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At the 7th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) in Nairobi, a powerful call for ecological justice resonated through the halls. In an exclusive interview with NATURELCD, Josué Aruna — Country Director of the Congo Basin Conservation Society (CBCS-Network), President of the Environmental Civil Society, African Co-Coordinator of the HOME Alliance Africa Working Group on Climate Justice, DRC Peace Award Laureate and Ambassador for Ecological Justice — presented the firm demands of his network.
A member of both the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Aruna emphasized that their presence at UNEA-7 aims to “bring the concerns of African people before the world,” especially as geoengineering technologies become a growing threat to vulnerable ecosystems and communities.
A Strong Appeal to African Governments
Speaking on behalf of the Homa Alliance Africa Working Group on Climate Justice, Aruna delivered a clear and urgent message to African leaders and global decision-makers.
1. Upholding the Precautionary Principle
The organization calls on African governments to strictly ban all forms of geoengineering technologies on the continent, stressing that such interventions could provoke irreversible climatic and environmental consequences.
2. Backing African Leadership Against Solar Geoengineering
They reaffirm their strong support for the stance taken by African environment ministers during AMCEN19 and AMCEN20, urging for a global governance mechanism prohibiting the use of solar geoengineering. Aruna confirmed the network’s commitment to advancing African leadership toward establishing such an international agreement.
3. Zero Tolerance for Outdoor Experiments
The declaration outlines that any agreement on the non-use of solar geoengineering must ensure: no outdoor experiments, no public funding, no patent approvals, no institutional support, and no deployment.
These principles build on the long-standing moratorium under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
4. Rejection of All Outdoor Experiments — Small or Large
The organization warns that even small-scale outdoor experiments pave the way for the normalization and future deployment of extreme technologies, while large-scale trials risk causing transboundary environmental harm far from the testing sites.
5. Vigilance Across All Multilateral Platforms
They insist that global institutions — including UNEP, the UNFCCC, the IPCC and IUCN — must not allow the normalization of solar geoengineering or its misrepresentation as a necessary option for Africa. Instead, attempts to legitimize such technologies must be firmly challenged and exposed.
6. Call for Wider Mobilization
Finally, the network appeals to social movements and civil society organizations across all sectors to mobilize against geoengineering and to champion genuine, just and community-centered climate transitions.
This firm demands of his network is Critical Stand for Climate Justice.
Presented during UNEA-7 in Nairobi, this declaration highlights the growing determination of African civil society to defend the continent from becoming a testing ground for risky climate-altering technologies.
Josué Aruna and his partners underscore that climate justice is inseparable from social justice, ecological sovereignty, and the protection of future generations.
