Dr Tafadzwa Mushonga participated in this year’s Canon Collins Annual Scholars Conference that took place in Johannesburg from 24 to 25 June.  The conference was held under the theme Collaborating for change: A kaleidoscope of ideas and actions.

Dr Mushonga, who is a Canon Collins Alum herself, chaired a panel discussion on Climate Justice in which three brilliant speakers from the legal, education and academic fields took turns to unpack the concept of climate justice. The aim of the session was to encourage scholars to think about the intersectionality of climate justice, and consequently the importance of interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity in thinking about climate change. Dr Mushonga also moderated a roundtable debate of critical issues arising from the panel discussion on climate justice where key issues relating to the multi-layeredness of climate justice, the importance of language, and indigenous knowledge systems, as well the role of the African state and courts in achieving climate justice were debated. Some scholars felt there was hope for climate justice in Africa, while others thought there is nothing that can be changed with the current global approach. We need to think of ways to adapt as a continent.

At the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, Dr Mushonga leads the Environmental Humanities Project, which critically engages with the multidisciplinary issues of climate change and climate justice in Africa.