IT’S COLONIAL MENTALITY NOT CLIMATE JUSTICE!

Indian historian Vijay Prasad has some interesting comments regarding climate change from 2021 that are worth paying attention to. He argues that while Western countries consume most of the world’s energy, they lecture others on the need to reduce theirs, which simply comes across as a form of modern-day colonialism.

To back up his point, he quotes this statistic. The USA makes up five per cent of the world’s population and consumes 25 per cent of the world’s resources. Compare that to Africa, which has 18 per cent of the world’s population but accounts for only four four per cent of world’s energy consumption, according to the International Energy Agency.

Mr Prashad was speaking at the Climate Justice Coalition People’s Summit in the UK. And his fiery outburst on Western double standards earned him a round of applause.

The thing is, despite Africa’s low energy consumption, it remains in the sights of global Climate Change policy. The UN’s Development Programme website admits the continent ‘accounts for the smallest share of greenhouse gases’ emitted globally. However, it warns Africa’s rapidly growing population means it should make sure its ‘development trajectory’ aligns with a ‘just energy transition’.

Alternatively, to quote Mr Prashad, ‘You want to lecture us, you want to tell us that we are responsible for all the problems, because you never accept that you’re the one, principally, to blame.’

Is that how you see it too?