THREAD

#ClimateChange

Stating the obvious but we are in the middle (some would argue the beginning) of a pandemic & I have read some posts on social media calling for “climate justice” to be part of the recovery framework. Whilst I acknowledge 1/
that this is a thing, what we must guard against are the “owners” of this “climate justice” narrative. Just thinking back to my days as a law student I read environment and the law, I then went on to work as a policy advisor in Whitehall in the former DETR© when the Kyoto 2/
agreement was formulated, then I was promoted to a post that involved researching the environmental impact of using palm oil.

Kyoto: there is a paragraph in the agreement that refers to the so called south chopping down trees to build their homes & use as firewood to cook 3/
their food & heat their homes, to bathe. But not one word about the environmental impact of the Kyoto agreement ie paper used, delegates traveling to conferences to discuss the 4/
agreement etc. (I have discussed the environmental impact of travelling delegates elsewhere in my publication portfolio focusing on Ghana). Palm oil: on one occasion an independent advisor attended a briefing with minister in 5/
Whitehall & I recall this advisor in the coffee break complaining that the laundry company their family used had not collected their weekly laundry because of bad weather!
Thinking also of oil companies in #Nigeria & the starvation of Biafran people & the “disappearance” 6/
of #Biafra Think about the produce on the “Wests” supermarket shelves – out of season, exported from many thousands of miles away, the canning factory in #Ghana providing tinned products, the exploited labour on #Penang Island providing super cheap garments for 7/
High Streets, just a few examples.
So, climate justice cannot be allowed to be controlled by the few, predominantly white middle class, who think it’s OK to book a week off work, climb on top of trains thus preventing workers who may 8/
be on zero-hour contracts from getting to work, to earn their rent, to put food on the table, #ExtinctionRebellion
The few cannot be allowed to dictate from their cosy lifestyles how the many should adjust their lives whilst ensuring they themselves can access all year-round 9/
produce, oil, cheap clothing from Penang, tinned tuna from Ghana etc.

Coming out of this pandemic it is the many that must push back against environmental rhetoric that seeks to exclude them & policies that disproportionally impact on them 10/END
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