I have been fascinated by the natural environment for as long as I can remember, thanks to the countless National Geographic documentaries I used to watch with my dad. To me, the world is a truly beautiful, magnificent, and formidable place with much to explore.

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My love for the environment led me to be passionate about climate action and sustainability to the point that I’ve decided to dedicate my whole career towards the climate fight. However, as I’ve delved deeper into this topic, my understanding around climate change has changed drastically over the years, far from what I was taught in academia and mainstream environmentalism.

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I first learnt about global warming and climate change in sixth form, where I was taught that the major causes of climate change are industrialisation, globalisation, and overpopulation.

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Since the Industrial Revolution, global temperatures have increased at an alarming and unprecedented rate due to the world becoming increasingly globalised, where technological and industrial advancements have given us the opportunity to become a much larger yet better-connected global society. However, the problem with this lies with our global consumption and production levels, which currently produces large amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute towards global warming and, as a result, changes our global climate.  

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Interestingly, out of all these causes the one that was stressed the most was overpopulation, which explains that as the global population increases, so does its reliance on finite resources therefore pushing ecosystems to extreme limits. A bigger population also means there will be increased consumption and production levels, resulting in the release of more greenhouse gases.

 

In this section of the textbook, a lot of the overpopulation case studies I had to learn came from the African continent, India, and China, plus other ‘less economically developed countries’. It highlighted that as these countries become more developed, overpopulation is becoming a bigger issue for climate change. 

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These were the ideologies that shaped my earlier understanding of the climate change issue, however it was when I went to university that my understanding was challenged.

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A notable moment was when I learnt about global food systems in one of my sustainability modules (and also happens to be the reason why I am vegetarian). It explored the social and environmental impacts of the cattle farming industry, which creates more emissions than all global industrial and transport emissions combined. The industry requires huge areas of rainforests to be destroyed to create land for cattle farming, which endangers many species and displaces countless communities, many of whom are Indigenous and people of colour. However, the majority of the beef produced is exported from these countries, and what’s worse is that a third of all food is wasted in the West, while hunger continues to be a big issue in the Global South.

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This is the case for many other types of resources that are extracted and exported from countries in the Global South, and has been increasing in intensity due to a higher demand in consumption levels, particularly in the Global North. It was here that I began to understand that certain systems benefit some people and not others, and that this imbalance has ultimately created a global divide, in this case the Global North-Global South divide. Coincidentally, the majority of the countries in the Global North are richer in comparison to those in the Global South, which made me start to think why this is the case.

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This pattern of exploitation has been ongoing for centuries. In fact, resource extraction was one of the biggest drives for colonialism, where European settlers heavily exported raw materials and resources from places like India and the African continent, causing mass environmental degradation and economic instability that had ultimately caused local and Indigenous people to fall into vicious cycles of extreme poverty. Today is no different.

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As the global demand for consumption increases, the methods of resource extraction are becoming increasingly unsustainable and destructive, often at the expense of countless communities in the Global South. The repercussions are debilitating and takes generations to overcome. 

 

And what’s worse is countries in the Global South experience a higher proportion of climate-related disasters compared with the Global North, such as typhoons and hurricanes, causing further destruction and economic instability. So not only do these communities and their environments have to deal with the unsustainable, exploitative systems designed to benefit the Global North, they also experience the majority of climate-related disasters caused by global warming despite contributing a much smaller amount of greenhouse emissions compared with the Global North. 

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But why is this a race issue? And where does overpopulation play in this?

 

Overpopulation as a cause of climate change has been used as a political tool to shift the blame onto people of colour as the main perpetrators of climate change, most of whom come from developing countries, when really the majority of the global emissions come from the Global North due to exploitative, racist, capitalist structures rooted in white supremacy and colonialism that only care about profit and greed at the expense of Indigenous people and communities of colour. For example, the carbon footprint for a family with seven children in India is far smaller than that of a family of three in North America purely because the consumption levels are different.

 

This argument has been used to silence the communities who have been advocating against these extractives projects that threaten their rights to a healthy life and healthy environment. It is a tactic that is inherently racist, as it devalues the rights of these communities and puts blame on the victims to normalise their exploitation.

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I found that mainstream environmentalism does not prioritise or even acknowledge the importance of climate justice and human rights of Indigenous people and people of colour in the climate movement, as it focuses more on animal rights and conserving the environment. This indifference can be attributed to that fact that the climate movement itself is not diverse enough as it is dominated by white middle class people and is very exclusive. This needs to change.

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As I've developed my understanding of this issue I've realised that climate action is so much more than just finding alternative, technological solutions to make the world a more sustainable place. It’s also about empowering these communities who know best about their local environments and have centuries worth of traditional knowledge. Indigenous people live sustainably and respect the land and resources around them, and we as a society can learn a lot from them. However, the majority of Indigenous people are people of colour and are therefore undervalued, overlooked and easily exploited due to structural and systemic racism within capitalism. And to be Indigenous is to be inherently anti-capitalist, which is why they are some of the most targeted communities when it comes to political control. It is a complex issue but all nuances need to be addressed in order to make real change.

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Yes, climate action is about the conservation and protection of the environment and biodiversity against exploitation, but there also needs to be a justice element that is about protecting the communities who are the most oppressed. Even in the UK, people of colour experience more environmental issues than their white counterparts, ranging from living in areas with higher air pollution to there being a lack of green spaces in their neighbourhoods. By including racial justice in the climate fight, we can empower every single person on this planet to advocate for climate justice for generations to come.

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My perspective has changed so much, and I feel that it is my duty to advocate for and promote Intersectional Environmentalism, which acknowledges categories of discrimination that need to be included in the wider climate movement, such as class, gender, race, and more. 

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Here are some of the solutions I pose to my fellow environmentalists:

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- The climate movement needs more people of colour to bring their unique and diverse perspectives into the discussion as it is incredibly valuable and we need to bring solutions that relate to the struggles of all people.

 

- There needs to be more representation in positions of authority and decision-making as that will drive real change for everyone.

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- We need structural reform within the global climate movement where racial justice and human rights are prioritised as fundamental aspects in our collective mission towards a healthy planet.

 

- We need to put more pressure on our governments to push for greener solutions and investments so they can take accountability over their larger part to play in global warming.

 

- We need to support the communities in our own local areas with their socioeconomic and environmental concerns.

 

- And lastly, as a global community we need to consume as sustainably and ethically as we can, as our consumption directly impacts these communities. Why should we live the way we do at the tremendous expense of others?

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If your environmentalism does not include fighting for the human rights of people of colour, then we don’t want your environmentalism. This is a collective fight, and we must fight for all.