Countries in the Global South argue that it is at the hands of the Global North nations where climate change has been exacerbated through their imperialist, capitalist and consumerist societies for generations; ‘Climate change, colonialism and capitalism are structural – and not contingently – linked’. 

Reiterated in a report, Greenpeace UK affirms that ‘it is people of colour who, despite having contributed the least to the climate emergency, are now “disproportionately losing their lives and livelihoods by the millions because of it”. Thus, the term ‘climate colonialism’ being used to describe how climate change due to global warming came about through the colonial empires of European nations in the late 19th and 20th centuries. 

The Global North’s Legacy of Colonialism in the Global South 

As the colonial empires have long plundered the available natural resources from colonized nations of the Global South, without consequences, this has led to a long history consisting of centuries of the exploitation of people and natural resources. Until now, communities from the Global South continue to be colonized and oppressed, including in Palestine, Kashmir and Western Africa – all of whom are subjected to military occupation and continue to face environmental challenges. 

Palestine – which has been occupied by Israeli forces since 1948, continues to be exploited for its natural resources, including water and natural gas. Under the guise of the ongoing ‘war’ in Gaza, the besieged strip’s maritime offshore gas reserves are currently being looted by Israel. 

Similarly, Kashmir’s water resources are being exploited by India, causing waste that damages the water and soil. However, the recent discovery of lithium poses a new threat of further dispossession of indigenous Kashmiris from their ancestral lands, while jeopardizing the region’s fragile ecology, as India continues to exploit Kashmir’s rich natural resources for its ‘development’ interests. 

Instances of many Global-North projects are a continuum of a colonial legacy existing to this day, and enforcing detrimental oppressive conditions for many communities in the path of the capitalist interests of corporations. Today, deforestation and land grabs are still common, and the use of violence, with many instances recorded as human rights abuses. 

This includes Indigenous populations and residents being forcibly removed from their homes and denied their right to return. This occurs most notably in the Amazon rainforest where deforestation is happening at an alarming rate, in conjunction with Indigenous tribes being dispossessed from their ancestral lands. 

More than half of the world’s population lives in Latin America, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, regions ‘most vulnerable to climate change’ and already experiencing cross-border migration due to extreme impacts of climate change. It is estimated that by 2050 there could be around 143 million internal climate migrants, leading to a huge displacement of people and resulting in a climate-driven migration crisis. 

In its annual impact report, Greenpeace UK states that Global North countries are responsible for over 92% of carbon emissions. Thus the current environmental crisis is said to be ‘the legacy of colonialism’. This is echoed by various experts, holding the view that legacies of colonialism are alive in the present.  

Insights from Indigenous Perspectives

Previous reports by the IPCC have been largely criticised for their lack of authors from diverse backgrounds, causing the issue of colonialism leading to climate change being ignored for a long time. However, the IPCC’s sixth report, partly published in 2022, was the first time the word ‘colonialism’ was used in the report’s summary. 

It has been largely proven that the bushfires of Australia in 2019-2020 were not solely a result of climate change, but ‘amplified by the colonial displacement of Indigenous people from their lands and the disruption of their land management practices that skilfully used controlled burning to help landscapes flourish’. Indigenous scholars have drawn connections between Western power practices and their plundering of natural resources without considering its effect; ‘Western colonial legacies operate within a paradigm that assumes they can extract its natural resources as much as they want, and the Earth will regenerate itself’. 

The Fight for Reparations 

As early as 2009, countries from the Global South have been fighting for reparations by the Global North as they bear the brunt of the greenhouse gas emissions that their richer counterparts continue to produce. 

At COP15, those belonging to the Global North made an annual pledge of USD 100 billion to help the Global South adapt to the changing climate. However, a report published by OECD found that these ‘richer nations’ failed to reach the promised amount, and only managed to pay about half of the reparations they initially promised between 2013-2016, despite a supposed ‘yearly increase of climate finance by richer to poorer nations’. 

More so, these funds took the form of loans, burdening already struggling nations with more debt. Arguably more surprisingly, these loans are large non-concessional loans which inevitably perpetuate poor people in an ongoing cycle of debt. 

Loss & Damage Fund 

COP27 in 2023 laid out the framework for a ‘Loss and Damage Fund’ which set out to provide funding for vulnerable countries suffering the consequences of climate change at an alarming level. With many hailing the agreement as a monumental decision, history shows that the richer nations often fail to make good on their promises, and due to a lack of internal regulation, can sometimes leave their poorer counterparts, worse off. 

The World Bank is operating the Loss and Damage fund. It is said that the Global South is at a disadvantage when it comes to benefiting from decisions made by the World Bank – as its colonial outlook continues to deepen inequality in the Global South and benefit the powerful countries of the Global North. 

Another flaw of this fund is its lack of enforcement as contributions are voluntary, allowing rich nations to continue evading responsibility despite their large historical and continuous emissions. For instance, the U.S. pledged a meagre sum of $17.5m – despite being the largest oil and gas producer and historically, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. 

The fundamental flaws in the design and operation of the loss and damage fund maintain the long-standing inequality between the richer and the poorer nations. This demonstrates the Global North nations showing little concern and effort to restore, repair and mitigate the centuries-long damage it has done to the Global South countries, and no binding system in place to hold polluters accountable with mounting climate concerns.

The post What is Climate Colonialism? appeared first on Muslim Climate Watch.

The ongoing genocide and colonization in Palestine interconnect layers of climate issues, social justice, and public health crises; issues central to my demographic and expressed through our voting choices. My community has done and will continue to do everything to make sure we are heard in the elections.

Like many of my fellow Arabs, Muslims and allies, I am shattered by the active genocide of my people in Gaza. This feeling is especially intensified as we begin fasting for the holy month of Ramadan this week. With over 155 days of Israeli bombardment in Gaza, innocent Palestinians endure daily massacres and starvation, facilitated with help from the U.S. Hunger, climate oppression and environmental warfare are weapons of genocide actively being employed by Israel in Gaza. 

Read More: Israeli Bombs Pushing Towards Climate Devastation

Despite a majority of Americans calling for a ceasefire, the Biden Administration has used its veto power in the UN Security Council to stop an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.  It has also failed to allow the safe delivery of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza, all while supplying Israel with the weapons killing Palestinians, my people. These actions are not only directly enabling a genocide, but are also contributing heavily to the climate crisis. 

The climate cost of the first 60 days of Israel’s military response was equivalent to burning at least 150,000 tonnes of coal. It is greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, this being a significant underestimate. This underscores the urgency for climate justice as historical and current polluters continue to exacerbate climate conditions for vulnerable front-line communities.

Following the significant ‘uncommitted’ votes, the U.S. rushed in to airdrop aid in Gaza, which not only has been criticized as hypocritical, but also reported to be costly, inefficient, and even deadly. Parachutes carrying the aid malfunctioned and killed Palestinians. Disaster relief experts have touted that these are not meaningful enough to make a dent in the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel and the U.S. 

Another attempt at regaining trust with my demographic, and likely a direct response to the uncommitted campaign, manifested at Biden’s State of the Union address, where the President announced that the U.S. will build a temporary port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian aid by sea. President Biden’s attempts are not nearly enough to stave off his blatant hypocrisy. Moreso, some experts have reported that this temporary port could potentially be an opportunity for the U.S. to extract natural gas from Gaza, amidst a climate emergency when countries are divesting from fossil fuels. 

Extensive and unprecedented destruction has targeted agricultural lands housing perennial trees like olives and citrus fruits, as well as field crops like vegetables. A report by Lawfare said, “the legally proportionate collateral damage by lethal weapons used in civilian populated areas would be thoroughly immoral.” Israel has also dropped white phosphorus on Gaza and Lebanon, a chemical that is not only excruciatingly painful but also greatly harms the environment deep within the soil.

Read More: Israel’s Water Apartheid Policies in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip

Ongoing airstrikes and a lack of electricity or fuel are causing Gaza’s water and sewage management facility to remain untreated, releasing 130,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea every day. However, climate change does not recognize borders and political arrangements, and environmental degradation in Palestine will make its way to Israeli settler territories. 

Gaza also had one of the world’s highest densities of solar rooftop installations. However, the current war has destroyed these solar systems, with 17 of the 29 largest rooftop solar installations either completely destroyed or displaying significant external damage. By denying Palestinians the ability to employ climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, Israel is committing climate apartheid.

The Israeli Occupation Forces have not only blocked humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, but they have intentionally massacred Palestinian civilians as they tried to obtain food from the few trucks that were permitted to enter, inciting the “flour massacre.” Israeli settlers have protested and blocked humanitarian trucks from entering, with 72 percent of Israelis opposing providing humanitarian aid to Gaza according to a survey conducted for Israel’s Channel 12 television. Gaza is now facing famine with at least 800,000 Palestinians starving to death and more than a dozen children dead due to malnutrition. 

Our vote is a protest demanding for the decision-makers of this country to hear us, especially as my fellow Muslims in Gaza continue to suffer during our holiest month. Ramadan has come at the most sensitive of times, and Biden has betrayed his supporters to enable the ongoing massacre of my people. The focus in Gaza this Ramadan, like the rest of the Muslim world, should have been on prayer and spirituality. Instead, they must prioritize survival as they become victims of famine and extreme living conditions worsened by a climate crisis exacerbated by Israel.

Come November, any candidate who wants to represent my demographic will need to earn our vote. This will only happen if U.S. stops the genocide, and urgently addresses the interlocking humanitarian, climate and public health crises. The U.S. must not only acknowledge but halt its policy to ethnically cleanse Palestinians to get our vote.

The colonization of a people and land isn’t a “single-issue.’ I reject any notion that my community and our allies are not clear-eyed about what is at stake this November. We are raising the alarms to stop the crises that are impacting all of us and we’re not being heard. 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Muslim Climate Watch’s editorial stance.

The post Uncommitted: Arab American & Muslim Voices Unite for a Ceasefire & Climate Justice in Palestine appeared first on Muslim Climate Watch.

Palestinians suffer from extreme water shortages due to discriminatory Israeli policies, which include restrictions on drilling new water wells, installing pumps, or deepening existing wells without Israeli permits. Additionally, they are denied access to the Jordan River and freshwater springs and face discriminatory regulations on rainwater collection and harvesting.

Policies of Water Apartheid

Israel imposed stringent bans and restrictions on the Palestinian water sector immediately after its occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in June 1967. The Israeli military authorities centralized full control over all water resources and water-related infrastructure in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). In November 1967, Military Order 158 was issued by Israeli authorities, mandating that Palestinians must obtain permits from the Israeli army to construct any new water installations. Palestinians were then obligated to seek Israeli permission to drill new wells. However, such permits were granted sparingly which intensified the difficulties faced by Palestinians in accessing water resources.

Joint Water Committee

The Joint Water Committee (JWC), established under the Oslo Accords, oversees water resource management in the West Bank. Established for a five-year interim period that was supposed to end in 1999, the committee continues to date due to the absence of a permanent status agreement for the OPT. It oversees water resource management in the West Bank, excluding the Jordan River.  

Read More: Seeds of Resilience in Palestinian Agriculture

Obtaining approval from the JWC is just the initial step for Palestinians undertaking water projects in the West Bank. The three zones of the West Bank, Area A, B and C were established after the Oslo Accords, with Area C being contiguous and covering over 60% of the West Bank. Following JWC approval, additional permits from the Israeli army are required before commencing any work in Area C.

Many applications are rejected, delayed, or simply ignored for days. Even with permits, the execution of work hinges on the Israeli army’s evaluation of “security considerations” in the specific location. Areas can be restricted to Palestinians for hours to weeks or longer, based on the Israeli army’s obscure security assessments. For example, repairing pipes connecting various sections of Area C and linking villages to wells necessitates obtaining separate permits for each area. The execution of this work is contingent on the Israeli army’s assessment of the so-called security considerations in the planned areas. Initiating such projects without prior approval leads to their suspension or demolition by the Israeli army.

Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement

In 1995, Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) signed the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, however, it failed to adequately address the Palestinians’ needs. Since the signing, Israel has extracted up to three times the amount from the Eastern Aquifer than initially agreed upon. In contrast, Palestinian withdrawals from the Eastern Aquifer have decreased, dropping from 138 million cubic meters (MCM) to 84 MCM in less than a decade. This decline is partially attributed to a decline in the water table potentially influenced by excessive Israeli extraction.

Read More: Climate Oppression, Eco-Apartheid & Palestinian Occupation

A major flaw in the Interim Agreement is the false equivalence of power dynamics between Israel and the Palestinians, with a complete disregard for the reality of Palestinian occupation. The agreement uses language suggesting two analogous water sectors—one Israeli and the other Palestinian—creating an illusion of joint monitoring and sharing of resources between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. 

While limiting Palestinians’ access to water, Israel has actively expanded its own water infrastructure and network in the West Bank to serve its citizens both in Israel and in settlements despite being illegal under international law. Mekorot, the state-owned Israeli water company, has systematically drilled wells and tapped springs in the occupied West Bank to provide water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial purposes, including to Israeli settlers residing in illegal settlements.

Consequences for the Palestinian Community

As many as 180 rural Palestinian communities lack access to running water. Similarly, up to 97% of the water supply in Gaza is heavily contaminated. Numerous Palestinian communities in the West Bank are compelled to buy water from mobile trucks operated independently by Palestinians, accruing heavy costs. In some impoverished communities, water expenses can constitute up to half of a family’s monthly income. Moreover, Palestinian farmers have been forced to constantly vary their crops due to a lack of sufficient water supply.

Read More: Israeli Bombs Pushing Towards Climate Devastation

Breach of Agreements

Most of the arrangements stipulated in the Interim Agreement have not been implemented to this day. Almost 30 years after the agreement was signed, the Palestinians are still not able to pump the agreed amounts of water. Additionally, the JWC has become a tool for promoting Israeli interests only, whereas the failure of the Interim Agreement to ensure joint supervision and enforcement of water resources has left Israel with the sole enforcement powers. 

The contrast between the water supply enjoyed by Israeli citizens and the deliberate shortages imposed on Palestinians exposes a system of inequity and apartheid faced by Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Israel’s unilateral control over Palestine’s water resources, coupled with a failure to uphold agreements, perpetuates a cycle of hardship for Palestinians. The water crisis not only reflects the power imbalances inherent in Israel’s occupation of Palestine leading to decades of conflict but also underscores the urgent need for international intervention to end the occupation, policies of apartheid and a reassessment of agreements to ensure a just and sustainable water distribution system in the region.

The post Israel’s Water Apartheid Policies in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip appeared first on Muslim Climate Watch.

Read More: Israel’s Water Apartheid Policies in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip

Israel practises eco-apartheid, a practice which commits ‘environmental abuse in order to marginalize a racially defined group’. This practice is mirrored in South Africa – where the government consigns most of their population to the ‘least healthy and least productive ecological contexts’, therefore, leaving them financially dependent on the capital of their oppressors – ‘White-owned capital’, specifically (Stull, Bell and Ncwadi, 2016). Green colonialism refers to the stark contrast of living achieved by the Global North at the hands of the Global South; ‘Global North achieves a high standard of living by exploiting the health, labour and land of the Global South’. (earth.org, 2021). This is carried out by Israel over the Palestinian territories through their ‘political and economic control of land, water and other natural resources’, thereby leaving Palestinians without autonomy over land cultivation and resource management (Persavalli, 2021). Israel further carries out its apartheid system by climate oppression – also known as ‘climate injustice’ – which is achieved through their withholding of resources, contributing to the active prevention of Palestinians from developing strategies to mitigate and resist the impacts of climate change (Al-Haq, 2021). 

Green Colonialism through Land Theft

Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian lands has a significant impact on the ability of Palestinians to maintain their livelihoods and adapt to the changing climate. Intense militarization with arbitrary checkpoints across Occupied Palestine severely limits the freedom of movement of its people, forcing them to go through dehumanizing processes of apartheid whilst they go about their everyday lives. 

The planting of pine forests, which deliberately resemble European landscape imagery for the European Jewish settlers, contain highly acidic pine needles. When fallen, these pines destroy the shrubbery and plants growing on the land. In turn, this affects the grazing available for animals that shepherds rely on for their livelihoods (Lorber, 2018). 

The Israeli government continues to commit green colonialism in Palestine, evident through its practice of pilfering large amounts of Palestinian land under the pretence of environmental protection. 

The Jewish National Fund (JNF) set about creating over 1000 parks for Israeli residents, under the guise of ‘greenification’ of supposed ‘desolate desert areas’. Under the slogan, ‘Make the desert bloom’, the installation of these parks had a more devastating purpose than it would appear. These forests included ‘fast-growing pines’, which were ‘strategically placed atop the ruins of destroyed Palestinian villages’. Thereby, seeking to permanently erase evidence of Palestine’s pre-existence, and ultimately, ‘prevent[ing] refugees from ever returning to their homes’ (Persavalli, 2021). 

The majority of the trees that Israel boasts of having planted have been replaced with non-native species that require more water to survive, leading to desertification, widespread forest fires and drought. Moreover, since 1967, Israel has uprooted more than 1 million native olive and fruit trees in Occupied Palestine leading to soil erosion and increased food insecurity. This is supported by the deforestation statistics whereby ‘95% of the forests of Gaza have disappeared between 1971 and 1999, due to the extensive spread of settlements and military bases’ (Persavalli, 2021). 

Read More: Seeds of Resilience in Palestinian Agriculture

This blatant land theft where Israel has stolen Palestinian lands to construct illegal Israeli settlements, has led to biodiversity loss, the destruction of natural ecosystems, desertification, and water pollution. 

Eco-Apartheid 

Israel is projecting Palestinians to eco-apartheid – further defined as ‘inter-institutional arrangements and interactions that produce unequal environmental benefits and burdens’. ( Akom, 2011). The Israeli West Bank Segregation Wall denies Palestinians their land and thus prevents Palestinians from cultivating them, which has led to increased food insecurity, desertification, and habitat destruction of animals and migratory birds. 

The construction of the West Bank Wall carries a number of environmental impacts. Including, isolating Palestinian farmers from their local lands and thereby harming local ecosystems and removing their access to a livelihood.  

Israel practises theft of Palestinian water, stealing over 80% of available water in the Occupied West Bank, and redirecting it to illegal Israeli settlements for filling swimming pools and crop irrigation (IMEU, 2022). Inevitably, this denies Palestinians access to water security and subsequently denies their rights to ‘water, food, health, work and an adequate standard of living’ (Amnesty International, 2017). 

Read More: Climate Oppression, Eco-Apartheid & Palestinian Occupation

Israeli industrial settlements regularly release air filled with toxic pollutants and dump wastewater containing untreated sewage into Palestinian villages, polluting the water and soil. The pollution and pesticides from these settlements cause significant health problems to those living in the Palestinian communities nearby. Cancer, asthma and genetic health disorders are just some of the conditions being suffered. With these health conditions, Palesintians’ ability to earn a living is greatly affected (IMEU, 2022). 

Despite its ongoing eco-apartheid, Israel hides behind green colonialism by using environmentalism as a justification for its occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands. Not only are Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank established on stolen lands, but Israel also seeks to justify its land theft under the pretext of protecting nature reserves. In reality, two-thirds of all the trees planted, and the parks established by Israel are built on the demolition of 89 Palestinian villages. Through the controlling of Palestinian lands and its people, Israel practises settler colonialism through methods of green colonialism. By presenting itself as an ‘eco-friendly’ country, Israel aims to detract international attention from its extensive human rights violations against Palestinians. Israel’s green colonialism has irreversibly caused grave environmental damage on Palestinian lands, aggravating the effects of climate change and committing a war crime (IMEU, 2022).

The depoliticizing of climate apartheid in Occupied Palestine involves international donor-driven strategies that emphasize fostering peace and cooperation, rather than pressuring Israel to put an end to its occupation. For instance, initiatives funded by donors, such as EcoPeace and the Arava Institute, have consistently utilized slogans such as “the environment knows no borders” and “bringing people together” to advance collaboration between Israel and Palestine centred around climate and environmental justice. However, these initiatives only serve to normalize and legitimize the Israeli occupation by presenting it as sustainable development, and environmental action.

Climate Justice for Palestine

The struggle for climate justice in Palestine is tied to the Palestinian freedom struggle. A few practical steps for climate justice for Palestine entail opposing Israel’s export of natural gas and electricity to Europe, as well as boycotting international projects including Mekorot, which promotes water apartheid by denying Palestinians access to water and supporting Israel’s illegal settlements. It also involves boycotting all Israeli Medjool dates, which are cultivated in the Jordan Valley using land and water taken from Palestinians. Moving towards a path of climate justice cannot be achieved without addressing the underlying injustices of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. 

References

• Al- Haq (2021). Climate oppression: a major tool to establish and maintain Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people and their lands. Report to OHCHR. 
• Earth.Org (2021) What is green colonialism?, Earth.Org. Available at: https://earth.org/green-colonialism/ (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
• Imeu (2022) IMEU Institute for middle east understanding, IMEU. Available at: https://imeu.org/article/environmental-apartheid-in-palestine (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
• Lorber, B. (2018) Israel’s environmental colonialism and Ecoapartheid – The bullet, Socialist Project. Available at: https://socialistproject.ca/2018/06/israels-environmental-colonialism-and-ecoapartheid/ (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
• Persavalli, L. (2021) Biodiversity Loss in Palestine. the green colonialism., zeroCO2. Available at: https://zeroco2.eco/en/2021/05/18/biodiversity-loss-in-palestine/ (Accessed: 03 September 2023). 
• Stull, V., Bell, M.M. and Ncwadi, M. (2016) ‘Environmental apartheid: Eco-health and rural marginalization in South Africa’, Journal of Rural Studies, 47, pp. 369-380 Available at: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.04.004.
• The Occupation of Water (2022) Amnesty International. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/11/the-occupation-of-water/ (Accessed: 03 September 2023).

The post Climate Oppression, Eco-Apartheid & Palestinian Occupation  appeared first on Muslim Climate Watch.