COP27: How the climate conference could confront colonialism by centering Indigenous rights

[Randy Eady]

The vast majority of the discussions [in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt] at COP27 reproduce colonial patterns of unsustainable economic growth, ecological destruction and Indigenous dispossession that have been responsible for climate destabilization in the first place.

Despite extensive participation of diverse peoples & communities this year, there are fewer critical perspectives at the table.

The consensus seems to be green multicultural capitalism, a carbon neutral & more “inclusive” version of capitalism, will prevent further climate catastrophe.

The genuine process of decarbonization is a profound process of reparation of our relationship with the Earth & our relationship w/& between ourselves. We need to recognize the repeated mistakes we have made & work w/humility towards a new form of coexistence, a new form of relationship w/the planet.

W/o repairing relationships, we will not achieve the necessary co-ordination for local or global decarbonization. This is not an easy or painless process for those attached to the comforts & illusions of modern life.

A different future will not be possible w/o reverence, reciprocity & responsibility towards the Earth. On this issue, Indigenous Peoples have a lot to share.

More on this topic, see:   Serpent's Embrace; Bullet Ant's Hefty Dose | Randy Eady - Academia...

(Spirituality can intertwine religion in strange ways in remote places. Based on notebooks & images detailing some of the only recorded impressions of indigenous people of the Northern Amazon, two explorers (over 40 years apart), engage the same shaman in the Colombian rainforest.

Materialism creeps through the undergrowth of the rainforest like any potently invasive plant species be it rubber, cash for services or a compass. In a scene you see one of the explorers showing an indigenous tribe how to use a compass, later the compass vanishes.

A commotion ensues between the leader of the tribe and an explorer who is upset about this. The latter's point is not about thievery, it's, in fact, that these indigenous tribes use stars to guide themselves through the jungle -- with a compass he thinks they'll lose that ability.

Does the effect of using the tools of technology run the risk of eroding traditional learning? Then how does the social constructs of religion erode indigenous essence?​)