall freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources. This right shall be exercised in the exclusive interest of the people. In no case shall a people be deprived of it.

• Heinrich Böll Foundation in cooperation with Wuppertal Institut (2012). International Resource Politics - New challenges demanding new governance approaches for a green economy. Vol. 26, Publication Series on Ecology. Berlin.
• Raj Patel & Martin Crook (2012). At Rio+20, the green economy won’t save the planet. But green democracy will. Commonwealth Advisory Bureau. London.
• PowerShift e.V. (2011). Oben hui, unten pfui? Rohstoffe für die „grüne“ Wirtschaft: Bedarfe – Probleme – Handlungsoptionen für Wirtschaft, Politik & Zivilgesellschaft. Berlin.
• Comhlámh, AITEC and WEED (2012). Alternatives on Resource Trade and Access to Information in Africa A response to EU policy on raw materials by Dr Claude Kabemba. Comhlámh.

• 2012: "Gun To Tape" 48 min.
• 2010: “The Cradock Murders: Matthew Goniwe & the Demise of Apartheid” 52 min. 
• 2010: “The Cradock Four” 92 min.
• 1998: “The Long Tears – An Ndebele Story”, 52 min. 
• 1996: “Darkness & Light – The art of Trevor Makhoba”, 26 min.

• 2010:  “The Cradock Four” Winner, Best SA Documentary, Durban International Film Festival
• 2010:  “The Cradock Four” Finalist, Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award, Durban International Film Festival.
• 2010: “The Cradock Murders – Matthew Goniwe & the Demise of Apartheid” Screened at Liege Film Festival in Belgium. Official Selection, Africa on Screen Festival in Johannesburg. 
• 2009: “The Manuscripts of Timbuktu” winner of Walter Mosley Award (Real Life Doc Film Festival-Ghana 2009) Dir: Z Maseko, HDCam, DOP: David Forbes & N Hofmeyr
• 2006: ”The 12 Disciples of Nelson Mandela” Independent Spirit “Truer Than Fiction” Award Nomination. DOPs: David Forbes and Jon Karvel.
• 2005: “The 12 Disciples of Nelson Mandela” wins Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. Dir: Thomas Allen Harris, DOPs: David Forbes and Jon Karvel
• 2003: “Tobias’s Bodies: Are we all Africans?” wins for “Creative Excellence” (Science) at US International Film and Video Festival “in recognition of outstanding audio-visual production”.
• 2003: “AfriCan Solutions” wins 3 Chris Awards - Honorable Mention x 2 (Science & Technology) and x 1 (Social Issues) at 51st Columbus International Film & Video Festival 2003.
• 2000: “The Long Tears – An Ndebele Story” Official Selection for competition in Astra 2000 Film Festival in Sibiu, Romania (Oct 2000), and also for the Southern African Film Festival 2000 in Harare.
• 1996: “Business Against Crime” TVC. Special Mention at 1996 Loerie Awards
• 1993: “Crossing the Line” (U-matic Hi-band, 25 min) Dir: Mike Rudolph, starring Sean Taylor, Jenni Steyn and Susan Coetser) 2nd prize in 1993 Weekly Mail Short Film Competition
• 1992: “Enthombe” Hononary Mention at 8th Journees du Cinema Africain et Créole, Montreal. DOP: David Forbes
• 1991: “Enthombe” Wins “Best Film” and 1st prize in docs at 3rd Weekly Mail Short Film Competition. DOP: David Forbes
• 1990: “The Boxer” won “Best Documentary” at 12th DIFF. DOP: David Forbes

1. The World Bank (2011) Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can it Yield Equitable and Sustainable Benefits?
2. The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor: Making the Law work for the Poor, Vol. 1, 2008, p.46
3. The Power Purchase Agreement Between the Liberia Electricity Corporation and Buchanan Renewables (Monrovia) Power Inc., Dated 16^_th January 2009
4. Vattenfall Press Statement, June 16, 2010 [Online]. Available from: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100616005697/en/Vattenfall-Acquires-Share-Buchanan-Renewables-Fuel-Liberia [Accessed: January 30, 2013]
5. Ibid
6. Joint Government of Liberia and United Nations Mission in Liberia Rubber Plantations Task Force, Report, 2006
7. See the RSPO website online: http://www.rspo.org/en/who_is_rspo
8.  Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor, Uncertain Futures, 2012 [Online] Available from: http://www.fern.org/publications/recommended-reading/uncertain-futures-impacts-sime-darby-communities-liberia
9. Complaint available from: http://www.rspo.org/en/status_of_complaint&cpid=24
10. Tom Lomax, Human rights-based analysis of the agricultural concession agreements between Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum and the Government of Liberia, 2012 [online]. Available from: http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2012/12/liberiacontractanalysisfinaldec2012_0.pdf [Accessed: January 30, 2012]  

1. Assess potential for green jobs: A country assessment of how many women and men are employed in the renewable energy sector and the skills that they possess should be undertaken. Established gender gaps would enable policy makers to design programmes that would contribute to upskilling women at the same rate as men. 
2. Develop green policies for the informal sector: Green policies targeted at improving the informal sector should be developed. In many African countries the informal sector accounts for a large part of the GDP, is energy intensive, and is highly populated by women.
3. Create a level playing field: Business conditions within the informal sector should be improved and made gender sensitive to allow both women and men entrepreneurs to access start-up capital, collateral, appropriate training and support in business development. East African countries have good practices which are a result of donor organizations such as GVEP. Programmes are designed in a way that women are assisted to enter the renewable energy value chain, particularly in production and distribution where most income is made.
4. Address gender issues during policy development and implementation: National, sub regional and regional energy policies present an opportunity to reduce poverty and improve poor women and men’s lives only if they are gender sensitive. Many sub regional energy policies developed recently in Africa have not mainstreamed gender, a critical issue that must be brought to the attention of Africa’s policy makers in future partnerships. SADC and ECA could learn from the ECOWAS’ gender balanced renewable energy policy.
5. Develop pro poor public private partnerships: These would assist in creating access to affordable and reliant renewable energies for household and productive use for those at the bottom of the pyramid, i.e. those that cannot be supplied by the private sector.
6. Produce green technologies in Africa: It is time that the production of good quality renewable energy technologies is done in Africa. Renewable energy technologies such as solar lanterns should be manufactured in sub Saharan Africa as this will bring down costs and create opportunities for women and men to acquire new skills.

1. ECOWAS 2012. ECOWAS Renewable energy policy. www.ecreee.org
2. GVEP. GVEP’S Experience with Working with Women Entrepreneurs in East Africa
3. International Labor Organization. Assessing Green Jobs Potential, ILO
4. Kirrin, G, et al 2012. Invincible Market - Energy and Agricultural Technologies for Women’s Economic Advancement . International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW).
5. Ministry of Energy and Water Development, Zambia and ENERGIA, 2011. Zambia Gender and Energy Mainstreaming Strategy 2011 -2013. Gender Audit 
6. Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs, Botswana, 2007. Energy Affairs, 2007. Energy Statistical Bulletin, 2007.
7. Ministry of Natural Resources and ENERGIA, 2011. Gender Audit of Energy Policy and Programmes for the Kingdom of Lesotho. Policy Brief
8. Regional Strategy on Scaling-up Access to Modern Energy Services in the East African Community, 2009. www.eac.int
9. SADC and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland, 2012. SADC Renewable Energy Strategy and Action Plan
10. www.afdb.org. African Development Bank, 2008. Clean Energy Investment Framework for Africa, Role of the African Development Bank Group, 2008.
11. www.cleancookstoves.org. Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Household Cookstoves, Environment, Health, and Climate Change – A New Look at the Old Problem. The World Bank, 2011.
12. www.energia.org 
13. www.ilo.org Working towards sustainable development: Opportunities for decent work and social inclusion in a green economy – Summary, 2012
14. http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The Future we Want, Rio +20 Outcome Document, 2012. 

• Why only large corporates and finance institutions are being involved in the Desertec Industrial Initiative?
• Will DESERTEC be again another win-lose partnership?
• Will local communities get only pollution and waste from this initiative?
• Who finances what? And who owns what?
• Will these projects be implemented more for political reasons than for socio-economic and environmental considerations?
• The first CSP DII in Morocco project was awarded to an international consortium without the involvement of any local company! It is financed by the Moroccan tax payer?!
• Local communities are asking to be part of the exploitation of the renewable energy; they do not want to supply only work for unqualified jobs! They want as well to have the opportunity to invest in renewable energy to sustain the development of their land and communities!
• The local communities claim that their resources should be respected!
• It is not clear how much jobs would be created locally?!
• Social Acceptance: Local populations often do not accept the big infrastructural project. To which extent local communities and their leaders would be involved in the design of the projects?
• Will Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt substitute dependency on energy with the dependency on foreign expertise, technology and knowledge?

• PV projects will stimulate the creation of small and medium enterprises that are essential to create jobs and sustain local socio-economic development. Solar PV technology accounts for the highest number of job-years per Gwh over the lifetime of any renewable energy project;
• PV applications in other economic activities such as in the agricultural sector, will lead to the extension of agricultural land use in North Africa. Hence supplying more raw materials for food processing industry, securing food supply, and creating jobs and income for local populations;
• PV can be used as a mean to develop biomass and bioenergy in North Africa;
• Adoption of feed in tariffs and Net metering mechanisms for PV will boost the development of this sector and reduce the expensive public subsidies for conventional energy; Local and small investors can create small-scale projects and this will lead to empowerment of local communities and more awareness about environment protection and climate change.
• With decentralized PV projects, capital is saved on long high-voltage wires and less power is lost during transport;
• Forecasted levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of PV in North Africa: With expected price digression of 56% to 66% by 2030 compared to 2010, PV LCOE in North Africa is expected to range from 5 to 12 €c/kWh by 2020 and 4 to 8 €c/KWh by 2030; and,
• Emerging Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) technology is very promising and will definitely capitalize, in the near future, on all the advantages of PV, above mentioned, and reduce further the cost of kWh generated.  

Between Eti Uwem and Green Capitalism (Green Democracy)

Eti uwem is a concept in Ibibio, one of the several languages in Nigeria, which literally means good life or good living. Within it is the idea of living in harmony with nature and all peoples. It incorporates dignity, respect, rectitude, integrity, solidarity and contentment. Within this concept are the key principles of social justice, power relations and citizens’ and communal ownership and control of local resources. It objects to speculation, exploitation, expropriation and destructive activities and, very importantly, no monetary price can be placed on life and nature. A close concept is sumak Kawsay of the Kichwa people of Latin America, which is sometimes also captured as similar to buen vivir.¹

While we are not certain that this concept can be fully equated to “green democracy,” we will use the term in an advised manner. 

This paper proposes that what the world needs is living well in a citizens-driven participatory manner as opposed to working in the platform of so-called green economy, which in its application is a euphemism for green capitalism. We insist that communities and civil society groups have key roles to play in shaping the necessary transition from ecologically disruptive living to one where energy and other production and consumption modes are respectful of nature. The premise for the positions outlined is that massive environmental degradation has been advanced through the subversion of the democratic space, exclusion of citizens and the appropriation of these spaces for decisions and actions favourable mostly to corporate interests.

 Market fundamentalism has been enthroned at the highest policy making levels as the unbending creed for progress and environmental protection. This has elevated the widely disputed platform of the green economy, sometimes interpreted by environmental justice advocates as the greed economy. Market environmentalism insists that the basis for nature can only be preserved when it is assigned monetary value. This position is sold as green economy and fits well into neoliberal constructs - presenting speculators with opportunities to reap profits from ecological destruction originating from, but not limited to, extractivism, land grabs, genetic manipulations and a number of techno-fixes that ensure the reign of monopolies. 

It is as if the markets were invented by capitalism and the concept of the possibility of markets operating on the basis of solidarity is completely frowned upon and thus the creed demands competition, speculation, subjugation and exploitation. The obvious failures of markets (such as the carbon and financial markets) driven on these principles and the players behind or in front of the scenes are ignored while the stakes keep getting higher by the day. 

 Corporate schizophrenia and political myopia of public office holders provide the potent mix needed to solidify a greed economy where progress is measured by factors that are more fictional than real. In the book The Rights of Nature², Maude Barlow writes in the chapter on “Nature: A Living Ecosystem From Which All Life Springs,” that, “many in power now use the term [green economy] to essentially protect the current economic system that promotes more growth, production and global trade.”

The implication is that the environment must be beaten to submission at the altar of markets. Except in fringe cases, the green economy as currently formulated can only operate outside the confines of participatory democracy. It is rigged in favour of corporate interests and lopsided power relations and this explains why a United Nations track that was originally conceived to ensure sustainable ecological balance is now fusing with another track whose work is inexorably leading to catastrophic climate change. We are here referring to the Earth Summits and the Climate Change negotiations.

 A look at the multiple crises confronting us today shows a sick pattern of denial of the climate issues confronting us and that has ultimately resulted in the creation of a sort of mafia-like breed of power brokers who gang up to block any progress with regards to solving the climate crisis. From the financial crisis to the food crisis, climate, water and others - the rule appears to be that whatever meets the short term needs of those who cause the problem must take precedence over the needs of the planet.

 This pattern has held thus far because there has been an enforced rupture between citizens and governments through the closure of spaces and linkages between the people through political participation spaces. A clear way to tip the scale is to recover the sovereignty of the people and to ensure that environmental defence is built on popular political participation. Without this, it is difficult to see how the interests of ecological destroyers will coincide with the interests of citizens who live and depend on the environment desired by external interests. Environmental pollution assures higher profits for corporations because they can operate in irresponsible ways and simply externalise the costs of their negative actions. In addition, polluters are cheered on by the tokenistic polluter-pays principles; payments that seek to foolishly put a discounted price on nature rather than to dissuade them from engaging in irresponsible behaviour.

 Ecological living with respect to all beings or Green democracy would demand that polluters stop polluting and not simply pay for polluting because the environment does not only provide the support for human life but does so for every other living thing. If we extend the concept of ‘living thing’ to include things that change over time and can be adversely affected and even annihilated by external actions, it becomes hard to classify anything as non-living thereby raising the stakes.

 The green economy idea that environmental services can be monetised and paid for, makes the planet one huge market and those that can pay for these services become the ‘true’ owners of nature, even as the majority of citizens are relegated to the role of mere customers. Water purification, pollinators and of course carbon absorption capacities of soils all become items of merchandise in very brazen displays of commodification of nature. Everything becomes a candidate for exploitation and humanity is made to believe that whatever they need can be manufactured and whatever is broken can be fixed. 

 This false notion can be credited for the rise and rise of the allure of techno-fixes or what can be termed technological fundamentalism. Under this train, extreme extraction and the new kid on the block called fracking, are gaining serious momentum in the USA; tar sand exploitation in Canada as well as the tentative steps being taken to break up polar glaciers in order to drill for oil in the Arctic region. The historic pollution of the Niger Delta and the Ecuadorian Amazon by oil companies are already record-breaking obnoxious realities.

 Right relationship of resources and citizens would include the right to refuse access to their territories, as is the case with some indigenous peoples in the Amazon; and the right to refuse dangerous extractive activities in their territories, as in the case of Ogoniland in Nigeria. Undemocratic and sometimes certified exploitation often transfer ownership and control of resources from citizens and communities to private hands led by corporations. Production of resources and the labour exerted in such exercises often also exclude the local communities and people, reducing their input to that of mere bystanders in the entire process of ownership, decisions, production and use of outputs. 

 An economy driven by greed ultimately destroys the social fabric of peoples; replacing wholesome food with unwholesome varieties, eroding genetic resources, promoting bio-piracy and replacing healthy resources with toxic ones. It is this economy that permits poisoning of whole communities through dumping of wastes, as a viable economic objective. It is violence personified. 

 It is time for citizens of the world to urgently reclaim their sovereignty and not helplessly watch while political-corporate powers ride roughshod over everyone and everything. We cannot afford to carry on with a system where we find plastic delights in plastic dreams: “In the paradise promised to all and reserved for a few, things are more and more important and people less and less so. The end has been kidnapped by the means: things buy you, cars drive you, computers program you, and Television watches you.”³

 It is time to drastically realign production and consumption through clear policies promoting socio-economic justice as well as climate justice. It is time to reclaim our food systems through food sovereignty. It is time to halt the externalisation of environmental costs through reckless exploitation, displacement of peoples, and dumping of toxic wastes. We need a new mindset, a new logic based on an understanding that the planet is not about humankind only. 

 The actions to bring about the needed change must be hinged on an energy system that is not hooked on finite fossil resources. The fossil path has since fossilised and dangerous scrapping of the fossil barrels will only hasten cataclysmic environmental changes while temporarily pacifying the insatiable greed of the exploiters. This energy system has driven prodigious consumption, wastes, resource grabs and wars. The brunt has been borne by the oppressed of this world that are being pushed to wall and are increasingly finding less and less space into which to retreat. This is a potentially explosive situation that only a recovery of power by the exploited and injured peoples of this world will defuse. The force is already building through social and ecological spaces. Support should be channelled there. The clarion call is for a halt to the rape of Mother Earth.

Der Film läuft ab sofort in den Kinos.

• Black Diamond (2010) 
• Pakistan zindabad: Longue vie au Pakistan (2007) (TV)
• French Beauty (2005) (TV)
• Accused Nr. 1- Nelson Mandela (2004) (TV) 
• Sophiatown (2003) 

• Nha fala (2002) (sound assistant)
• Perl oder Pica (2006) (art department assistant)
• Deepfrozen (2006) (graphics designer)
• Irina Palm (2007) (graphics designer)
• Cabralista (2011)

• The recognition of all asylum seekers as political refugees.
• The cessation of all deportations.
• The abolition of residential obligation laws („Residenzpflicht“) prohibiting asylum seekers from leaving assigned residential districts as this severly restricts their freedom of movement.
• The abolition of laws prohibiting asylum seekers from choosing their district of residence themselves („Lagerpflicht“). Some are even forced
• to live together in group housing.

• 18H : Vernissage de l’exposition 200 Years later,
• 19 H-19H45 : Première française du film : Reconnection , une production de la Fondation AfricAvenir International, un film de Jean Ndoumbe (version française), 

• 17H Conférence : Un Camerounais devient Général en Chef de l’armée russe
• Abraham Hannibal ou l’incroyable saga de la diaspora africaine
• Par Dr Gnammankou Dieudonné , auteur du livre 'Abraham Hannibal the Black Ancestor of Alexander Puskin'
• 19H-19H45 Première anglaise du film Reconnection , une production de la Fondation AfricAvenir International, un film de Jean Ndoumbe (version anglaise)

• Présentation / Presentation 
• Exposition International / International exhibition
• Artistes / Artists
• Hommages / Tributes 
• Artistes invités / Guest artists
• Créativité de femme / Creativity of women
• Création contemporaine et dynamiques sociales / Contemporary creation and social dynamics
• Organisation / Organisation

• 2011: Yasmine et la Révolution
• 2009: The lost body (Corps de dame)
• 2008: The Wedding Song (Le chant de mariées) 
• 2005: My little Jerusalem (La Petite Jérusalem)
• 2001: Combats de Femme
• 1999: Aïd El Kebir

• 1997: Les Scorpionnes (short-length movie)
• 1999: Achille (Series consisting of three episodes)
• 2001: Africa Paradis – The short-length-movie) 
• 2003: L’Argent Sale
• 2010 : Un Pas En Avant (long métrage 35mm)

• Introduction 7
• Première partie : Discours et Propos de Sankara 16
  • Sankara : Un programme révolutionnaire 17
    • La Déclaration du 4 août 1983 18
    • Discours d'orientation politique – 2 octobre 1983 20
    • Susciter l'homme de la liberté contre l'homme du destin – 4 août 1985 45
    • Nous préférons un pas avec le peuple que dix pas sans le peuple - 4 août 1987 59
  • 1.2. Sankara : La démocratie comme pouvoir du peuple et au service du peuple 69
    • La démocratie en Haute-Volta était une mascarade (1) – octobre 1983 70
    • La démocratie en Haute-Volta était une mascarade (2) – octobre 1983 73
  • 1.3. Sankara : Visionnaire, précurseur et modèle 75
    • Déclaration des biens de Thomas Sankara – 19 février 1984 76
    • Sauver l’arbre, l’environnement et la vie tout court – 5 février 1986 81
    • La libération de la femme : une exigence du futur – 8 mars 1987 86
    • Il faut annuler la dette – 29 juillet 1987 113
    • 1.4. Sankara : Défenseur des opprimés et voix de l’anti-impérialisme 119
    • Discours de Sankara à l'ONU – 4 octobre 1984 120
    • La joute verbale Sankara-Mitterrand – 17 novembre 1986 135
  • 1.5. Sankara : Panafricaniste et internationaliste 142
    • Notre Maison blanche se trouve dans le Harlem noir – 3 octobre 1984 143
    • Ne pas se laisser entraîner dans des combats inutiles – 3 janvier 1986 147
    • Hommage à Samora Machel – 19 octobre 1986 150
    • Hommage à Che Guevara – 8 octobre 1987 154
  • 1.6. Le dernier texte de Thomas Sankara : 158
    • Album photo 1 163
• Deuxième partie : Comprendre le sens d’un combat 168
  • 2.1. Réactions et Analyses 169
    • Proclamation du Front Populaire après l’assassinat de Sankara 170
    • Kum’a Ndumbe III : Lettre ouverte aux dirigeants Burkinabè
      – 23 novembre 1987 172
    • Samir Amin : Une révolution inachevée 174
    • Aziz Salmone Fall : Thomas Sankara - Une figure du combat panafricaniste contre l’impérialisme 178
    • Bruno Jaffré : Thomas Sankara précurseur des luttes d’aujourd’hui 189
  • 2.2. La parole aux Burkinabè : Sankara revisité par les siens 194
    • M. Fidèle Toé : « La vie de Thomas Sankara, c’est une histoire de sacrifice » 195
    • Me Sankara et M. Kientega : « La pensée de Sankara est plus que d’actualité » 243
    • M. Sawadogo : « Seule la lutte paye. Continuez la lutte : le message de Sankara » 281
      Mme Nacanabo : « S’agissant de Sankara, il faut nuancer. Il y a des points positifs et des points négatifs » 293
    • Mme Kaboré : « Sankara est un homme qui a eu à coeur de résoudre les problèmes de son peuple mais qui n’a pas trouvé la voie pour les résoudre » 309
    • Smockey : « Notre Sankara va revenir » 317
    • Samsklejah : « Sankara n’est pas le centre de la terre mais il est l’un des rayons du cerceau qui permet ou qui permettra au monde de rouler dans le bon sens » 338
• Postface 350
  • Aziz Salmone Fall : Le Peuple Burkinabè et la famille Sankara demandent justice 351
  • Album photo 2 359