How racial justice and environmental justice intersect

Credit: Unsplash

People of colour (POC) are often excluded from environmental policy and conservation creating blind spots that maintain inequality, despite many black and indigenous people being the first environmental campaigners.

A 2014 University of Michigan study that looked into 293 mainstream NGOs, foundations and government agencies found that the "current state of racial diversity in environmental organisations is troubling." It concluded that the percentage of minorities employed as staff or on the boards of the organisations studied did not exceed 16%.

"Once hired in environmental organisations, ethnic minorities are concentrated in the lower ranks. As a result, ethnic minorities occupy less than 12% of the leadership positions in the environmental organisations studied," the study added.

As with many things, the study also found there is a significant gender gap, with more than 70% of the presidents and chairs of the board of environmental organisations being male.

Mainstream environmentalism is often characterised as white and middle-class in its nature. This is due to the fact, it has historically neglected the experiences and rights of people of colour, reflecting the imbalance of power established through colonialism.

For example, one UN investigation suggested that rangers funded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) had beaten up, abused and murdered people in the forests of Congo in the name of conservation.

For this reason, environmental movements are often criticised for seeking solutions and uplifting voices from the wrong demographic; from those causing harm rather than those who are being exploited.

Source: Unsplash. Extinction Rebellion in Cornwall protesting G7 leaders

Additionally, black and minorities are disproportionately affected by climate change-

As with many crises, it’s often the poorest and most vulnerable that suffer the most. Climate change disproportionally affects those with the least money in society, interacting with and worsening existing inequalities.

A 2017 study by the UN found low-income countries are more susceptible to the damages caused by climate change effects.

This is partly due to location making many more exposed to the adverse effects of climate such as the increased likelihood of extreme weather events. As well as the countries affected having less ability to cope with such disasters and recover.

This means in terms of demographics, black people, indigenous people and people of colour (BIPOC) are disproportionately experiencing the impacts of climate change.

Additionally, in countries like the United States, research has shown disproportionate percentages of people of colour live in places that are polluted with toxic waste, leading to negative health effects.

Despite this, research by Oxfam shows that the world’s richest 10% of people cause 50% of emissions and most live in the developed world. Whilst the world’s poorest 50% of people contribute only around 10% of global emissions.

Environmental activism in the global south also poses greater risks-

Environmental protests in developing countries like Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean can be dangerous.

These regions are often collectively called the Global South, and of the 20 countries with the most murders of environmental activists in 2018, 19 are considered to be part of it. The Philippines has more registered murders than any other, with 30 killed in 2018.

It is therefore important to acknowledge the differences between environmental struggles around the world.

Sue Hampton, a retired teacher and member of Extinction Rebellion in the UK, recognises her privilege and because of this sees it as her responsibility to stand up for the climate.

Sue tells me: “The whole idea of climate justice is grounded in the idea that white people in the Global North have done the most damage and that its people in the Global South who are suffering first and most. Climate justice is the idea of the most privileged people standing up for those who are least to blame and most to risk.”

Deogracias Benjamin Kalima, is an environmental journalist from Malawi, who is saving for a camera to report on the climate crisis there.

Deogracias says: “Here in Malawi the issues of climate change are not given enough publicity or coverage so despite the struggles I wanted to do something about it. We are already feeling the severe effects of it here."

Source: Unsplash. Women of the Tohono Indian Tribe

But possibly, those who are most at threat by the climate are indigenous people, who hold many of the answers to the climate crisis-

Indigenous peoples are of vital importance to the world’s land management and keeping the world’s food systems diverse and sustainable. They make up less than 5% of the population but manage more than one-quarter of the world’s land surface. Many of the world’s forests remain intact because indigenous peoples have protected and maintained them for centuries.

Despite this, indigenous people have been historically discriminated against and had their livelihoods threatened.

Sophie Hayat, from Australia, who works for Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries, an environmental NGO, shares her experiences of working with indigenous people.

Sophie tells me: “They are facing a constant struggle to secure tiny bits of land, which were stolen from them and it seems that their work to have their land secured and conserved and restored ties up closely with attempts to protect biodiversity and adapt to climate change.”

However, despite receiving a lot of attention from community groups and with the government. Sophie says: “It can often end up tokenistic and decisions are still made against them.”

Many believe that the best way to overcome the climate crisis is by empowering and listening to Indigenous communities.

For example, Liv Edwards who is of indigenous descent, tells me about her experiences of being environmentally active by connecting with the indigenous parts of her identity.

“As I've grown up, I've become more aware of the broken connection between myself and the tribe I come from. I remember from a pretty young age, I had this bitter awareness of the climate, that somehow the forced removal of my ancestors from their land was also tied to the modern world and the harm we were doing to it,” Liv says.

Liv tells me that as she’s got older, she has continued to seek out indigenous wisdom, first from her great grandmother and her stories, and now from books and the internet.

“I really think that indigenous wisdom is a key thing we need for resilience. The colonialist mindset of forcing the environment to bend to our whims will never work in certain areas - particularly the west. If we want to survive, we need to seek out the old knowledge and what is left from tribal elders,” Liv says.

Within her own community, Liv tries to be a voice of learning indigenous ways infused with the new, using her tech skills as a software engineer.

Despite Liv mostly liking to pave her own way, she shares that her experiences within environmental groups have been positive: “I have dipped into some environmental groups. I find those spaces already tend to be anticolonial and if I were to speak up about my experience and how it's informed by my ancestry, my voice would be heard.”

Liv adds: “Overall, the environmental spaces specifically tend to treat me better than most other spaces I've entered in my life,” and she hopes that eventually, she will have enough land to build her own community. Let's just hope that for her, it's possible.

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