ABSTRACT
Recently the term Anthropocene has emerged as a signifier of human dominion over planetary systems through engaging in activities that are truly destructive to the environment. Although global ecological problems may seem to have been with us for a long time, land grabbing, a consequence of the global financial crisis, has exacerbated these problems and thereby portrays ecological disproportionality. Humanity is now on the precipice of a dire environmental catastrophe caused by the unprecedented increase in the international acquisition of natural resources in Africa. In this chapter, I show how land grabbing stands in opposition to sustainability, demonstrate how it is rapidly and increasingly changing ecological patterns, and describe the resultant impacts on the natural environment and sustainability in Africa.
Through descriptive and analytical legal research, I argue that land grabbing has failed to deliver on its promises as an alternative response to global energy efficiency and security and has instead exacerbated ecological degradation in Africa, thereby constraining the prospect of pursuing sustainability. I further argue that in the context of land grabbing, the Anthropocene forewarns impending ecological disasters and even a potential threat to human existence in Africa. As land grabbing typifies an anthropomorphically focused activity with considerable implications for environmental change and sustainability, it is important to consider how we think about natural resources and energy security governance in our attempt to preserve and protect the carrying capacity of the global Earth systems. Pursuing sustainability in this context would allow for regaining agency for the regulation of the existential ecological threats posed by land grabbing.
