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Tribune News Network
Doha
People of colour and those in the global south are inordinately impacted by pollution and climate change, said environmental advocates during the latest edition of Qatar Foundation Doha Debates’ #DearWorldLive programme.
The livestreamed programme, part of a five-episode series, brought together environmental advocates from Uganda, Australia and the US to speak about this environmental racism.
Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate said, “Countries in the global south contribute the least to the climate crisis, but they are the most affected by climate change.”
She added that ending racism requires addressing how people of colour are disproportionately affected by climate change and pollution.
“I think if we do not include the issue of environmental racism, then we cannot have the [racial] justice we are looking for,” she said.
American filmmaker Ian Daniel, whose recent documentary ‘There’s Something in The Water’ examined the impact of pollution of Black and Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia, Canada, said communities of colour are suffering lethal consequences from environmental racism.
He said, “Their families are dying off, they’re getting cancer, they’re worried about getting cancer. That’s compounding the issues that are already happening in these communities – suicide rates are high, alcoholism is high, lack of housing, lack of resources for education.”
Daniel said it’s vital everyone is part of the solution.
“It’s about realising that this is an illness. It is a sickness in our society and we have to work super hard to heal it and to repair it to reconcile. We’re in a time of major reckoning and we all have to play our part in healing the sickness,” he said.
Patsy Islam-Parsons, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi-Australian student who leads Sydney’s #FridaysforFuture climate change protest movement, said the Australian government is among those at fault for environmental racism.
“My country and my government are certainly an enormous part of the problem and I think that gives me an enormous responsibility to be putting pressure on my government and telling them that what they’re doing is not good enough,” she said.
The three speakers provided suggestions for how people can get involved in an effort to overcome environmental racism.
Nakate said, “People at home have to educate themselves about what is really happening and see how they can play a part in helping tell these stories, to highlight these issues.”
She advocated bringing more communities of colour into the solutions-focused process, urging the inclusion of “the leadership of Black people and people of colour in ecology movements.”
Daniel urged people to educate themselves and then join the fight against environmental racism. He encouraged viewers to get involved by talking and listening to the people who are leading movements for change.
He said everyone should learn from communities of colour.
“If you’re not from the community, the main thing is to learn from the community and let the community drive the conversation and then they’ll inform you how you can amplify their voice,” he advised.
Islam-Parsons echoed Daniel’s call to action, saying, “The best way people can get involved is in grassroots activism and that’s a really fantastic way you can educate yourself and also work to change the system.”
Nearly half a million people around the world watched the live programme, with the most viewers in Brazil, the US, Turkey, Spain and the Philippines.
Doha
People of colour and those in the global south are inordinately impacted by pollution and climate change, said environmental advocates during the latest edition of Qatar Foundation Doha Debates’ #DearWorldLive programme.
The livestreamed programme, part of a five-episode series, brought together environmental advocates from Uganda, Australia and the US to speak about this environmental racism.
Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate said, “Countries in the global south contribute the least to the climate crisis, but they are the most affected by climate change.”
She added that ending racism requires addressing how people of colour are disproportionately affected by climate change and pollution.
“I think if we do not include the issue of environmental racism, then we cannot have the [racial] justice we are looking for,” she said.
American filmmaker Ian Daniel, whose recent documentary ‘There’s Something in The Water’ examined the impact of pollution of Black and Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia, Canada, said communities of colour are suffering lethal consequences from environmental racism.
He said, “Their families are dying off, they’re getting cancer, they’re worried about getting cancer. That’s compounding the issues that are already happening in these communities – suicide rates are high, alcoholism is high, lack of housing, lack of resources for education.”
Daniel said it’s vital everyone is part of the solution.
“It’s about realising that this is an illness. It is a sickness in our society and we have to work super hard to heal it and to repair it to reconcile. We’re in a time of major reckoning and we all have to play our part in healing the sickness,” he said.
Patsy Islam-Parsons, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi-Australian student who leads Sydney’s #FridaysforFuture climate change protest movement, said the Australian government is among those at fault for environmental racism.
“My country and my government are certainly an enormous part of the problem and I think that gives me an enormous responsibility to be putting pressure on my government and telling them that what they’re doing is not good enough,” she said.
The three speakers provided suggestions for how people can get involved in an effort to overcome environmental racism.
Nakate said, “People at home have to educate themselves about what is really happening and see how they can play a part in helping tell these stories, to highlight these issues.”
She advocated bringing more communities of colour into the solutions-focused process, urging the inclusion of “the leadership of Black people and people of colour in ecology movements.”
Daniel urged people to educate themselves and then join the fight against environmental racism. He encouraged viewers to get involved by talking and listening to the people who are leading movements for change.
He said everyone should learn from communities of colour.
“If you’re not from the community, the main thing is to learn from the community and let the community drive the conversation and then they’ll inform you how you can amplify their voice,” he advised.
Islam-Parsons echoed Daniel’s call to action, saying, “The best way people can get involved is in grassroots activism and that’s a really fantastic way you can educate yourself and also work to change the system.”
Nearly half a million people around the world watched the live programme, with the most viewers in Brazil, the US, Turkey, Spain and the Philippines.
