This article is part of ourEconomy's 'Decolonising the economy' series.
The past year has seen an unprecedented upsurge in both popular and political will for action on climate. This Friday, mass mobilisations will take place around the world to mark the Global Climate Strike. On Monday, the Climate Action Summit, convened by the UN’s General Secretary, will begin in New York City. The UN Secretary General has made ending coal extraction one of the goals of his summit to warm applause by sections of civil society.
But it is no secret that policy and action thus far has been wholly inadequate, emissions continue to rise and no amount of ‘warm words’ changes the reality that the world is heading to a catastrophic warming of anywhere between 3c and 7c. This degree of breakdown in the climate spells displacement and loss of life for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people, most of whom already suffer the brunt of inequality in the Global South.
