By Tegan Gibaud
Daily Maverick’s The Gathering: Earth Edition was a climate-focused conference that brought together scientists, economists, business leaders, policymakers and activists to discuss practical solutions to the environmental, energy and economic crises South Africa faces. This year’s iteration of The Gathering was hosted on 26 May at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Daily Maverick hosted multiple panel discussions with esteemed panellists and platformed several respected speakers including former Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter, former secretary general of Amnesty International and executive director of Greenpeace, Kumi Naidoo, and founder of The Gift of The Givers, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.
The event was MC’ed by award-winning journalist, Rebecca Davis, and when asked what drew her to the topic of climate change she shared insight into the team at Daily Maverick, saying, “what we’ve realised at Daily Maverick is that climate change is now an issue cutting across all aspects of our life.”
Davis addresses the role that journalists have to play in saying that climate change “is not a situation where journalists can be restricted to their beats, anymore. We’re all going to have to tackle climate change, and we’re all going to have to do it in as effective, direct, and galvanising a way as possible in order to reach the public. This is something I now feel as strongly about as the rest of the team does.”
The event opened with a hauntingly beautiful protest song reworked to include lyrics related to climate change disaster performed by Anneli Kamfer, then moved into the first keynote address by Andre de Ruyter where he discussed 5 E’s: Energy, Economy, Employment, Exports, and Equity. He shared that we must implement renewable energy, invest in our economy and enable a just energy transition while encouraging employment in this sector. De Ruyter pleaded to The Gathering that we must not forget those who are affected by the energy transition.
“Today is a space for different individuals from different walks of life to come together,” said Gabriel Klassen, communications officer for Project 90 by 2030, and youth coordinator for the African Climate Alliance as they shared their hopes for this year’s The Gathering. “My ultimate goal is networking and coming together to see a common goal that we can work toward”. Klassen shares that with scientists, business people, government, and youth in the room, there is hope for unity to be found in the fight against climate change.
The day continued with riveting panel discussions with topics including South Africa’s Burning Energy Problem, the Expectations of Youth, Artificial Intelligence: Threats and solutions to the climate crisis, Corruption, and Ecosystem Collapse, The Business of Climate, and The Sixth Extinction. In the last panel about the sixth extinction, Professor Roger Smith shared that while climate change is normal for the earth to undergo over long periods, rapid climate change is not normal, and that is what we are facing. Pavitray Pillar, the Environmental Behaviour Change Practitioner at World Wildlife Fund, encouraged attendees to change parts of their lifestyles to have a positive impact on the environment, as consumers also have a part to play in mitigating climate change.
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman shared the last keynote address of the day and encapsulated the true crisis that climate refugees will face by providing an emotional story about the floods in Durban. The day came to an end with a performance of the National Anthem by Zolani Mahola. After a long day of intense discussion, it is safe to say attendees left with a better idea of the climate crisis and how it affects a host of different industries.
