In this episode, the panellists unpack the relationship between climate change and colonialism in the Global South. Rooted in colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and an extractivist relationship to the natural world, conventional economic and development models have led to mass environmental destruction and continue to exacerbate the ongoing climate crisis. Likewise, the human-made consequences of climate change exacerbate economic inequalities, destroy livelihoods, infrastructure, and social safety nets, and impact the resources and strategies available for governments and the global community to provide for each other and prioritise care and well-being of people and planet as the main objective of economic policymaking. These consequences include immediate effects in the wake of extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change and long-term effects of the global rise in temperature, with a disproportionate effect on low- and middle-income countries, particularly those in warmer climates in the Global South.

Speakers:

Pambana Bassett, Solidarity Collective (Havana) & Comité en pro del Pueblo de Chiapas, Cuba

Ikal Angelei, Friends of Lake Turkana, Kenya

Find Lulu Kitololo on her website or on her social media pages Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Watch the episode with visuals here and watch all 23 sessions of the forum on the IWRAW youtube channel here