Racism and Climate (In)Justice - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung ...
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Racism and Climate (In)Justice
How Racism and Colonialism shape the Climate Crisis and Climate Action
Olumide Abimbola
Joshua Kwesi Aikins
Tselane Makhesi-Wilkinson
Erin Roberts2
Acknowledgement
The authors are very grateful to Mohamed Adow and Yamide Dagnet, who reviewed and pro-
vided comments on a draft. The paper also received invaluable inputs from Owolabi Aboyade,
Kehinde Balogun, Alpha Oumar Kaloga, Tunga Bhadra Rai, Liane Schalatek, Laureline Simon, and
a Black, Indigenous and People of Color collective comprising climate negotiators, researchers,
experts, and activists in the field of climate change, who wish to remain anonymous.
The drafting of this framing paper was supported by the Heinrich Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC. It
does not necessarily represent the views of the Stiftung or its partner organizations.
License: Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
March 2021
3Table of contents:
Introduction
1. How have colonialism and racism contributed to climate change?
1.1. Racism and anthropogenic climate change are historically linked
1.2. Colonization and racist hierarchies fostered the climate emergency
1.3. The ‘Anthropocene’ posits the white male as the universal human
2. How have colonialism and racism shaped climate policy and action?
2.1. Insufficient and inadequate climate action is a blatant illustration of colonial continuities
and racism
2.1.1. International climate policy lags in prioritizing the protection of the most vulnerable
to the impacts of climate change
2.1.2. The hypocrisy of the Global North on climate policy and action
2.1.3. Climate finance and development actors do not meet the actual needs of their
BIPoC ‘beneficiaries’
2.2. Colonialism and racism are embedded in structures, institutions, and organizations
confronting the climate crisis
2.2.1. At the structural and institutional levels: a silencing of colonial continuities and racist
biases
2.2.2. At organizational level: interpersonal and institutional racism leading to tokenization
3. How are Indigenous Peoples and other racialized communities disproportionately impacted
by climate change in countries?
3.1. In the Global North, Black, Indigenous and People of Color remain among the hardest hit
by climate change impacts
3.2. In the Global South, Indigenous Peoples and other racialized communities are the most
vulnerable to climate change impacts
4. How can racism in climate policy and action be urgently addressed?
4.1. Acknowledging the history and legacy of colonialism in climate policy and action
4.2. Fostering a deep cultural change within institutions and organizations based in the
Global North
4.2.1. Questioning current inclusion practices to ensure the meaningful participation and
engagement of diverse BIPoC
4.2.2. Enforcing human rights obligations under the International Conventions to Eliminate
Racial Discrimination
4.2.3. Healing collective trauma related to racial and climate injustice
4.3. Undertaking institutional and structural reforms in the global climate governance system,
with a focus on financial solidarity and accountability
4.3.1. Transforming international development
4.3.2. Rethinking knowledge production and technical expertise
Conclusion
References
4Introduction Global North’s “developed” status is intrinsi-
cally linked not only to their own standards
The year 2020 starkly exposed anti-blackness and Western definition of what it is to be de-
and many other forms of racism in societies veloped, but also to their shared colonial
of the Global North, leading to increasing past. Yet, countries that started the colonial
recognition of the linkages between racial project continue to shape the global devel-
and climate injustice. The COVID-19 pan- opment agenda, including development re-
demic highlighted and exacerbated socio- search, financial assistance and climate fi-
economic inequalities both within and be- nance discourses.4 These realities and re-
tween countries. Inside the climate move- search findings have implications for climate
ment, calls were made for a just and resilient policy and action. This framing paper there-
recovery from COVID-19 so as to address fore examines the ways in which colonialism
such inequalities. While protesting racist vio- and racism have shaped climate change,
lence and injustice, the Black Lives Matter climate policy, the international agenda for
(BLM) movement also highlighted how envi- development aid related to climate change,
ronmental, climate and racial injustice are in- and climate finance interventions, as well as
tertwined. At the same time, the role of the resulting impacts of climate change on
racism in international climate policy was the populations. It shares reflections on the key
focus of discussion in a number of recent ar- roles colonial continuities and prevailing
ticles and blogs, including by former United racist hierarchies continue to play in the inter-
Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki national community’s failure to effectively re-
Moon.1 As 2020 became the hottest year on spond to the climate crisis. It also provides in-
record,2 extreme weather events continue to sights on ways to urgently address institu-
bring devastation in the Global South, while tional racism in climate change policy and
within countries of the Global North they are action, with a focus on international climate
hitting Black, Indigenous and People of Color governance.
(BIPoC) the hardest. At the same time, devel-
This paper presents: (I) how colonialism and
oped countries have failed to meet their
racism have enabled climate change, (II)
commitments under the United Nations
how colonialism and racism have shaped cli-
Framework Convention on Climate Change
mate policy and action, and (III) how racial-
(UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. To fully
ized communities are disproportionately im-
understand today’s systemic risks and con-
pacted by climate change within countries.
verging crises, it is important to look into the
It also suggests ways to urgently decolonize
root causes of racial and climate injustice.
movements, institutions and both white and
BIPoC physical bodies through a deep cul-
Decades of research and activism on envi-
tural change, as well as undertake structural
ronmental racism3 provide a proven frame-
and institutional reforms to address institu-
work to analyze the global distribution of the
tional racism at scale (IV). The paper demon-
impacts of the climate crisis, as countries and
strates that there can be no climate justice
regions which were formerly colonized bear
without racial justice, and that a clear, deep
the brunt of current and projected future cli-
and empirically grounded understanding of
mate change impacts. In addition, emerging
the many links between those two types of
literature increasingly recognizes that the
1
Ban and Verkooijen, 2020. exposure to environmental pollutants” and thus cause
2 disproportionate harm to BIPoC individuals and
See: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/2020-tied-
communities.
for-warmest-year-on-record-nasa-analysis-shows. 4
3 Nwajiaku-Dahou and Leon-Himmelstine, 2020; Sierp,
Environmental racism is described by Bullard, (2004) as
2020.
“systems that produce and perpetuate inequalities in
5injustice is essential to addressing both, from Portugal. The related genocides, disposses-
their foundations up. sion and enslavement of the Indigenous Peo-
ples of the Americas, and soon after Africa,
were the building blocks of racist theories
1. How have colonialism and and practices.9 The genocides in the Ameri-
racism contributed to climate cas, the mass enslavement and the importa-
tion of Africans to the American colonies
change? constituted the largest population replace-
The history of how climate change started ment in millennia. In addition, the introduc-
seldom mentions the colonization, genocide, tion of plants and animals on a large scale
racism and slavery that paved the way to- led to irreversible ecological transformations.
wards industrialization and massive land use
changes. Understanding such long-term his- It is no coincidence that anthropogenic cli-
torical processes, in relation to mindsets and mate change and racism both emerged
power relations, is essential to grasping and during the genocidal conquest of the Ameri-
addressing the overlap between racial and cas. From a decolonial perspective, the con-
climate injustice. struction of the “conquering ego” to justify
and normalize genocidal violence on an un-
precedented scale during the first wave of
1.1. Racism and anthropogenic colonization of what was to become Latin
climate change are America laid the foundation for the “carte-
historically linked sian ego” of modern Western thought. 10 The
cartesian ego is characterized by its mind-
Critics of the concept of the “Anthropo- body dualism, and its view of nature as an
cene” point to a human-made global cli- object to be dominated. According to this
mate event that predates the industrial revo- perspective, the transformation of human-
lution. Known as the “Orbis Spike,”5 the rapid nature relationships from embeddedness to
cooling of the global climate in the late 16th domination, and the establishment of the
century is a direct consequence of the gen- non-white ‘other’ and women as part of na-
ocide perpetrated by Iberic invaders in Latin ture, belong to the same dynamic.11 The car-
America.6 The rapid rewilding of huge tracts tesian view of the world also underpins the
of land as a direct consequence of this gen- exploitation of natural resources and a disre-
ocide cooled global temperatures rapidly gard for what is called “externalities” in eco-
and noticeably. Recasting the first anthropo- nomic discourse. It normalizes an instrumen-
genic change in global temperatures as a tal view of nature and renders climate injus-
result of the first wave of colonization reveals tice invisible by obscuring culpability and re-
the interwovenness of racism and climate sponsibility for emissions and other climate
change.7 Racism as it operates today has a harms.
complex history, in which the context of mass
violence during colonization of the Americas Such long-standing hierarchies between
was a key phase.8 According to decolonial white/BIPoC, men/women, and cul-
perspectives, key impulses for the ture/nature, which have been institutional-
construction of racism came from theories ized globally since the colonial era, also ex-
contributing to the biologization and hi- plain why BlPoC women and non-binary
erarchization of humans as a means to justify people continue to experience heightened
the violent colonial expansion of Spain and vulnerability generally, and in relation to the
5 9
Lewis and Maslin, 2015. Dussel, 1885, 2012; Grosfoguel, 2015.
6 10
Yussof, 2018. Maldonaldo-Torres, 2007.
7 11
Yussof, 2018. Dussel, 1985, 2012; Grosfoguel, 2015.
8
Appelbaum, 2020; Feros, 2017.
6climate crisis more specifically. Such hierar- that would contribute to a steady rise in
chies have a significant impact on access to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As part of
resources and various forms of capital, which a “New Imperialism” between 1870 and
are a major determinant of socio-economic 1914, European countries established formal
opportunities for individuals and population political, economic and social control over
groups within a country. In turn, access to so- almost all territories of the world.16 In 1914, Eu-
cio-economic opportunities plays a critical rope nominally controlled 84 percent of the
part in the ability of population groups and world’s land surface, against 35 percent in
individuals to cope with and recover from cli- 1800.17 The unrivalled profits of enslavement
mate change impacts today. According to followed by violent colonial expansion fueled
Haynes and Kheel, the intersectionality of the industrial revolution by providing Euro-
racism, sexism, and classism are also illus- pean countries with access to raw material,
trated in the discourse of “sacrifice,” and the such as oil, rubber, wood, cotton, copper,
reality of “sacrifice zones,”12 by which con- gold, iron, and cobalt, which were abundant
temporary western elites rationalize injustices in Africa, at minimal costs.18 As a result, indus-
generated against countries, population trialization and the tripling of international
groups or communities, as unavoidable to trade19 between 1878 and 1918 afforded Eu-
ensure their own livelihood and safety.13 ropean countries with the power to success-
fully take and profitably maintain their nu-
merous colonies overseas.20 Consequently,
1.2. Colonization and racist the industrial revolution marks the beginning
hierarchies fostered the of a steady rise in global GHG emissions, with
climate emergency a sharper turn from the 1910 decade, as doc-
umented in various reports of the Intergov-
The colonial era laid the foundation and cre-
ernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
ated a structural opportunity for racist hierar-
Besides, although many colonized countries
chies to be normalized and institutionalized.
gained independence after the Second
Contemporary political, economic, scientific
World War, scholars of law, history and poli-
and cultural conditions around the world are
tics argue21 that the Global North’s domina-
shaped by direct and indirect continuities
tion of former empires simply became subtle
from the colonial era, which are character-
and insidious. Industrialization is one of the
ized by the violent expansion of European
main drivers of anthropogenic climate
economies.14 The coloniality of the present
change, which has resulted in an increase in
global, regional, national and local systems
global temperature by over 1°C between
remain the enabler of modernity,15 including
1880 and 2020.22
in its institutional, industrial and environmen-
tal dimensions.
Colonial continuities and institutionalized
racist hierarchies also help explain why an-
Practically, colonization has permitted the
thropogenic climate change continues to
unfolding of the climate crisis by facilitating
have such a devastating human impact,
and establishing the global overexploitation
particularly in the Global South, and has now
of natural resources to fuel industrialization in
reached the alarming status of a climate
Europe and the United States, as well as con-
comitant and associated land use changes
12 18
Haynes and Kheel, 2008. Parvanova, 2017; Ewout, 2015.
13 19
Gaard, 2015. Ewout, 2015.
14 20
Mahony and Endfield, 2018. Parvanova, 2017.
15 21
Dussel 2012, Grosfoguel, 2015, Mignolo 2011, Ndlovu- Anghie 2005, Getachew 2019,Go, 2016.
Gasheni 2019. 22
See: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-
16
Parvanova, 2017. change/global-temperatures
17
Parvanova, 2017.
7emergency. There is a “perverse paradox” 23 forefront the shared responsibility of all hu-
in that resources were expropriated from col- man beings in the current climate crisis. It im-
onized countries and territories in Latin plies that the human-nature relationship that
America, Africa, and Asia to fuel industrial- brought about the crisis is part of the human
ization, which would later contribute to the condition. However, reflecting on the sec-
rise in GHG emissions, and trigger climate tions above, who is the “anthropos”? In other
change impacts that would critically affect words, who is the man of this new age of man
formerly colonized countries and territories. who is responsible for destabilizing the Earths’
The vulnerability of those countries and terri- climate and its ecosystem, as the agent in
tories to climate change impacts is further this undertaking of terra(de)forming? Only a
compounded by the fact that they were small group of human beings have histor-
pillaged during the colonial era, which left ically contributed to climate change, while
them “underdeveloped,”24 and with few re- at the same time largely destroying many
sources to address climate change im- different indigenous ways of interacting with
pacts.25 Besides, taking the example of the nature. The concept of Anthropocene
Caribbean, Sealey-Huggins argues that defines the white male as the epitome of the
upon securing their independence, such so- human. It is a case of conceptual overreach
cieties were frequently forced into forms of which has significant discursive and political
development that seemed ill-suited in facili- consequences.29 More precisely, the con-
tating sustainable economic development, cept of Anthropocene universalizes the pol-
and a flourishing of their population, but luting behavior of the Global North, and its
which were better suited and/or crafted to related system, as being central to a global
maintain or exacerbate inequalities.26 Con- human condition. The term obscures the fact
sequently, the mapping of the distribution of that a very small percentage of the popula-
climate change impacts follows a pattern tion is responsible for the anthropogenic
clearly marked by colonial continuities.27 emissions while also benefiting from the very
Most countries in the formerly colonized conditions that created it.30 It tends to blur
Global South can be classified as “climate both historically differential responsibility and
forced riders,” as they bear the brunt of unevenly distributed impacts of the climate
current and future climate impacts, and are crisis.
particularly vulnerable to such impacts, while
having contributed minimally to the climate Consequently, the Anthropocene would
crisis.28 more accurately be called the “racial
capitalocene”31 according to Verges, as a
way to expose implied relationships to race,
1.3. The ‘Anthropocene’ posits the capitalism, imperialism and gender that are
white male as the universal part of this specific vision of the “anthropos.”
human Questioning this supposedly universal vision
can also give more prominence to different
The concept of Anthropocene, which means
perspectives on the crises we are undergoing
the new age (-cene) of man (anthropos),
and its possible resolution. Critical ecofem-
does not only mark the geological age in
inism which has long highlighted the link
which human beings have been impacting
between the overexploitation of nature,
the climate system in ways that are being
colonial racism, sexism and oppression of In-
recorded in sediments. It also brings to the
23 28
Sealey-Huggins, 2017. Althor et al., 2016.
24 29
Rodney, 1982. Wynter, 2003.
25 30
Philips, 2019. Pulido, 2018.
26 31
Sealey-Huggins, 2017. Verges, 2017.
27
Althor et al., 2016.
8digenous people and their human-nature re- aligns with the objectives of developing
lations32 offers such perspectives. So do en- countries within the Global South. The section
vironmental justice movements with their below provides evidence as to why this can
roots in a Black radical tradition that enables be seen as a manifestation of racism, or as
intersectional analysis of racist, sexist, hetero- an attempt by countries in the Global North
sexist and classist dynamics of environmental to maintain their place in the global hierar-
racism. This offers a perspective that in turn chy. Such countries continue to deliberately
empowers cross-community solidarity and dominate by manipulating countries within
action, while retaining the critique of specific the Global South, as well as BIPoC in the
racism as it manifests in disparate environ- Global North, who are being disproportion-
mental and climate impacts.33 In another ately hit by climate change impacts.
register, Afrofuturism and African futurism,34
introduce ways of looking at possible futures 2.1.1. International climate policy
through an African diasporic and/or African lags in prioritizing the protection
cultural lens, blending the future, the past, of the most vulnerable to the
and the present.35 Indigenous Peoples impacts of climate change
around the world continue to uphold values, The long history of international climate pol-
visions, understandings and specific icy has not resulted in the protection of the
knowledge that have long been underval- most vulnerable from the impacts of climate
ued and misrepresented although they can change. In 1856, American scientist Eunice
help foster a deep understanding of the hu- Foote proposed that variations in the amount
man condition and have empirically been of CO2 could increase the temperature of
shown to enable a sustainable guardianship the atmosphere and lead to changes to the
of nature.36 climate.37 The first global conference on
global warming was held in 1988. Shortly
afterwards the UN General Assembly
2. How have colonialism and declared climate change as a threat to hu-
racism shaped climate policy mankind and mandated a multilateral
and action? process to address climate change.38 This led
to the UNFCCC being established in 1992,
with the objective of stabilizing GHG emis-
2.1. Insufficient and inadequate sions to levels that would prevent dangerous
climate action is a blatant “anthropogenic interference with the cli-
mate system” so that ecosystems would be
illustration of colonial
able to adapt naturally, food production
continuities and racism would not be threatened and economic de-
The lack and inadequacy of climate action velopment could proceed sustainably.39 In
from countries in the Global North is particu- recognizing their responsibility, developed
larly salient when considering: (a) the history countries also committed to supporting
of international climate policy, (b) the dou- vulnerable developing countries adapt to
ble standards that exist in climate policy and the impacts of climate change where adap-
action applied today by countries of the tation was required.40
Global North, and (c) the design and imple-
mentation of measures to address the Even before the UNFCCC was established,
impacts of climate change in a way that small island developing states advocated for
32 37
Plumwood, 1993; 2001. Jackson, 2019.
33 38
Pulido and De lara, 2018. UN General Assembly, 1988.
34 39
Okorafor, 2019. UN, 1992.
35 40
Verges, 2017. UN, 1992.
36
Schuster et al., 2019.
9a mechanism to compensate them for loss and Damage was established to promote
and damage incurred as a result of sea level approaches to address loss and damage in
rise.41 The proposal was not incorporated into vulnerable developing countries, building on
the UNFCCC in its final formulation. However, the work done by the Alliance of Small Island
the UNFCCC does recognize the historical States. It is clear that developing countries
responsibility of developed countries for the have long called for support to address cli-
impacts of climate change.42 For the first mate change impacts, for which they are
decade of its existence the UNFCCC both least responsible for and most vulnera-
focused on mitigation efforts with the hope ble to. Yet, concrete action has been inade-
that the most dangerous impacts of climate quate.
change would be avoided. However, in 2001
it became clear that more focus on adapta- Current global average temperature has
tion was needed. The National Adaptation already increased by over 1℃ compared to
Programmes of Action (NAPAs) were estab- pre-industrial levels,48 and scientists are pro-
lished to help Least Developed Countries jecting the world is moving towards a 3℃
(LDCs) identify their most urgent adaptation global average warming49 by the end of the
priorities.43 At COP 8 in late 2002, the Delhi century provided that national pledges and
Declaration was issued by several develop- climate policies are implemented. This is
ing country Parties to highlight adaptation as occurring despite a commitment in the Paris
a priority and demanded more support to Agreement to keep warming well below 2℃,
reduce vulnerability and adapt to the im- and to make a concerted effort to limit
pacts of climate change.44 Notwithstanding, warming to 1.5℃. The focus on 2℃, rather
developed countries promoted a global than 1.5℃, as the pre-eminent global temp-
temperature goal of 2℃ at COP 15 even with erature goal, has been characterized as
the knowledge that this magnitude of warm- “carbon capitalism,” highlighting that the
ing would have catastrophic impacts for global community agreed to a global temp-
many countries in the Global South.45 As erature limit that is untenable for many coun-
Naomi Klein argues: tries in the Global South.50 Moreover, the Paris
Agreement does not provide a roadmap for
[t]his well-known target, which sup- how to limit warming to 2℃, let alone 1.5℃.
posedly represents the "safe" limit of Clémençon argued that the Paris Agree-
climate change, has always been a ment let developed countries “off the hook”
highly political choice that has more for their massive contributions to historical
to do with minimizing economic dis- emissions, put increased pressure on devel-
ruption than protecting the greatest oping countries, and left vulnerable develop-
number of people.46 ing countries even more exposed to climate
change impacts that are increasing in both
In 2010, when it became clear that neither magnitude and frequency.51
mitigation nor adaptation levels were suffi-
cient to avoid the most dangerous impacts
of climate change, a work program was
created to better understand approaches to
address loss and damage47. In 2013 the
Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss
41 48
Roberts and Huq, 2015. IPCC, 2018.
42 49
UN, 1992. See:
43
UNFCCC, 2002. http://costs_of_inaction.climateanalytics.org/index.htm
44 l
UNFCCC, 2003. 50
45 Di Muzio, 2015; Sealey-Huggins, 2017.
Klein, 2014. 51
46 Clémençon, 2016:4.
Klein, 2014.
47
UNFCCC, 2011.
102.1.2. The hypocrisy of the Global negotiators and observers, developed coun-
North on climate policy and tries often emphasize their own vulnerability
action within the UNFCCC international negotia-
Since 2016, 1,867 jurisdictions within 33 coun- tions to justify the need to dedicate financial
tries have declared “climate emergen- resources to their own national adaptation
cies”.52 Most of these declarations have needs.
come from local governments within the
Global North including in Australia, Belgium, Lack of data is often blamed for the failure to
Canada, France, Germany, the United King- adequately assess how climate impacts and
dom and the United States. Though several risks are experienced in developing coun-
developed countries in the Global North tries. However, Nightingale and his co-
have declared national climate emergen- authors argue that the lack of information
cies, the financial commitments they have about how climate change impacts and risks
made and realized are not commensurate are experienced in the South due to the pro-
with the urgency of the climate crisis. The duction of knowledge dominated by per-
United Kingdom, for example, declared a spectives from the Global North and a failure
national climate emergency in May of 2019, to engage with those experiences.57 This,
yet reduced Official Development Assist- coupled with a much higher investment in
ance (ODA) to 0.5 percent of GDP in late the Global North, has exacerbated the di-
2020 at a time when vulnerable developing vide in climate science between Global
countries need finance more than ever to South and North.58 A lack of investment in
address some of the determinants of vulner- technology and infrastructure in the Global
ability to climate change, which include South is also part of a vicious cycle in which
access to healthcare, social protection and a lack of climate data and information on
economic opportunities.53 the impacts of climate change in the Global
South is used to justify delayed or inadequate
It was not until the impacts of climate climate action.59
change began to manifest within their own
territories that political leaders in developed Despite an urgent need, developed coun-
countries declared “climate emergencies.” tries have not met their commitments to pro-
This recent move can be explained by the vide 100 billion USD a year by 2020 to support
fact that privileged white people within those both mitigation and adaptation and address
countries were now beginning to feel the im- loss and damage in developing countries as
pacts of climate change.54 Sealey-Huggins agreed in the international negotiation pro-
thus questions whether it would have taken cess under the UNFCCC.60 A recent OECD
so long to acknowledge the climate emer- report maintained that in 2017-2018, 59.5 bil-
gency, “if the lives of BIPoC mattered as lion USD in public finance was provided to
much as those of white people.”55 Despite developing countries.61 However, in a
the fact that the vulnerability of developing shadow report, Oxfam argued that the net
countries to climate change is widely support provided to developing countries in
acknowledged and backed up by evi- 2017/2018 was actually between 19 and 22.5
dence,56 according to BIPoC climate billion USD.62 Furthermore, globally, only
52 56
See: IPCC, 2014.
https://climateemergencydeclaration.org/climate- 57
Nightingale et al., 2020.
emergency-declarations-cover-15-million-citizens/. 58
53 Nightingale et al., 2020.
See: 59
Nightingale et al., 2020.
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/11/25/uk- 60
aid-budget-cuts-undermine-trust-ahead-cop26-summit- UNFCCC, 2010.
experts-warn/. 61
OECD, 2020.
54
Iyas-Jarrett, 2020. 62
Carty et al., 2020.
55
Sealey Huggins, 2017.
11about 20 percent of climate finance is dedi- 2.1.3. Climate finance and
cated to adaptation, despite a commitment development actors do not meet
in the Paris Agreement to achieve a balance the actual needs of their BIPoC
between adaptation and mitigation.63 “beneficiaries”
According to a report released by CARE In- Developing countries, as well as Indigenous
ternational in 2021, actual disbursements for Peoples and other communities particularly
adaptation finance tend to be inflated by vulnerable to climate change within them,
governments of the Global North.64 Increas- have long been articulating what they need
ingly adaptation finance is provided in con- to address the impacts of climate change.
cessional - and increasingly non-conces- Yet, the needs of the most vulnerable and
sional - loans.65. The poorest and most vul- presently most affected countries, regions
nerable people in the world - who are pre- and people remain unaddressed and un-
dominantly BIPoC - are literally paying in- met. This can be explained in part by the fact
terest on the adaptation measures their that development policies of donors are
countries are forced to implement. This is crafted at the headquarters of multilateral
despite the fact that the historical responsi- and bilateral development agencies, based
bility of the global North and its obligations to on what the developed nations' govern-
help developing countries adapt to the im- ment(s) deem important.68 As a result, donor
pacts of climate change are well laid out in interventions, which are often fragmented
the UNFCCC. When finance for adaptation is and sometimes competing, tend to prioritize
available it is often difficult to access. The physical infrastructure over social policy or
countries in most need of climate finance social protection, for instance.69 Even when
often lack the capacity and human projects are proposed by governments or lo-
resources to access it.66 These countries also cal non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
often lack adequate climate information they are tailored to what donors will fund. 70
and evidence to support project proposals Swyngedouw has argued that - despite
and make a case for why the projects are claims - top down adaptation projects
urgently needed. In addition, despite long- funded by donors to benefit local communi-
standing calls from both civil society and de- ties are often neither participatory nor demo-
veloping countries,67 there is no specific cratic.71 According to an Indigenous climate
financial mechanism dedicated to support- activist, Indigenous Peoples and other mar-
ing efforts to address loss and damage in de- ginalized groups are ignored at all levels of
veloping countries. This leaves vulnerable de- decision making. The lack of engagement
veloping countries often forced to finance with unequal power relationships in both
adaptation with loans from developing adaptation research and practice can lead
countries, thus paying for the cost of to adaptation interventions that do not ben-
addressing loss and damage from domestic efit the poorest and most marginalized.72 In
resources. some cases, local communities even resort to
blocking the implementation of adaptation
measures, as one of the very few tools avail-
able to those whose voices are not heard in
the design of policies and interventions that
intimately affect their lives.73
63 69
Yeo, 2019. Pelling et. al, 2018.
64 70
CARE, 2021. Bertzold, 2015.
65 71
Caraty et al., 2020; CARE, 2021 Swyngedouw, 2010.
66 72
Tanner et al., 2019. Pelling, 2011; Mikulewicz, 2018; Pelling and
67
Hirsch et al., 2018; SoP et al., 2021. Garschagen, 2019.
73
68
Roberts, 2020. Mikulewicz and Podgórska, 2020.
12In the rural community of Ponta Baleia, in Sȃo the Norwegian Minister for Development Co-
Tome and Príncipe,74 research on an adap- operation demonstrates that adaptation in-
tation project implemented by the United terventions often reinforce or redistribute
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in existing inequalities and “vulnerability,” as
partnership with the national government, well as introduce new risks and sources of vul-
found that the objectives of the project were nerability.78
misaligned with the needs of the community.
The project was aimed at expanding the op-
tions for climate resilient livelihoods in the
community. In the planning phase, commu-
2.2. Colonialism and racism are
nity members told UNDP that the activities embedded in structures,
planned in the project did not include addi- institutions, and organizations
tional and adequate housing that the com- confronting the climate crisis
munity needed. Without an agreed way for-
ward UNDP and the Ministry of Agriculture 2.2.1. At the structural and
decided not to implement the project. The institutional levels: a silencing of
study found that the community had a colonial continuities and racist
history of being bypassed for investment, and biases
of having disappointing experiences with Articles and blogs published in 2020, 79 as well
outside development actors and failed inter- as interviews and desk research undertaken
ventions. This led to a prevailing sense of for this paper, suggest that there is limited en-
resignation and abandonment. The short- gagement in research and practice with the
term nature of the project, like many adap- way in which colonialism and racism have in-
tation interventions, was likely to limit its ability fluenced climate and development policies.
to facilitate long-term change. The project Critical literature on the concept and prac-
design had also failed to engage with the lo- tice of development has long pointed to
cal authorities. The disparity between the lo- historical, conceptual and empirical aspects
cal needs and the national priorities was evi- linking colonialism to development discourse
dent. The study concluded with a set of and practice, including in ostensibly more
recommendations which included ensuring egalitarian development paradigms such as
that local governments and communities the millennium and sustainable develop-
have more decision-making power in adap- ment goals.80 However, these concepts are
tation and development projects.75 largely ignored by mainstream institutions
which could be seen as a “colonization of
This example illustrates how colonial continu- minds” as pointed out by a BIPoC climate ne-
ities materialize in the top-down approach gotiator. In their reflections on how racism
adopted by UN organizations. Multilateral can be confronted in international develop-
and bilateral organizations provide financial ment, researchers Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou
support for adaptation interventions, while and Carmen Leon-Himmelstine, of the Over-
excluding marginalized groups in the design, seas Development Institute maintain that in-
planning and implementation of adaptation ternational development, and by extension
interventions,76 and with complete disregard climate change projects, implemented by
for the local social and political processes international development actors, have long
that produce specific distributions of vul- been criticized for failing to acknowledge
nerability.77 A recent report commissioned by
74 78
Mikulewicz and Podgórska, 2020. Eriksen et al., 2021.
75 79
This is a call made frequently in the literature See for example: Holthaus, 2020; Thomas and
including most recently in Nightingale et al., 2020. Haynes, 2020; Johnson, 2020; Margolin, 2020; Nwajiaku-
76
Eriksen et al., 2021. Dahou and Leon-Himmelstine, 2020; Roberts, 2020.
80
77
Eriksen et al., 2021. Ziai, 2015.
13that it is built on norms, practices and ideolo- making.83 According to BIPoC climate nego-
gies from its colonial past, including racism.81 tiators, the global climate policy regime un-
This influence persists, in part, because con- der the UNFCCC fails to engage with racism
fronting colonialism and racism in interna- and to provide adequate avenues for the
tional interventions creates discomfort representation of Indigenous Peoples, which
among researchers and practitioners. is all the more problematic when recognizing
Hence, racism in the form of silencing discus- that Indigenous Peoples have long-standing
sions on racisms and a failing to confront the expertise as stewards of ecosystems. Interna-
issue in climate policy normalizes an environ- tional processes, such as international nego-
ment in which the linkages between interna- tiations under the UNFCCC currently function
tional development, climate policy and according to representational rules that pre-
racism, as a root cause of vulnerability, can- vent representation of Indigenous Peoples as
not be addressed. autonomous from the nation states they live
in. Indigenous People can participate in the
Not engaging with racism also limits the con- UNFCCC process as observers through In-
sideration of critical BIPoC perspectives in cli- digenous-led organizations for instance, but
mate policy and practice. According to the avenues for providing direct inputs in the
BIPoC climate experts there is an indirect international climate negotiation process
colonization through larger international cli- through equal representation in decision-
mate institutions that apply for funding and making is largely limited to the Local Com-
include BIPoC organizations from the Global munities and Indigenous Peoples Platform.
South as part of the project consortium. More
often than not, the project is led by inter- Climate activist and chair of the Climate Jus-
national institutions headed by white people, tice Alliance, Elizabeth Yeampierre also ar-
that subsequently exert their positions, and gues that, “the mainstream environmental
solutions on the Global South project partners movement,” was “built by people who
in a manner that ranks Global North perspec- ‘cared’ about conservation, who ‘cared’
tives superior to the Global South contribu- about wildlife, who ‘cared’ about trees and
tions. While this is the “norm”, it is rarely chal- open space… but didn’t care about [B]lack
lenged by organizations from the South, as people”.84 Many international and non-gov-
the requirement to access climate funding or ernmental organizations from the Global
grants from the North is hindered by inade- North working on climate justice in the Global
quate resources. South also embody the “white savior com-
plex,”85 in which their actions that are sup-
In order to shape a just and equitable world, posed to benefit BIPoC recipients are largely
according to Nwajiaku-Dahou and Leon- self-serving endeavors. Moreover, climate re-
Himmelstine, institutions within the Global silience, from adaptation to addressing loss
North will have to recognize and confront the and damage, is often framed in terms of
“colonial underpinnings” of contemporary technological fixes and nature-based “solu-
international development.82 This is not an tions,” ignoring the multi-faceted conditions
easy task given that the United Nations, that give rise to vulnerability to climate
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, change, which include racism, marginaliza-
the World Trade Organization, and other mul- tion and exclusion.86 As such, climate policy
tilateral organizations are structured in ways and action tend to neglect concerns for so-
that enable and normalize dominance by cial justice, and present climate change in
the Global North in procedures and decision
81 85
Nwajiaku-Dahou and Leon-Himmelstine, 2020. Aronson, 2017.
82 86
Nwajiaku-Dahou and Leon-Himmelstine, 2020. Pelling, 2011; Pelling et al., 2015; Roberts and Pelling,
83
Grovogui, 2018; Ndlovu-Gathseni, 2013. 2020.
84
Gardiner, 2020.
14reductionist technical terms.87 These tech- are rendered expendable, and their survival
nical approaches are proliferated by existing secondary to other priorities defining policy
institutions and fail to engage with both the and research on both climate change miti-
way in which racism shapes vulnerability gation, adaptation and addressing loss and
within countries and the role of racism in the damage.
global social order. Unsurprisingly, this tech-
nical approach often fails to bring about last- 2.2.2. At organizational level:
ing positive change.88 As Hoerner and Robin- interpersonal and institutional
son argue, “racism creates bad climate racism leading to tokenization
policy.”89 Both interpersonal and institutional racism
are pervasive within organizations working in
The term “green colonialism” has been the climate change field, including within the
coined to describe how Global North’s com- UN system. A survey of over 688 UN staff
panies, international institutions and other or- members at the UN Human Rights Council
ganizations implement “sustainable devel- and UN Office for the Coordination of Hu-
opment” policies and actions that take ad- manitarian Aid in Geneva in August of 2020
vantage of people and ecosystems in the revealed that one in every three UN staff:
Global South. As Sealey-Huggins argues: “un-
equal global power relations allow “carbon- have personally experienced racial
neutral” consumption in the North to discrimination and/or have witnessed
continue, at the expense of high social and others facing racial discrimination in
ecological costs in the South.”90 The batteries the workplace. Moreover two-thirds
of electric cars and of other appliances mul- of those who experienced racism did
tiplying in our digital era, which are often pre- so on the basis of nationality.
sented as reducing the ecological costs of
transportation, require rare minerals mined in Another survey of UN staff undertaken in New
countries of the Global South with significant York was equally revealing. According to its
impacts on the health of local communities findings, 59 percent of the respondents said:
and their ecosystems.91 The use of biomass
and biofuels to produce “clean energy” in they don’t feel the UN effectively ad-
the Global North can be at the expense of dresses racial justice in the work-
primary forests, and their inhabitants, includ- place, while every second respond-
ing Indigenous Peoples. Meanwhile, coun- ent stated that they do not feel com-
tries in the Global North continue to subsidize fortable talking about racial discrimi-
fossil fuels and GHG producing industries, nation at work.92
which highlights that the creation of
stranded assets is inherent to the current in- In his address in November of 2020, the UN
ternational economic institutions and takes Secretary-General António Guterres subse-
priority over stranded people both in devel- quently underscored the need to confront
oped and in developing countries. Lastly, in- racism within the world body.93
ternational debt and financial flows are still
accounted for without integrating environ- Moreover, BIPoC engaging in the climate
mental externalities, including GHG emis- movement within various organizations, es-
sions. Through those processes, populations pecially those in the Global North, tend to be
and natural ecosystems in the Global South marginalized. For instance, in January 2020,
87 91
Swyngedouw, 2010; Sealy-Huggins, 2017; Sealy- Popp et al., 2014.
Huggins, 2018; Nightingale et al., 2020 and Eriksen et al., 92
See: http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/08/staff-surveys-
2021. reveal-widespread-racism-united-nations/.
88
Bunce et al., 2010. 93
UN Secretary General, 2020.
89
Hoerner and Robinson, 2009.
90
Sealey-Huggins, 2017.
15Ugandan youth climate activist Vanessa Na- are needed to ensure climate change is lim-
kate was cropped out of photos depicting ited and impacts are addressed.
her and other young climate activists – all of
whom are white – at the World Economic Fo- The participation of BIPoC in organizations
rum.94 In the summer of 2020, Tonny Nowshin, and activist groups tackling climate change
who was the only BIPoC activist protesting in the Global North can be curtailed by their
outside a coal plant in Germany among specific circumstances. BIPoC are more af-
white activists, was removed from photos fected by the impacts of climate change,
shared by Greenpeace Germany on its so- both in the Global North and Global South,
cial media,95 for which Greenpeace later and Black Americans are more likely to be
acknowledged an “error” due to “uncon- concerned about climate change than their
scious racism” and “white privilege.”96 Based white American counterparts.101 Yet, colonial
on her experience, Nowshin argues that BI- continuities and institutional racism, which
PoC are accepted if they “fit in”[to] the nar- limits access to finance, media and other re-
rative according to which they are the “vic- sources, can derail the efforts of BIPoC in their
tims” of climate change.97 Hence, BIPoC participation in the climate movement, as
tend to be marginalized in organizations of well as their due recognition as national or in-
the climate movement, while their inclusion is ternational leaders. In the United States, the
tokenary, and/or cloaked in “victimhood.” mainstream environmental movement is re-
The cropping of BIPoC activists from photos ferred to as the “Big Greens” due to their
can be seen as a “metaphorical crop-out” of large budget and staff, which gives them
BIPoC from the mainstream narrative of cli- center stage. This also contributes to explain-
mate change and its solutions.98 As a result, ing why the participation of BIPoC in the cli-
the global climate crisis is being addressed mate movement in the Global North tends to
without drawing upon the expertise of those be framed in terms of representation and in-
most affected by it.99 This can partly be ex- clusion, more than in terms of leadership.
plained by the fact that in the era of coloni- Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett also stresses that it
zation, racist hierarchies constructed an im- might be “difficult [for BIPoC] to focus on the
age of Africans and Indigenous Peoples as thing that might hurt you tomorrow when
intellectually inferior and irrational.100 Wynter there’s something else that might hurt you to-
further highlights how this systemic stigmatiza- day,” with reference to mass incarceration
tion and related social inferiorization con- and the threat of violence from the State. 102
tinue to be reflected in the ways in which the Yet, BIPoC climate activists from both Global
knowledge and know-how of BIPoC popula- North and South highlight that the climate
tion groups is assessed. In other words, west- emergency is already upon them, that it
ern knowledge is considered as expertise builds on an ecological crisis that they have
while the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples suffered from for decades if not centuries –
acquired over centuries is not. Despite and that they are actively leading significant
emerging discourse on the need to integrate efforts and initiatives at local and national
western science and Indigenous Peoples’ levels. The invisibility or invisibilization of those
knowledge, the two knowledge systems are initiatives would be another manifestation of
still very rarely considered on an equal foot- institutional racism, highlighting the extent to
ing. By silencing BIPoC voices from both the which BIPoC voices are silenced in the main-
Global North and South, white people in the stream narrative.
Global North ensure that BIPoC do not con-
tribute to the organizational changes that
94 98
Evelyn, 2020. Evelyn, 2020.
95 99
Nowshin, 2020. Kaplan, 2020.
96 100
See: https://www.greenpeace.de/themen/ueber- Wynter, 2003.
uns/ein-vorwurf-der-uns-trifft. 101
Johnson, 2020.
97
Nowshin, 2020. 102
Ilyas-Jarrett, 2020.
163. How are Indigenous Peoples umbrella, as the intersectionality of the chal-
lenges for countries in the Global South adds
and other racialized a further layer of injustice.
communities disproportionately
impacted by climate change in 3.1. In the Global North, Black,
countries? Indigenous and People of
It is well documented that vulnerabilities to
Color remain among the
the impact of climate change are not “nat- hardest hit by climate change
ural”, and cannot be reduced to environ- impacts
mental or geophysical factors.103 Rather, as
In countries of the Global North, BIPoC com-
Sealey-Huggins pointed out, vulnerability is
munities experience greater pollution, envi-
“[p]rofoundly patterned by the ways in which
ronmental degradation, and climate
we organize our societies so as to suit some
change impacts than white communities,
people’s interests at the direct and indirect
while having less access to healthcare. This
expense of others.”104 The resulting inequality,
amounts to a starkly racialized differential im-
fueled by intersectionality, translates into
pact described as environmental racism. 106
higher levels of exposure to, and com-
For instance, in the United States, BIPoC
pounded risks of climate change. According
make up 57 percent of residents in a two-mile
to Kimberlé Crenshaw, a Black American law
radius of hazardous facilities, and make up 60
professor who coined the term “intersection-
percent of those living near two polluting fa-
ality” in 1989, “all inequality is not created
cilities.107 Referring to the North American
equal,” and an intersectional lens to inequal-
case, Elizabeth Yeampierre maintains that:
ity shows the way BIPoC social identities over-
lap and operate together, creating com-
when people talk about environmen-
pounding experiences of discrimination
tal justice they go back to the 1970s
based on [the] race, gender, class, sexuality
or ‘60s. But I think about the slave
and/or immigrant status.105 Unfortunately, the
quarters. I think about people who
voices of those experiencing overlapping,
got the worst food, the worst
concurrent forms of these oppressions are still
healthcare, the worst treatment, and
largely ignored in both climate policy pro-
then when freed, were given lands
cesses and research in the Global North and
that were eventually surrounded by
South.
things like petrochemical industries.
The idea of killing Black people or In-
Besides, the environmental challenges and
digenous people, all of that has a
needs of BIPoC in the Global North and BI-
long, long history that is centered on
PoC in the Global South are also vast and dif-
capitalism and the extraction of our
fering. These groups, though connected
land and our labor in this country.108
through complex historic and contemporary
linkages, are not monoliths. The challenges
Moreover, institutional racism continues to
they face are different and the recommen-
shape domestic responses to climate
dations to address them need to take into
change, leaving BIPoC communities both
account both linkages and key differences.
more vulnerable and exposed to the impacts
While both groups faced historic and current
of climate change. In the United States,
environmental racism and climate injustice,
their present needs do not fall under a single
103 107
Sealey-Huggins, 2017. See:
104
Sealey-Huggins, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/de
105 c/20/robert-bullard-interview-environmental-justice-
UN Women, 2020.
106
civil-rights-movement
Bullard, 1993. 108
Gardiner, 2020.
17racism has been found to influence the de- that are likely to be disproportionately af-
livery of aid to Black households and commu- fected by climate change impacts in recipi-
nities in responses to and in the aftermath of ent countries, owing to unequal access to
floods, forest fires, hurricanes and other cli- healthcare, social protection and economic
mate-induced disasters.109 opportunities. In Europe, the predominantly
violent reception of economic migrants from
Communities of Indigenous Peoples in the Africa also raises numerous questions regard-
Global North are among the worst affected ing the future vulnerability, including to cli-
by climate change owing to centuries of ex- mate change impacts, of populations dis-
clusion and marginalization. Climate change placed by adverse climate change effects
has profound implications for the knowledge who may seek refuge in the Global North. A
of Indigenous Peoples and the sense of large number of African migrants are already
place as environments change.110 In some left to drown in the Mediterranean sea by Eu-
cases, climate change impacts are causing ropean governments.116 The number of peo-
displacement and forcing the relocation of ple displaced by climate-related disasters
entire communities. In Alaska, for instance, was 18.8 million in 2017.117 Although people
sea level rise and temperature increases are displaced by disasters resort largely to intra-
accelerating coastal erosion and permafrost national migration today, the number of
thaw, which are making it difficult for some people displaced by climate change im-
communities of Indigenous Peoples to re- pacts is likely to increase substantially in the
main where they are.111 Several communities course of the 21st century, resulting in in-
are faced with the need to relocate while a creased international migration flows.
complicated and ambiguous governance
framework and the huge cost involved in the
undertaking makes planning difficult.112 In
the fall of 2019, Newtok, a village on the Ning- 3.2. In the Global South,
liq River, Alaska, relocated to another com- Indigenous Peoples and other
munity over 15 kilometers away. 113 Though racialized communities are the
the relocation had been planned for over most vulnerable to climate
two decades, when members of the com-
change impacts
munity began moving, only one-third of the
60 homes needed had been built and those
Largely ignored in mainstream climate
that had been constructed had electricity
change literature is the continued and pro-
but lacked access to public water and sani-
found impact of colonial legacy on climate
tation systems.114 As a result, half of the com-
vulnerabilities in the Global South. Research
munity remained in the old village while the
into the root causes of vulnerability in the
other half began the process of re-settling in
Global South shows structural factors such as
the new village. More importantly, there is an
historical patterns of underdevelopment, co-
immense sense of loss of history, identity, and
lonial histories, neo-colonialism, and neo-lib-
traditional knowledge systems, as residents
eralism as core drivers of vulnerability.118 Ac-
settle into an unfamiliar place which is further
cording to Go:
from traditional hunting grounds.115
Empire was always a transnational
Refugees and populations who have mi-
and global process. It sent slaves
grated to the Global North from the Global
across colonial and national borders;
South represent racialized population groups
109 114
Hoerner and Robinson, 2009. Welch, 2019.
110 115
Adger et al., 2011; Adams, 2016. Welch, 2019.
111 116
Bronen, 2015. Wintour, 2017.
112 117
Bronen, 2015. EU, 2020.
113 118
Welch, 2019. Hammer et al., 2019.
18it generated movements of migrant or ecosystems, directly or through feedback
labor from India to Fiji and down to with larger level processes is largely absent.121
South Africa; it racialized entire conti-
nents of peoples and discursively Another legacy of colonialism is the persis-
thrust them all into the same biologi- tence of elites in the Global South who retain
cal and dubious categories; it de- the outlook of their colonizers. The formation
ployed mechanisms of power that of the elites under colonial rule resulted in the
went from colony to metropole and indoctrination and acculturation into the
back again; and it invented con- customs of the colonizers. In the French colo-
cepts such as “ethnicities” and nies in Africa, for instance, where the colonial
“race” that colonizers and formerly policy was assimilation, the goal was to turn
colonized actors alike continue to de- “locals'' into French citizens who would
ploy.119 adopt French customs and cultures. This sys-
tem was replicated in virtually every colo-
The ingrained stigmatization and marginali- nized community, where education in the
zation of populations along lines of “ethnic- tradition of the colonizers (most often West-
ity,” gender, and socioeconomic status have ern colonizers) was the ticket to access. The
also produced historically-rooted inequalities larger effect is that generations of elites have
that further exacerbate the intersectionality created systems built on the models of the
of climate vulnerability. In Mozambique for colonialists, systems that do not take into ac-
example, the exclusion of “ethnic” minorities count the realities of the knowledge systems
and communities in the design, develop- and lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples.
ment and implementation of international Such systems and the elite that produce
climate adaptation finance and interven- them – and are produced by them – perpet-
tions have inadvertently supported the relo- uate colonial practices.
cations of its most politically and economi-
cally marginalized groups, through govern- There is already an ongoing movement
ment threatening military force, and with- around decolonization of knowledge and
drawal of basic services for villagers that re- practices in the Global South. This work of de-
fuse to relocate.120 However, the manner in colonization needs to be connected to the
which these socio-political effects of colonial discourse on climate change, with connec-
legacy have shaped and continue to shape tions drawn between climate change and
current vulnerability in the Global South tend the hierarchies of power that are legacies of
to be silenced and ignored in UNFCCC ne- colonialism, and that produce varying levels
gotiation dynamics, international climate of vulnerability in societies of the Global
change research and policy. A 2018 system- South. Such research could then come up
atic review and evaluation of 587 climate with different adaptation measures that
change vulnerability research articles reveals would take account of these differing levels
that existing publications (1) privilege cli- of vulnerabilities, and that allow the specific
matic factors over the social context, (2) ne- needs of the most vulnerable to be met.
glect to analyze how vulnerability is pro-
duced and evolves over time, (3) ignores the
existence of multiple perspectives, (4) down-
play the understanding of cross-scale inter-
actions, risking potential policy irrelevance
and/or promotion of maladaptive practices,
and (5) how community-level response to
change impacts other communities, regions,
119 121
Go, 2018. Ford, et al 2018.
120
Eriksen et al., 2021.
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