Promoting the Discourse on Climate Justice

Climate change cannot be understood without taking into account the dispute around climate justice. The major producers of greenhouse gases are in the Global North. They can protect themselves from its effect for the time being comparatively well. At the same time, the effects of global climate change are becoming increasingly tangible in the Global South particularly in South Asia. Many regions experience changes in monsoon patterns, water scarcity exacerbates the agrarian crisis, cities choke under air pollution and the Himalaya’s glaciers are shrinking, just to name a few examples. That raises the question of global climate justice, which cannot be neglected by the world community and needs to be addressed.

With the support of RLS, South Asian experts on climate change attend since 2015 the yearly Conference of the Parties (COP) summits. On theses summits the pressing questions of climate change and climate justice are discussed in an international forum. The attendance of these experts multiplies the voices from communities, which are highly affected by climate change and whose positions often differs from the official governments’ standpoints. Moreover, it facilitates the interaction of academics and activists from all over the world to unite their struggles and take a strong stance in the debate on climate justice. The resulting demands are by no means limited to the technical aspects of climate change, but also critically questioned global trade agreements, the outsourcing of labour and other post-colonial continuities.

The work of RLS in South Asia on agriculture is closely connected to the regional effects of climate change. In 2017 we prepared in collaboration with our partners in India and Bangladesh two international experts roundtables on the interrelationship of climate change with the global political economy. The focus was on the current financialisation of nature and other erroneous reactions to climate change. As a result of these roundtables, our partners continue to work on topics related to climate change on a regular basis. The project has been successfully completed.