The connection between racial and climate issues

It's easy to assume that global issues are separate problems to be solved. In fact, that was my exact mindset in my first months of climate activism; that although many other global issues existed, I couldn't do it all, that I should focus my energy on climate action. The truth is that it's impossible to have climate justice without racial justice.

How climate change (disproportionally) affects Indigenous communities

Although Indigenous peoples are responsible for an incredible amount of research and advocacy for the environment, their voices are some of the least heard, and their communities are some of the most affected. For example, the Indigenous Peoples in the Kalahari Desert in Africa have been forced to depend on the government because of rising temperatures and wind speeds, and the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon are threatened by deforestation of their home.

How climate change (disproportionally once again) affects racial minorities overall

As mentioned above, Indigenous peoples are often vocal on their concerns about climate change. The same goes for other minorities - a 2020 survey in the US showed that 69% of Latino/Hispanic people said they were either "alarmed" or "concerned" about climate change and 57% of African Americans said the same. Comparatively, only 49% of white people said that they were "alarmed" or "concerned".

Because of the racist systems forcing many Black and Indigenous peoples into poverty, they're much more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, especially economic ones.

The many aspects of working against climate change

When we think about how to solve climate change, many think of the technological advances needed. In that area, scientists, engineers, and people in similar careers are doing pretty well (just look at how the price of eco-friendly energy sources has dropped). The issue comes when we realize that we also need solutions by social and political means. The same system that we need to become more eco-friendly is profiting off exploiting natural resources, especially through colonialism and disregard to racial minorities.

Wait, what? How?

Exploiting natural resources and similarly not eco-friendly things are done for one reason: money. A huge contributor to why they're so economically profitable is through cheap labour, through putting economic success over the lives of workers. And it's all perpetuated through racism. To reverse climate change, we need to have a just social and political system, and the racism ingrained into our current system is stopping that from happening.