Fighting for Black and Brown Communities at COP26

Family,

Black and Indigenous communities are hit first and worst by climate disasters and overall environmental issues. We are also the most likely to bear the financial brunt of the failing racist fossil-fuel industry, resulting in astronomical utility bills while attempting to navigate ongoing recovery from back-to-back climate disasters. All the while, the immune systems of Black people are compromised by ongoing pollution during a pandemic with no real end in sight.

Yet, the annual conversations of climate policy at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP, also known as “Conference of the Parties”) tend to leave us out.

This summer, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report warning that the world could reach 1.5℃ (34.7℉) by 2040, a lot sooner than expected. 1.5℃ is our last chance to mitigate the worsening harm and impacts we’re already seeing right now.

This report has been the baseline of conversations at the 26th session of COP, a conference where global leaders discuss policy for global warming and climate change. Today, the draft deal from the conference was released, and it shared that there are few plans around reparations for irreparable land loss and/or divestment from wealthy countries, the Global North, and investment in the Global South for climate adaptation. In fact, the draft says that wealthy nations have failed to make good on their promise to provide $100 billion in climate finance, the process where wealthy nations give loans and grants to developing nations. According to an October report, the US should contribute 40–47% of the $100 billion and drastically fell short.

The failure to meet the annual divest and invest goal, and refusal to provide climate reparations, is an act of global violence against Black and Indigenous communities. Climate change already kills nearly 200,000 people in the US and 5 million people globally every year. The only way to save the world is for the US to reduce pollution and pay the debt owed to frontline communities for land loss, deadly pollution, and increased extreme weather that has created dire living conditions.

It’s time for our governments to prioritize the needs of Black and Indigenous communities. As a part of our Vision for Black Lives, we demand reparations for the environmental atrocities committed against Black communities. It’s time for those who create the most pollution to be held accountable for the global destruction and death they’ve caused. They must also assume the onus of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and investing in sustainable economies to save and protect Black lives.

Join us by getting involved with the Red, Black, and Green New Deal, our environmental initiative that puts Black liberation at the center of the global climate struggle and addresses the impact of climate change and environmental racism on Black communities.

In solidarity,
Movement for Black Lives

***

You Might Also Like These From The Good Men Project

You Said ‘Race’, but Are You Actually Talking About Race?

Understanding the Nonbinary: Are You Confusing Gender With Sex?

The Difference Between Compassion for Those With Disabilities & Ableism?

‘Masculinity’ Is Having an Identity Crisis