This article from Common dreams examines the Climate Change Aid given to various countries. It reveals that one-third of international money went to China, India and Brazil while the poorest 49 countries got just one-eighth. While I do not doubt the need for aid in countries such as India and China. This clearly documents the preference for giving to powerful trade interests to benefit economic growth internally. While this is an example of Environmental inequalities as has been represented earlier in this blog, I believe it is also a stark reminder of environmental scarcity leading to ‘Violent Environments’. In Somalia for example, limited aid that is being given to Somalians is causing conflict between neighbouring African countries regarding the legitimacy of who deserves this aid, this environmental inequality thus leads to conflict between poorer nations over scarce resources or supplies (Al Jazeera English 2011).
Al Jazeera English. 2011. Kenya’s Growing Influence In Somalia. Available at http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2011/10/201110189189829781.html Accessed 23/10/2011
This is an article from Polymic which examines issues of population growth and environmental security. This article examines these problems from a Malthusian perspective and at one point suggests that China and US may have conflict with each other in the near future over the scarcity or resources. This is the idea of ‘Violent environments’ as Wolfram Dressler addressed in our lecture. This article however, does fail to make any mention of the unequal causes of this problem. The author also states that ‘the environment does not care about borders as both the causes and effects of degradation are transnational’. This is an example of Conscious Ignorance penetrating media sources as to the causes and effects of climate change as it is not in fact a shared process (Chambers 1997).
Chambers, R. 1997. Whose reality counts? Putting the first last. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
This is a strategy guide for the ‘development’ of Africa made by the World Bank released in March. This guide highlights the oppurtunites for growth and export prospects while ignoring the underlying structural issues. These being the corrupt power relations, economic vulnerability, worsening resource curses, land grabs and threats of environmental chaos and disease. These have resulted in part from neoliberal economic policies such as privatisation and deregulation and the World Bank continues to pursue these policies which have proven to fail. These practices continue because in the discourse of economic growth this is seen as the most viable solution.
This article from the guardian examines the land grabs that are currently occurring in Africa and it portrays once again the economic view that pervades the thinking of large multinational corporations. Although touted as a way to put money and jobs into the local communities. this is not the way the locals see it “This is the new 21st century colonisation. The Saudis are enjoying the rice harvest, while the Oromos (local area affected by land grabs) are dying from man made famine as we speak”. The purchase of this land for the purpose of ‘development’ of this land contributes to the dislocation of people as well as removing sustenance farming by privatising and commodifying land that was previously held communally by local groups throughout Africa. What is needed is regulation to ensure environmental sustainability which is the opposite of what is occurring.
This article from the guardian examines the affects of Climate Change on the island of Tuvalu. This illustrates the inequalities associated with the effects of climate change. The author of this article examines what effects climate change will have on thepeople of Tuvalu and they are expected to be heavily affected as a result of La Nina and more importantly, climate change. This article also examines the effects this has on the disclocation of people from Tuvalu. The Tuvalese are worried that they will lose ‘their identity, their culture, their home’.
This article is a piece on the famine in Somalia and other parts of Africa by leading development economist Jeffrey Sachs. This article acknowledges the role of climate change in the crisis that they are facing. It also expresses the role of the US and europe in helping to create the affects of Climate change that are now being experienced and how they have neglected to act effectively in response to the drought. This is an important understanding as the people who are being affected by these brutal consequences had the least to do with creating the problem. This is an example of Conscious Ignorance (Chambers 1997). The global elites are failing to respond to this issue because they have no responsibility to and there would be no economic benefit. This shows a preference in economic growth as opposed to social or environmental justice.
Chambers, R. 1997. Whose reality counts? Putting the first last. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
