Your say / Climate
‘Bristol must place marginalised voices at the centre of climate action’
In February 2024, the Centre for Climate Integrity released a report exposing the lies of Big Oil and the plastic industry.
‘The Fraud of Plastic Recycling‘ reveals industry was aware that plastic recycling was economically unrealistic but promoted it anyway, encouraging widespread deception for over 50 years.
This crucial story failed to generate the uproar it deserved.
is needed now More than ever
Meanwhile, the UN Environment Programme states that marginalised communities are the ones who bear the brunt of the damaging impacts of the plastic industry and ineffective waste management.
Big Oil’s drip feeding of plastic recycling for over half a century certainly contributes to consumers’ psychological experience of the heating up of the planet as ‘normal’.
It has been followed by other neoliberal capitalist tomfoolery of green washing and virtue signalling by corporations and billionaires, serving only to tick boxes while they stuff their pockets.
What’s important to recognise is that these corporations, billionaires and other ridiculous structures of wealth and status quo exist and thrive at the cost of vulnerable groups, indigenous communities and low-income countries.
So, structurally and ideologically, these ivory towers are incapable of any forms of justice, climate or otherwise.
However, I believe that the solution lies with the problem. Exposing the lies of those at the top leads us to realise that climate action has always and must continue to be community-centric and bottom up.
For me, social and climate justice are tightly bound: one can’t exist without the other.
There exists a gross power imbalance between who or what majorly contributes to climate change, and the people who experience its impacts.
But unfortunately, climate is yet to be a centrepiece in questions of social justice.
Medha helped to organise the recent Mend Earth event at Hamilton House that invited young people from marginalised communities to take part in panel discussions and workshops intended to demystify climate change – photo: Shamphat Pro
With origins rooted in Black scholarship, the concept of ‘intersectionality’ is the product of women and non-males of colour and indigenous communities being repeatedly left out of liberal white feminist conversations.
I view climate as a remarkable component of intersectionality – one that needs a bigger spotlight, as it majorly impacts the wellbeing and overall justice for non-white, non-male bodies and lives.
These groups face multiple layers of threats due to uneven distribution of resources, education and learning opportunities.
It’s imperative that questions of climate justice and action switch focus from corporate echo-chambers and institutional myopia, to targeted decision-making processes built on the lived experiences of marginalised communities and historical struggles.
As an advocate for a stronger climate justice intersectionality framework, I believe the gaze, background and perspective of climate activists is crucial for climate justice.
While we demand policies based on lived experiences of marginalised people, it’s vital for these vulnerable communities to be at the forefront of climate action, making these demands.
Mend Earth, a social impact event, arose from discussions around these principles. The event was supported by Babbasa, a charity in St Paul’s that works to identify the barriers young people from ethnic minority and low-income communities face, and provide pathways to overcome them.
Activities at Mend Earth sought to make climate issues accessible and relatable, and to share simple actions young people can take to make a different – photo: Shamphat Pro
Mend Earth sought to emphasise that climate is one of the outstanding barriers that marginalised young people face. The event, which took place on May 9 at Hamilton House, was designed for 16-30 year olds from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds in Bristol.
It took climate action to the grassroots in order to demystify climate facts and increase knowledge of green sector employment.
It was created by this year’s cohort of the Challenge Programme, of which I’m a part. The programme is Babbasa’s leadership training scheme to help young people build awareness of issues that affect their communities whilst growing employability skills.
Our cohort comes from varied backgrounds and experiences, but we are united around making climate action more intersectional and accessible for young, marginalised people.
My lived experience as a young, South Asian non-male has guided my contribution to this programme, by always upholding a decolonial, anti-corporate perspective to climate actions – primarily because agrarian countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, particularly women farmers, are severely affected by the actions of the ‘Global North’.
The event saw a fantastic turn out of young people, panel speakers, green employers and other environment sector professionals.
We had engaging talks on community-led climate action, interactive workshops on reducing food waste, sustainable fashion through clothes mending and using hip hop and permaculture to explore environmentalism. And all this topped with delicious Sudanese food!
I’m overjoyed and proud to be a player in this event which demonstrates the resilience of communities and identities who are often left out of climate conversations but remain at the forefront of its impacts.
This is an opinion piece by Medha, a member of Babbasa’s Challenge Programme cohort who has been working on the Mend Earth programme to make climate issues relevant and accessible to young people from Bristol’s marginalised communities. Medha is a writer and media professional who is passionate about post-colonial and anti-establishment scholarship and practice in social justice movements.
Main photo provided by Medha
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