Why the climate crisis cannot be solved without addressing colonial legacies and racism

 This article was originally written in May 2024.

Sometime between the month of April and May, my inbox pinged with a new article written by Dr Richard Hames – a philosopher, futurist and someone who I deeply respect and can call upon for support. In this article, Dr Hames covers the “nonsensical nature and banality of societal collapse” - how we are currently living through the very worst of our manufactured crises, and yet still have everyday comforts to distract and cocoon us from these harsh realities. He muses that these ‘comforts’ and privileges have very much constructed the normalcy we see today: a society on the brink of collapse from our false democracies to our climate crisis, to the erosion of social & religious harmony.

He concludes this rather scintillating article with a paragraph that has jogged my own reflections on what is truly needed for us, collectively and collaboratively, to address the very real injustices and inequities we see today. Dr Hames states that “In the 20th century…. Materialism was our primary religion. Established faiths could not compete. In the 21st century that simply will not do. ….How will you deal with the possible collapse of everything you once cherished while remaining true to yourself? Are you ready to adjust to the fundamental transitions ahead?”

On the same day that article released, it was also Earth Day. My socials were filled with posts about appreciating our planet, people’s love of the outdoors and adventure, to the need-to-knows of the climate crisis, the current state of affairs with the oil & gas industry, the tax reforms we need, and the bleak societal realities Millennials, Gen Z and Alpha will inherit. All in all, it was a social media feed that ping-ponged between joy, love, denial, rage, sadness, justice sensitivity and irony. Many posts, articles and personal conversations I’ve had since emphasise a sense of urgency to solve the environmental crisis and the very tangible realities of a collapsing natural world.

Technology, capital, and traditional management systems– from complex software development to AI, to impact investing, philanthropy, 3BL (triple bottom line) or ESG performance measures (particularly the ‘E’ & ‘G’)– are being hailed as the core tenets of collaboratively and resolutely solving this climate crisis. However, this is just one path of solutions for the complex, multifaceted, global issue of climate change. One which I think is too linear, at times narrow-sighted and quite comfortable with not disrupting the founding philosophies of our ‘Westernised’ society.

Within the country I reside-  Australia - I have long been critical of how business, government and influential organisations challenge and collaborate for the climate crisis. Given the socio-economic issues made obvious this year alone, it is alarming how little progress we have made at a national level for political and economic reform which addresses the connection and interrelatedness of social, wellbeing, racial & public health issues.

On the contrary, the level of awareness and readiness for collaboration and transformative progress is deeply entrenched in the built environment, design, architecture, social purpose, community development, grassroots and multicultural affairs sectors. They have been advocating for corporate and government bodies to take responsibility in addressing & repairing colonial legacies, human rights violations, racial injustice and gender inequities as it exacerbates climate-related hazards.

I am firm in my belief that climate action should not only be placed on the shoulders of professionals and communities who are perpetually on the frontline. It is disproportionately unfair to place faith and hope in the work of communities who experience layered vulnerabilities to take on the burden of solely bringing forth true, positive systems change. It is as if they, and especially younger generations, are the salvation from our societal inadequacies. We must be lead and guided by frontline communities, such as First Nations communities and, those with migrant/refugee lived experiences, however the ‘bulk’ of work to undo what is undoing us lies with those who have the most privilege to lose.

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We are now at a point where there is a distinct level of ‘readiness’ and awareness within some business, corporate and government bodies. It is at this metaphorical tipping point where we need to be extremely careful moving forward.

With this ‘readiness momentum’ and the collective energy and will to positively change for the sake of our planetary health, we can either repeat the same ideologies and ontologies in the name of social change… or completely reframe and address root causes by shifting our ontologies from the dominant knowledge systems in our Western societies. Being ‘organisationally and purpose ready’ for social change and justice work does not mean that every business, organisation, or institute is instantly embedded with decolonial, anti-racist thinking. I have observed that there are many who are wholly committed to positive systems change, but still take an individualist and competitive approach to their work.

This is where we are failing.

Readiness for positive systems change means to shed the individualist, privatised and hyper-capitalistic mindset that is shackling us from true progress.

I fear that if there isn’t a reckoning of where all our moral imperatives lie in response to solving the climate crisis - on top of scientific evidence-based solutions - then we will be layering solutions which restore our natural capital but erodes the very fabric of our society.
Our ‘humanness’ (i.e., our empathy, kindness, love) and our innate ability to come back to first principles, which was once heralded as what made us revolutionary and sovereign creators, philosophers, innovators and spiritual guides in the past, may be lost to the machinations of an entirely materialistic, extractive, militarist, deeply colonial and imperialist system.

The urgency to reform programs, structures and businesses that have a focus on environmental performance and limited social responsibility indicators (diversity metrics, supply chain ethics or stationery measures of community benefits), has its purpose and influence for positive change… but to an extent.
It is now not enough to undo collapse, and it never has been.

As Dr Hames states of fundamental transitions and dealing with the erasure of everything you’ve once known, the very approach of solving the climate crisis must be shifted to historical root cause(s). This is also consistently advocated through the organising work, leadership and truth-telling led by First Nations, Indigenous and immigrant communities across Australia and the Pacific. It is very much not to do with our behaviour of consumption and materialism but the layered habits, practices and structures that have been embedded in our social fabric which enable discrimination and a distancing from traditional cultural knowledge, which lay the foundations for environmental destruction. Practices and structures which are inherently colonial, racially unjust, ableist, patriarchal and, perpetuates wealth & resource polarisation.

To solve the climate crisis means to solve this dilemma we face in society of selective empathy, of constructed biases, power imbalances, inflated egos at decision-making tables, boundless resource & knowledge extractivism, patriarchal strongholds and cultural appropriation. All big concepts and structures but all maintained by mundane, daily actions…which are then cemented into processes, structures, and critically, our dominant belief systems.

I believe that this is the litmus test of our humanity. Not of how we can solve environmental degradation, but of how we can bring our structures and systems to let go of outdated beliefs and power structures which inherently do not serve the best for humanity. Environmental degradation is after all the result of all of this – of human greed, pride and superiority. It is a stark and sobering materialisation of what happens when a small population disrupts and extracts resources and knowledge from those deemed lesser than.

If we are to solve this climate crisis, then it must start with the interpersonal journey and the introspection to recognise how harm is caused by the self and unto others by the systems and infrastructure one benefits from. The climate crisis is a direct result of colonial legacies and deeply embedded hate and prejudice that evolves and presents itself in various, unsuspecting forms. Forms which we all have or continue to benefit from.

If we are to talk about inconvenient truths*, then let it be this: the climate crisis cannot be fully and truly solved without addressing, recognising, intellectualising and collaboratively undoing the various forms of hate, prejudice, oppression, and biases that have evolved over time to reinforce harm and continue historical injustice(s).

If we are to solve this climate crisis and indeed, if there is an openness and organisational readiness of many businesses, organisations and institutions to do the work that is necessary to stay accountable to positive change, then it must start with understanding, recognising and engaging with the specialists who are skilled at translating complex human behaviours impacted by multiple, intersecting externalities. Sense-making of intersectional problems and the efficacy of preventative services designed to alleviate the core symptoms of a broken system—whether it be for social housing, economic disparities for young people, domestic violence, gender-based violence, migrant & refugee discrimination or poor health outcomes in rural regions are—must be inextricably linked to undoing colonial legacies. This includes questioning the ethics and origins of knowledge systems which have long maintained these inequities.

If we are not holding ourselves accountable to personal change and the sobering, harsh realities of how social injustice and inequity occurs, then we are not taking a systems-based approach to solving the climate crisis.

  
* A play on the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ documentary by Al Gore.