Can climate justice be achieved under capitalism?
Written by Katelin Ling Cooper
Our climate catastrophe can no longer be ignored. We are already witnessing the impacts of extreme temperature changes, raging wildfires and natural disasters. Soon enough, no one will be able to escape these climate effects. As we watch the climate crisis consume our planet, the role capitalism plays in the degradation of our environment must be challenged.
Environmental racism is a direct result of unchecked corporations polluting communities of color. For the past 400 years, USAmerican corporate enterprises have taken over sacred land and destroyed wildlife in order to exploit natural resources for profit. From Line 3 protests spearheaded by water protectors and allies to the blockade against oil and gas pipelines on Wet’suwet’en territory, it is critical that companies consider the consequences their actions play in ongoing displacement of Black, Indigenous people and communities of color, as well as low- to no-income communities.
Environmental justice requires an intersectional lens in which we must recognize the connection between systemic racism and environmental destruction. This means elevating the voices and meeting the needs of the communities most impacted by environmental racism and global injustice. The ongoing climate crisis that we face cannot be mitigated without intentionally altering our current way of life.
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have been stewards of the land, water and natural resources, and Indigenous environmental practices ensure balance and harmony with nature. It is vital that companies develop intentional relationships with the Native communities whose land they occupy. Companies can engage environmental justice frameworks by working with Black, Indigenous communities and people of color to come up with strategies for mitigating environmental destruction and healing our home.
Tara Houska of Giniw Collective explains, “We need investment into jobs that don’t require us to destroy the natural world around us. It would be a step in the right direction toward just transition to see our workers given good-paying jobs and cared about. We shouldn’t have to destroy our environment to live.”
Landback is about restoring land sovereignty to the original inhabitants of Turtle Island.
Landback is the movement to rectify humankind’s relationship with the land. In order to recalibrate our relationships to one another and to implement a holistic sense of justice and healing, we must learn from the land and from the original inhibitors of this land. It is crucial that settlers dedicate time to acknowledging Indigenous land, history and wisdom in order to implement an intersectional justice framework within our lives.
Landback is not about kicking anyone out; on the contrary, this movement is about repairing our relationship with each other and with the land. We all have a responsibility to steward the land — to cultivate relationships with the land we reside in — in order that we may remember what it is to be human, to be a part of nature.
True environmental justice and racial equity require community self-determination, accountability and reparations. It is important for companies to be held accountable by the people to ensure stolen money and capital from stolen people on stolen land are redistributed within communities for the overall well-being and growth of all living beings. Reparations can include companies giving a portion of their profits to Black and Indigenous communities and donating money and energy to support community infrastructure — such as to build and fund schools, hospitals and urgent care facilities, grocery stores, parks and libraries.
At the end of the day, there is no ethical consumerism under capitalism. Nevertheless, in this global capitalist world we live in, we must practice holding governments and companies accountable. Engaging in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices is a step in the right direction toward taking accountability for the harms they perpetuate, and committing to Greenpeace strategies is necessary for achieving climate neutrality and holistic environmental justice. Climate justice can only be accomplished through global collaboration and community accountability.
As I write this in territory known as Chicago, Illinois, I am occupying (Bodwéwadmimwen) Potawatomi, Kiikaapoi, Myaamia, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and Peoria land. You can find out whose ancestral land you occupy.
Header by Markus Spiske / Flickr
