On 8 May 2025, the University of Pretoria's Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship hosted an Environmental Humanities seminar titled "The Hidden Costs of Green Transition." The event critically examined the often unacknowledged consequences of renewable energy transitions. The event featured presentations by Professor Emeritus Joe Amadi-Echendu (University of Pretoria) and Fatima Vally from Mining Affected Communities United in Action and Women Affected by Mining United in Action (MACUA/WAMUA).

Prof Obi-Echendu opened his presentation by critiquing the seminar’s theme and guiding questions. He suggested that the idea of ‘cost’ has a negative tone, which does not quite account for some of the opportunities that he sees in the move towards green transition. While he acknowledged that indigenous communities have had to endure some forms of violence due to extraction, he sought to move the debate beyond narratives of loss and victimhood. Instead, he advised that we focus on the uncertainties associated with the green transition. He focused on the methodological interventions that are necessary if Africa and other formerly colonised countries are to survive and thrive in the world of green capitalism, which is already here. 

Prof Obi-Echendu averred that to gain a nuanced understanding of the impacts of green transition on the Global South, there is a need to move beyond models of evaluation created by the Global North and international lenders. These models do not sufficiently account for the distinct quotidian experiences of many communities in the so-called underdeveloped and developing countries. Instead, he suggested that we tweak frameworks such as PESTLE and GDI to make them more attentive to the key factors underpining what is considered a sustainable, good life in Africa. And to address the distinct challenges that become legible through such heuristic frameworks, Africa would need to adopt an intra-Africa collaborative approach to trade and environmental policies. He suggested that the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) could serve as a platform for developing sustainable solutions from within, beyond the extractive grasp of the Global North. In responding to the impacts of the green transition in a manner that is also attentive to the opportunities and alternative modes of living that it makes possible, indigenous communities must have a seat at the table where key decisions are being made. Their voices and concerns must be at the centre of deliberations on the way forward. He also offered that the rush for rare and critical materials, which Africa is witnessing, is similar to the experiences of many societies in North America. As such, Africa could lend a leaf from their critical decolonial modes of response and survival.

Fatima Vally’s presentation examined the lived realities of extractive violence in mining-affected communities through an intersectional lens, foregrounding how gender, class, and geographic location produce distinct vulnerabilities. While unflinchingly documenting the scale of these challenges, she particularly emphasised the resilient survival strategies and agency cultivated within affected communities. Echoing Professor Echendu’s stance, Vally argued for the epistemic sovereignty of local communities in shaping debates about their land, survival, and envisioned futures.

To demonstrate the link between green transition policies and extractive violence, Vally analysed the case of Kuruman, a mining-affected community in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, revealing how intersecting gender and class inequalities produce distinct patterns of violence and systemic exclusion. Her research documented multiple compounding crises: acute shortages of basic amenities, environmental pollution (notably manganese contamination linked to neurological disorders), pervasive gender-based violence, and structural barriers to women’s employment. While her presentation unequivocally exposed the brutality of green extractivism, it also centred communal acts of resistance. She highlighted acts of defiance like land occupations, protests, and strategic litigation, while also calling attention to Indigenous knowledge systems as vital reservoirs of survival praxis. These epistemologies, she argued, offer both a counternarrative to extraction-driven development and a blueprint for alternative futures.

The question-and-answer session that followed the presentations saw audience members grappling with the complex issues raised by the speakers. Key questions included: What concrete steps can African leaders take in response to the current socioecological emergency? And how might activists and scholars collaborate to create spaces for political education and movement-building? In their responses, the speakers emphasised the necessity of ethical leadership rooted in African epistemic traditions, arguing that effective solutions must engage Indigenous frameworks for understanding crisis and resilience. They further stressed the importance of centring the agency and adaptive strategies already present within African communities, rather than relying solely on externally imposed models of development.

When asked to summarise their closing arguments, Professor Obi-Echendu reiterated the importance of endogenous solutions, strengthened intra-African collaboration, and transformative innovation to mitigate the repercussions of the green transition. Echoing this sentiment, Ms. Fatima Vally underscored the necessity of centring localised knowledge and everyday survival practices to navigate the impending challenges of this global shift. Quoting Arundhati Roy, Vally invoked a vision of emergent change: “A new world is not only possible, she is already on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” The seminar concluded on this resonant note, issuing a call to engage with alternative epistemologies, those often-overlooked yet vital frameworks through which the voice and shape of the future might be discerned, and its complexities rendered legible.