By: George Kurzom

https://www.maan-ctr.org/magazine/article/3909/

What does climate justice mean for the world's poor and hungry

Exclusive to Environment and Development Horizons (Afaq magazine):

The irony is that the Western capitalist regimes that led the European "industrial revolution" in the middle of the eighteenth century, and to which (i.e. the industrial revolution) is attributed the beginning of the increase in carbon emissions and global warming, are the same ones that colonized the peoples of the south (Africa, Asia and South America) to ensure the appropriation of their resources and lands to serve Western industrial capital and ensure its development. They also caused starvations, massacres, and genocide. The slaves of the South were sent to European ports and enslaved, thus accumulating profits and huge financial and material surpluses from the blood, wealth, and resources of the South. All of which was for the benefit of development and prosperity of the European and American cities.

To name a few, in less than two centuries (1765-1938) Britain stole 45 trillion pounds sterling (about 56 trillion US dollars in the current prices) from India, and destroyed its natural lands, and certainly, India never got paid for this looting.

When the British colonialism was expelled from India (in 1947), the illiteracy rate in India was 87%, after the suffering for hundreds of years under the oppression of British occupation, and thus hundreds of years of the so-called modern Western civilization.

The West reached a high level of  arrogance in accusing India of continuing its extraction of coal, and thus its contribution to pumping more carbon emissions, bearing in mind that it was British colonialism that forced India and other countries in the south to extract coal and rely on it (to fuel its “industrial revolution”), so they forced the Indians and many of the peoples of the south to rely on coal; As this sector still employs (in southern countries) tens of millions of workers.

Following the departure of western colonialism from the countries of the South, the West continued to contempt the peoples of the South, and this is evident in its brightest form in the arrogance of many Western leaders (George Bush Sr., George W. Bush Jr., Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson and others).

The colonial West was not satisfied with contempt for the peoples of the south throughout the 400 years of their colonization, but rather continues arrogance and contempt in various forms to this day; therefore colonialism is not something from the past, that was defeated irreversibly, but rather, for Western capitalist regimes, it is a permanent state that manifests itself in two ways:

First: the colonial mentality, as they lecture the peoples of the south with lessons that the latter are responsible for all environmental pollution problems, without admitting that they are primarily responsible for the destruction of the natural and climatic ecosystem.

Despite the signing of the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, which focused on the common and different responsibilities of countries, Western countries prefer to focus on the common part of the agreement, meaning that we all share the responsibility of this crisis.

However, the truth is that we (the poor and marginalized peoples of the south) and Western societies are not alike in the climate crisis. The United States of America, for example, represents about 4% of the world's population and consumes 25% of global resources.

The fundamental issue here is that the most powerful industrialized Western countries have transferred a large part of their production to developing countries. For example, China's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, which are greater than Europe and North America combined, is not the result of Chinese consumption alone.

The reality is that China currently produces the highest global percentage of greenhouse gases. However, a significant portion of these emissions can be attributed to the fact that all the industrialized countries transferred and continue to transfer their industries to China. Nevertheless, they accuse China of being the biggest carbon polluter.

An important scientific aspect is overlooked by many international and Western entities, which is their focus on emissions at the country level based on total production emissions, which is misleading. It is evident that the total emissions of China (with a population of about 1.5 billion) are greater than those of the United States (332 million people). Therefore, the most accurate and objective scientific measure is the per capita emissions. In this regard, the United States has the highest emissions (approximately 18 tons per capita), followed by the European Union (8 tons per capita), while China's emissions amount to 6 tons per capita.

What is even more astonishing is that the West accuses the Republic of China of being an oppressive and dictatorial state that violates human rights. If that is truly the case, why doesn't the West withdraw its massive investments and industries from China? It is the Western hypocrisy.

Therefore, the West's lecturing of the peoples in the Global South on climate crisis, ethics, human rights, and democracy stems from its colonial mindset, which deals with the peoples of the Global South arrogantly, considering them mentally, psychologically, morally, and politically immature, and therefore they don’t deserve economic and productive independence, advanced electronic technologies, and destructive military arsenals possessed by Western colonial states. This colonial mentality only excel in the language of threats, intimidation, sanctions, blockades, and starvation against "rebellious" and non-compliant nations and political systems to the dictates and orders of dominant Western imperialist regimes.

Secondly, there are the structures and institutions established by capitalist countries. These institutions lend money to Southern countries under the pretense of "aid" and "support" to their ailing economies, ignoring the fact that these funds are actually the wealth and natural resources plundered from the Global South, as well as the net capital and financial surpluses drawn off annually from Southern countries to the North as debt service and illicit funds deposited in Western banks.

The International Monetary Fund boasts to Southern countries, saying, “here are these loans for you”, but in reality, these are Southern funds. Consequently, the Bretton Woods institutions practically return an extremely insufficient portion of the Southern funds, with excessive interest rates. Moreover, with supreme arrogance, these institutions dictate to oppressed Southern populations how they should live and tighten their belts. Therefore, the problem is not limited to the colonial mentality but also extends to colonial structures, organizations, and institutions.

“No legs” for the climate justice movement in poor and hungry communities

Many activists in the "Climate Justice" movement express their worries about "our future" and the need to "preserve a safe climate for future generations."

But what "future" are they talking about? Hundreds of millions of children in Africa, Asia, and South America have no future or even a present. They are certainly not concerned about their future; rather, they are worried about their present. The primary focus of concern in developing countries should be on their current situation. Currently, there are approximately one billion people suffering from hunger, which is almost 13% of the world's population. Furthermore, 2.7 billion people worldwide do not have access to food on daily basis. Despite this, many climate justice activists preach to people, saying, "reduce consumption”.

What does that mean for a hungry child who hasn't eaten for days or weeks? What does it mean for Palestinians while brutal Israeli wars are waged against them in Gaza, in addition to years of continued blockade, starvation, and ongoing humiliation, all watched over by human rights and democracy supporters and "food security" advocates in the Western colonialist powers? Let us also remember the well-documented Israeli reports that revealed the calculation of calorie intake allowed for men and women in Gaza, which is merely enough to sustain their lives.
Isn't the process of besieging, confining, and starving over two million Palestinians in a small, densely populated area, along with their intense bombardment and turning them into a laboratory for testing internationally banned weapons, a crime even worse than what the Nazis did in Europe? Although Nazi concentration camps were not subject to aerial, land, and sea bombardment for the purpose of burning and exterminating those in them.

Therefore, the climate justice movement lacks relevance in "Third World" societies, impoverished and starving communities, as well as Arab and Islamic countries that have been destroyed by Western colonialism, NATO, and their sectarian and militia gangs. They have shattered and dismantled their social, economic, productive, and security structures under the pretext of false slogans such as "democracy," "human rights," and "combating weapons of mass destruction" (let’s take a look at what has happened in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, for example).

What is even more disgusting is that imperialist countries like the United States and Britain claim to lead action to combat climate change, while remaining committed to extracting fossil fuels on their own territories and in the territories they occupy. The US occupying forces in eastern and northeast Syria are stealing Syrian oil, gas, and crops and selling them in the black market.

These same imperialist countries that have destroyed the climate ecosystem, have also destroyed entire Arab nations, under the guise of democracy. They have spread corruption and bloody sectarianism, depriving them of basic human rights such as water, electricity, healthcare, and education, as seen in Iraq, which is one of the world's richest oil countries.

Nevertheless, they daringly speak about democracy. Currently, corruption in Iraq has reached the highest global levels, with hundreds of billions of dollars stolen by the agents of the American occupation.

Climate justice, sustainable development, social justice, and democratic sovereignty will not be achieved through polluting monopolies and institutions and governments that serve capitalist interests. They will only be achieved through a battle waged by the affected peoples themselves.

Changing the prevailing economic system that glorifies consumer lifestyles is the inevitable starting point for a radical and qualitative response to the global climate crisis.

Translated by:  Rasha Abu Dayyeh