This episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, co-hosted by African Futures Lab Director Liliane Umubyeyi and Program Assistant Helene Himmer, features a compelling discussion with Chenai Mukumba, Executive Director of Tax Justice Network Africa, on the urgent need to fund climate reparations.

Mukumba unpacks the enduring economic impacts of colonialism, which have left African nations dependent on extractive industries and disadvantaged in global value chains. The current international financial structure, led by institutions like the IMF and World Bank, she explains, reinforces this dependency and lacks the democratic accountability needed to support meaningful economic reform.

The conversation explores tax justice as a pathway for financing climate reparations. Mukumba details how African countries lose substantial revenue to tax evasion and corporate abuses, proposing that taxes on wealthy individuals, corporations, and fossil fuel industries could provide crucial resources for climate adaptation. Advocating for a democratized global tax framework under the United Nations, Mukumba argues that this shift would better serve Global South nations compared to the OECD-led model, which tends to prioritize wealthier nations’ interests.

Chenai Mukumba is the Executive Director at the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA). She is based in Nairobi, Kenya and overall provides strategic leadership and direction to deliver on TJNA’s mission and vision in its various thematic areas. Chenai has a master’s in International Relations from Wits University, Johannesburg, and is currently pursuing a master's in Taxation at the University of Oxford.

Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) is a research and advocacy organisation with a robust network of civil society organisations with the united effort of leading tax justice voices across the continent. Through its Nairobi Secretariat, TJNA collaborates closely with its member civil society organisations to curb illicit financial flows (IFFs) and promote progressive taxation systems. In partnership and collaboration with other regional economic governance institutions, TJNA advocates for tax policies with pro-poor outcomes and tax systems that curb public resource leakages and enhance domestic resource mobilisation. TJNA’s vision is to see a new Africa where tax justice prevails and ensures equitable, inclusive, and sustainable development.

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This episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur is co-hosted by Patrick Toussaint, an international environmental lawyer, and Helene Himmer, Program Assistant at African Futures Lab. Both welcomed the special guest Adrián Martinez Blanco, Director of La Ruta del Clima. The discussion finds roots in a recent case about the ongoing struggle of communities in Côte d'Ivoire against the Belgian multinational SIAT over allegations of land grabbing, deforestation and human rights violations related to its palm oil and rubber plantations. Martinez Blanco emphasizes the concept of "loss and damage," criticizing the newly established loss and damage fund for its lack of adequate support from developed countries. He also critiques Paragraph 51 of the Paris Agreement, which allows industrialized nations to evade accountability for climate-related harms, complicating efforts to secure reparations and address the realities of vulnerable communities.

The conversation highlights the urgent need for a robust international legal framework to effectively address climate change and protect affected communities. Martinez Blanco stresses the importance of climate litigation as a tool for holding Global North states and corporations accountable for perpetrating environmental crimes and damages. He calls for unity amongst Global South countries to adopt a rights-based position in negotiations, focusing on specific reparations rather than diluting the conversation into broader concepts. Despite challenges such as limited resources, risks and threats faced by environmental defenders, Martinez Blanco advocates for pragmatic approaches rooted in human rights to address climate change impacts, underscoring that the lived experiences of affected communities should be central to climate justice negotiations.

Adrián Martinez Blanco, MA, is the Director of La Ruta del Clima, a Costa Rican NGO that promotes public participation in climate and environmental decision-making and has been an observer, advocating at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate summits since 2014. Adrián’s research areas include climate impacts, loss and damage, human rights, public participation and international climate law. He is a current PhD candidate at the University of Eastern Finland and holds a Master's degree in Environment, Development and Peace with a speciality in climate public policies.

Patrick is an international lawyer, policy analyst, and researcher with over eight years of experience in international environmental law and policy. He specializes in critical areas such as climate change, biodiversity, and air pollution. In addition to his legal expertise, Patrick excels as a communicator and facilitator, demonstrating a strong commitment to promoting diversity, mediation, and conflict resolution in his work.

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In this podcast episode, Hélène Himmer and Brigette Perenyi, storytelling manager at Reform Initiative host a discussion with Ineza Umuhoza Grace, CEO of the Green Protector and Co. and founder of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, about the need for climate reparations and the challenges faced by the Global South, particularly Africa, which bears the brunt of climate impacts despite contributing minimally to global emissions. This episode explores how youth activism is driving the climate justice and reparations movement, with a focus on amplifying the voices of vulnerable groups like women and indigenous communities in Africa. Ineza emphasizes the need for these frontline communities to tell their own stories, rather than having international media impose narratives, ensuring their stories are heard and effective solutions are pursued. Furthermore, this episode advocates for unity among African nations to amplify their voices in global climate negotiations and address the tokenization of women, youth, and marginalized groups in international forums. Ultimately, the podcast calls for an inclusive, justice-driven approach to climate action that centers the voices and needs of those most affected by the crisis.

Ineza Umuhoza Grace is a passionate eco-feminist, climate activist, and environmentalist from Kigali, Rwanda. She is the CEO and Founder of The Green Protector, co-ordinator and co-founder of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, and a Research Assistant for the CCLAD project, which stands for The Politics of Climate Change Loss and Damage. In 2023, Ineza was awarded the Global Citizen Prize for her remarkable contributions to climate advocacy.

Ineza holds a bachelor’s degree in water and environmental engineering from the University of Rwanda. Her research focuses on Loss and Damage responses in developing countries. She is interested in working to find gaps that can be turned into an opportunity area to ensure sustainable development for the global community. She also aims to support the sharing of community voices through blogging, storytelling and youth empowerment, especially of the youth in the Global South.

Brigitte Perenyi is a documentary story gatherer, producer & advocate with special focus on ethical storytelling. She works with development, INGOs, nonprofits and humanitarian organisations, news agents, storytellers and communications’ team to co-create more equitable media collection with ethical considerations. Currently, she serves as the storytelling manager at Reform Initiative. Perenyi strongly believes participatory and collaborative storytelling can change how we view and relate to our world. She engages with people in communities to find the stories that will not only give them agency and ownership but that will also support the transformation of their communities and create sustainability and prosperity; the goal of the organisations. She has produced & directed stories from the most challenging environments in over ten countries across Africa, and England for media outlets, corporations and organisations including BBC, World Bank, Open Society Foundation, Connected Development, and Conciliation Resources, to name a few. Brigitte was listed in 100 Women BBC 2018.

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