Preamble
The story of creation has diverse trajectories that follow the logic of the attempts by peoples to make meanings of their lived experiences within specific environments. From the mythical conception of a Supreme Deity through the pantheistic postulation of Primordial Matter to the happenstance of Science’s Big Bang, the stories of nature’s origin are mostly characterised by the consensus on shared heritage that imposes a common destiny on all components of the natural environment. The pedagogy on creation, as inspired by the Ifa Corpus within the indigenous knowledge system of the Yoruba, is a testament to this assertion. As postulated in the theorisation of Asuwada by Professor Akinsola Akinwowo during his 1980 inaugural lecture, Orunmila teaches that creation was teleological, as humans have been commissioned to bring goodness to everything begotten of the creator. These include trees, palm trees, animals, earthworms, and other things co-created with man. This position fits with the Anabaptist’s proposition on the need to prioritize our treatments of nature, which, among other things, should reflect the intersection of preaching about peace and care for the land. The neglect of the cues from the abuse of the earth through the persistence of deleterious activities is thus not unconnected with the impoverishment of the most vulnerable communities that are being deprived of the benefits of their natural environments, even as ecological crises result in social disruptions.
The year 2026 has been ecologically challenging, as we have witnessed the highest temperatures of heatwaves ever recorded in several continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. There have also been experiences of droughts, cyclones, destructive floods, wildfires, landslides, severe snowstorms, and weakening monsoons. These have not just impacted the environment negatively, but also led to debilitating ailments, induced poverty, and in extreme cases, fatalities among bio-organisms within our planet. Beyond natural disasters, human agents have also contributed to the violation of the environment through indiscriminate depletion of bio-life, at times resulting in food insecurity; unregulated and improperly regulated waste disposal, polluting water resources; and the development of weapons, posing direct risks to human life while also advancing industrial air pollution that portends the long-term danger of ecocide. These events reflect that there is too much at stake to neglect the need for proactive measures to safeguard our common home and bequeath a life-sustaining heritage to generations that are yet unborn. The above thus provided the context for discussions at the September 14, 2026 edition of the Africanist Scholars’ Forum, where we explored extant environmental challenges and the importance of leaving nothing behind in caring for the earth.
Observations
We observe that a major challenge of secular environmentalism has been delimiting the essence of nature to the whims and caprices of man, in a form of anthropocentric oligarchy that overemphasizes experiential data in defining nature’s destiny. While this has been helpful in accentuating the role of humans in the prevention of ecological decline, its moral logic is arguably deficient, especially as human knowledge is yet to be definitive on the reasoning behind the rhythm in nature. This is evidenced in the reliance on the science of approximation rather than exact science in the forecasts of certain naturally induced events; and more importantly, man’s inability to prevent and control them. While this assertion is not to undermine the achievements of science and technology in an ever-evolving epistemological landscape that helps to better understand the environment, it affirms the importance of religious environmentalism as a metascience that fills the void by projecting a sacred aura on nature as an art of a Divine Essence. This thus provides the needed incentive for a proactive turn to contribute to the preservation of nature as a collaborator, cognisant of the fact that nature’s ordering is beyond human efforts; rather than a disposition to despair through nonchalance that preaches the inevitability of doom for our planet.
There is the indication that losses from natural disasters across the world during the first half of 2026 amount to about $112bn, excluding fatalities. This confirms that resistance to the push for responsiveness to protect the environment through sustainable practices is significantly costing humanity. From the perspective of production, industrial habits of burning fossil fuels with heavy reliance on coal, oil, and gas have continued to be linked with the melting of ice and collapse of the glaciers, while pollution from unregulated extractive and mining activities keeps putting pressure on land and water resources. The rippling effects have included internal displacements; transborder migration to refugee camps and increasingly hostile host communities; economic pressure for residents of host communities and communities of origin; and conflicts. Beyond industrial habits, everyday violations of the environment occur through the culture of consumption that includes indiscriminate waste disposal, especially of non-degradable consumables such as plastic bags and bottles, synthetic polymers and fibres, metals, and electronic wastes. These have not just harmed the environment but have been confirmed as hazardous to human health when their particles are ingested through different packaging, cooking, and feeding habits.
At the current rate of temperature rise, it has been projected that, on the average, the earth will exceed the 1.5oC heating limit within the next five years. This may be irreversible, and as a consequence, hazardous to the environment. Developed countries have been challenged to take up more responsibilities for their carbon emissions and waste disposal mechanisms, especially with their increasing embrace of nuclear energy without sustainable disposal mechanisms for its radioactive wastes. It is, however, important to note that proactive efforts have ensured the development of technologies for recycling (including pyrolysis) and upcycling (for aesthetics and other utilitarian purposes) to facilitate waste reduction and a cleaner environment. Nonetheless, there is a growing need to scale up these technologies and develop global and transgenerational legitimacy for them by advancing and institutionalising knowledge of the impacts of harmful environmental behaviours and alternative healthier practices.
Recommendations
There is a need for an ecological conversion in terms of macro and micro levels of quotidian habits that creates a balance between religious and secular environmentalism. This could be termed responsible anthropocentrism, where humans create a proactive culture as collaborators in the restoration and maintenance of nature. It is thus imperative to institutionalise cultural education that encourages habitual connection with creation in the manner of devoting time outdoors to appreciate the beauty and benefits of creation. This would help promote an understanding of social justice, not just as looking out for fellow humans, but also extending responsibility to the protection of other aspects of nature.
There is also a need to legitimise both scientific and technical solutions to the challenge of climate change that is bedevilling our world today. While there is an abundance of knowledge products on energy efficiency, the technical solutions need to be cheap, reliable, available, and mass-produced for embrace by marginal communities who suffer more from environmental hazards, even while producing less waste. This needs to be complemented by the responsible use of industrial technology in the developed world, which includes leveraging clean/renewable energy to enable change in the methods of production, transportation, consumption, and waste disposal.
It is also germane to commit to a process of restoration following nature’s internal logic in a world where obsession with artificial intelligence has derailed human attention from the order of creation. The simple habits of growing trees and vegetation go a long way in protecting the health and safety of bio entities within the environment. Communities could work in groups with actionable timelines on these and other relevant initiatives that would help preserve a healthy world for generations of the future.