00:00We value our African sea life and oceans.
00:03As long as it doesn't get in the way of our drilling.
00:05Students in the Zimbabwean capital Harare are familiar with this poof video,
00:10which takes aim at French multinational total energies.
00:13For years, the company has been portraying itself as a driving force
00:17behind the energy transition, while extracting oil and gas on a massive scale.
00:23Hello South Africa and Nigeria!
00:26We pride ourselves on being green and clean.
00:28How come?
00:29As we say so.
00:30Just look at our adverts with solar panels
00:32and windmills
00:33and nice renewable energy crap like that.
00:35Or in greenwashing lingo,
00:36a little goes a long way.
00:39Can satire on social media actually bring about change?
00:43I think you have to make use of almost every means of communication.
00:48No matter how outdated it is or no matter how modern it is,
00:53you have to make use of all of them
00:55because you never know like what a certain community uses to communicate certain things.
01:00We just need to drill, baby, drill, to end it into poverty.
01:05Afghans need jobs, not solar panels.
01:08I love it!
01:09I love it!
01:10Scar, Sebata and Trust Shikodzo use social media to reach the younger generation.
01:15Their next video is already in the works.
01:18They work for Magamba Network, a RR-based media organization that combines culture with activism.
01:25The new production looks at social media influencers parroting and spreading disinformation originating from their sponsors.
01:32Oil will make Africa rich.
01:35Jobs and energy for everyone.
01:38Anytime now.
01:39Rich for me?
01:40The profits go offshore faster than your wifi drops during load shift.
01:44You want that message to not be too rigid and easy, just easy to understand in such a way that you can have a laugh,
01:53but at least after you've watched that video, you come out of that watching session with at least something that you've grasped,
02:01something that you, you know, sparked that fire within you to want to, you know, demand for a future that is better.
02:08Climate disinformation is actually a huge threat.
02:11You'll find on social media, on the internet, the news sites that we see, they propel fossil fuel propaganda.
02:19So that's disinformation.
02:20When information is fed to public, to the public directly, in a way to mislead them into thinking that maybe the fossil fuel industry is doing amazing things for the green sector when it's actually not.
02:32The burning of fossil fuels is the main driver of rising temperatures in climate change.
02:42And when climate conferences end in disappointment, sometimes satire is not enough when it comes to combating fake news about bad news.
02:51Which is why Trust Chikodzo also organizes an annual environment festival for Magamba Network to promote a cleaner and eco-friendlier Harare.
03:02The Green Cities Expo is attended by over a hundred artists.
03:06The focus here is not on digital media use, but real world action of the analog variety, such as photos laying bare the issues of waste management and collaborative collages depicting a cleaner and a better world.
03:22As Magamba Network, we normally use satire, right? But incorporating these other elements makes sure that this environmentalism is participatory.
03:35Like trying to demand for that just transition, trying to demand for cleaner, safer and healthier environments needs us to look at it with a holistic lens when it comes to how we can engage with people, young people.
03:51A transition that is urgently needed. The Zimbabwean capital produces over 400,000 tons of waste every year, of which less than half is disposed of by professionals.
04:04Parts of Harare are drowning in garbage.
04:07Also among the responses at the Green Cities Expo is the costume or cosplay, where people dress up as characters from movies or video games. This guy is playing a figure from a first-person shooter game, but his weapons are perfectly harmless.
04:24It like starts off that conversation by telling people I made this out of recycled things, upcycled things. We can then lead the conversation to talking about, you know, climate change and how it's affecting things.
04:35Garbage? Yeah, I'm a garbage lady, yeah.
04:39Garbage lady's guitar is likewise 100% recycled.
04:45I've had these things for two years now, but if I hadn't went and started to make something else it probably would have been burned somewhere and the fumes are very dangerous.
04:56So imagine if everyone, like in small households, try to be creative and make beautiful art out of things that they want to throw away. Then there will be less pollution and trash in the landfills and such.
05:11Ultimately, it's the words of a young woman during a poetry slam that seem the most impactful.
05:17Our industries are building kingdoms of methane and carbon dioxide in the sky, creating the world into an inferno, and we blame the sun for heatwaves when she hasn't changed in all the years that she has existed. We have.
05:30We have broken our world so we can repay it. Trust Chicoto is mobilizing young people to make that happen with creativity, determination and no shortage of energy.
Comments