In the debate on possible strategies for dealing with the climate crisis, technical solutions and nation-state, local or individual options for action are the most prominent. Results of the coal commission, car-free inner cities, vegan food, … “We are all in the same boat (in the face of the climate crisis)” is a phrase that is often heard. It is simply wrong. Both in terms of the cause of the climate crisis and the impact of the climate crisis, people are positioned differently depending on their geographical and social location. That means there is a social and geographical difference between the positions that contribute most to the emissions and the climate crisis and the positions that are most affected by the consequences of the climate crisis and the causing overexploitation of nature. Historically, the Global North1, especially white and privileged people and the capitalist structures in which we live, has been a major contributor to fuel the climate crisis. Also in dealing with the consequences of the climate crisis, people have to deal with different impacts and resources.

The quotation at the beginning of this text points out the connection between the global spread of capitalism and racism. The distribution of material resources and associated privileges (access to food, clean water, secure housing, political decision-making processes) in the globalized society has a colonial history. The countries of the Global North forcibly gained access to the resources of the Global South. The ideological basis for this exploitation was the emergence of modern racism, which systematically devalued non-white people. The exploitation continues to this day and the enormous extent of this destruction is a direct cause of the climate catastrophe. A climate fair world is therefore not achievable without an anti-racist approach, which takes into account the colonial and capitalist basis of the climate crisis, as well as different degrees of concern and vulnerability caused by the climate crisis.

We believe that the scientific debate is not sufficient and therefore want to make content from our university learning process accessible to more people. Our goal is to draw attention to racist aspects and colonial continuities in the climate crisis and the discourse about it by providing various sources for this purpose.

Based on the information, there is a need for a political practice that takes into account the perspectives of BIPoC, who are already affected by the climate crisis and fighting against it, and who thinks and supports these struggles. Therefore we want to bundle on this page the BIPoC criticism of the white climate movement and take up their demands. For example, the climate (justice) movement in Germany is largely presented and perceived as a white and European movement. Especially people in the Global South are already feeling the consequences of the climate crisis. In addition, indigenous groups have been campaigning for years against the capitalist overexploitation of nature, which fuels the climate crisis and threatens their own sovereignty and livelihood.