Global authorities promote COP-30, G20, Paris Agreement, UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and uncountable discussions about climate change and the contention of its impacts, but, hardly ever, the world talks specifically about who is mainly affected by this scenario: humanity.
Just in Brazil, the demographic census of 2022 disclosed that today, less than half of the residents of the North region have sanitary sewage at the door of their homes, a rate even lower than the Brazilian average 20 years ago.
The study also shows that marginalized populations suffer more when it comes to climate change. And this difference between the conditions to deal with this reality is what we call environmental racism.
ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM
- Lack of resources: marginalized populations have less access to resources, such as sanitation, quality water, houses far from risky locations and money to adapt to climate changes.
- Access to care: people in marginalized communities have limited access to health care, social services, and safe food due to the distance of downtown and visibility.
- Forced displacement: as these groups are always in the imminence of suffering with the impacts of climate change, they are often forced to leave their homes.
A VERY NEAR REALITY
In interview for Her Campus at Cásper Líbero, Eduardo Nunomura – journalist, teacher at Faculdade Cásper Líbero in São Paulo and editor of Amazônia Real – says that environmental racism is still a little spoken topic, since it involves two social taboos: racism and environmental problems. And even though it seems to be very distant from some realities, it can be seen very easily by almost everyone.
In 2024, Brazil suffered from two massive phenomena related to climate changes — intense rainfalls in Rio Grande do Sul and two intense sequential droughts in the Amazonian region. However, just the former won the page of news, while the latter wasn’t mentioned in the same scale. And why did this happen? Nunomura argues it’s because of segregation and prejudice.
“Their homes were swept away by climate change, by floods, the one in Rio Grande do Sul, which we saw and which the whole world witnessed. A few months before, less than a year, we would have two droughts in a row in the Amazon region. Why is this environmental racism?”, Nunomura asks.
“Because this news was not featured on Fantástico, Jornal Nacional, Record, etc. [main news channels in Brazil], it was not the topic of the day. It did not receive systematic coverage every day. Why is it that in Rio Grande do Sul we had news, post-news, every day with William Bonner [Jornal Nacional’s anchor] anchoring the national news directly in Porto Alegre? And why didn’t he anchor it in the middle of Manaus?”, he continues.
“Because they are people from the North and people from the North are not as well-known, because it is racism. It is pure racism and it is environmental racism. People don’t realize that.”, Nunomura says.
HOW THE INVISIBILITY INTENSIFIES THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
“Knowledge is power”, wrote Francis Bacon in 1597’s Sacred Meditations. And that is the power journalism has, to show or hide something from the world. When people have access to information, they can do or try to do something about it. On the contrary, nothing can be done.
In this way, invisibilizing the life conditions of these populations let things continue the same way they are now. With that, floods, intense rainfalls, wildfires, constant droughts and landslips will never be mitigated.
WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS TO MITIGATE THIS EFFECTS?
First and foremost, “climate change is a global problem that cannot be solved by one country. We have no way of doing it. However, every country has to do its homework and try to stop global warming”, the journalist reiterates.
In this context, governments need to support and come true the use of renewable fuel and citizens need to remember they don’t need to consume in the way we consume nowadays.
“It is important for us to have the pill of awareness – as in Matrix, with blue and red pills. So that people know that their actions may be affecting you, your children, but especially the poorest people”, he adds. It is also important that the world gives voice to the new generation who talk about it and encourage revolution, for instance, Gretha Thumberg and Autumn Peltier.
And last, but not least, invest in combat of structural questions, such as racism and segregation.
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The article above was edited by Isadora Mangueira.
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