Climate Justice Fundamentals: An Introduction to Colonialism and Extractivism

In April, we held the third edition of our Climate Change, Extractivisim, and Colonialism Training of Trainers at the foot of Benwiskin in Sligo.

We were blessed with beautiful weather, a wonderful location at the Benwiskin Resource Centre, and a fantastic group of people seeking to learn more about the historical and continuing consequences of colonialism through extractive practices such as fossil fuel and metals mining, deforestation, and its worsening impacts of climate change.

 

Our educational work at Friends of the Earth aims to support people in better understanding the root cause and connections of climate injustice and equip them with the knowledge and tools to take these perspectives into their work with groups or through their activism. Sian Cowman facilitated and developed this course that assists learners in interrogating the links between historical colonialism to neo-colonialism and its relation to racism, displacement, humanitarian and environmental justice issues, and current economic and trade systems. This training is funded through Irish Aid and Friends of the Earth as part of our Global Citizenship Education project “

On the evening of arrival, we played “If the World Was 30 People” to set the scene for the weekend. The activity explored the inequality between wealthy nations and low-income countries about population, wealth, greenhouse gas emissions, and the narratives around migration and forced displacement. What is striking is that every year we do this exercise we can reflect on how much the world can change in such a short time- there have been outbreaks of new wars, famine, and millions of people displaced. It seems as if richer countries are getting richer, serious progress on climate mitigation is being curtailed for the benefit of wealthy corporations, and at-risk communities like the Wayuu in Colombia are fighting tougher fights to protect their homes and their families, and are at the frontline of environmental and human rights abuses because of fossil fuel transnational corporations. The shift to fossil-free, renewable and just energy systems are long overdue. 

 

This edition of the training also introduced a second handbook which you can find here. The handbook is a precursor to the original materials we shared in 2022, and the two handbooks should allow anyone interested in learning more about the root causes of climate change and want to bring these issues to new groups and spaces to promote climate justice that doesn’t further perpetuate systems based on inequalities. I think it's fair to say that in these times of increased climate denialism and a right-wing conservative pushback on narratives of human rights, the importance of connecting colonialism, racism and gender-based violence in climate justice work cannot be overstated. 

While the themes and conversations of this weekend were challenging, everyone found comfort and power in connecting with people from across Ireland. It’s important to remember we are connected, we are stronger together and we can make a difference by bringing critical knowledge into our work, our lives, and our choices. Being an activist is being an educator… we can bring our creativity, intelligence, solidarity, and support to the issues facing communities in the Sperrins or communities across the waters. 

 

Jeyald Rasaratnam, one of the participants this year, wrote a blog about his experience which you can find here,