Ashish Ghadiali is a writer, film maker, activist; he is co-chair of the Black Atlantic Innovation Network and visiting fellow of the Global Systems Institute (GSI).
On Thursday April 7th 2022, Ashish kindly offered up two hours of his time to present on The Climate Justice Paradigm, an eye-opening seminar on the failings of the existing dominant climate justice paradigm and the need (now more than ever) for a newly emerging paradigm. The seminar was chaired by Katie Natanel from the Exeter Decolonising Network (EDN), who introduced Ashish with a great amount of praise.
Ashish simultaneously takes us on a global and philosophical journey which challenges pre-conceived notions of the climate crisis and argues for a different perspective that truly puts climate first and everything else second. As he explains in a final point, if we don’t tackle the issues of climate change now, we will watch all other systems break down because they are so interconnected.
A paradigm shift, says Ashish, began in 2019 with the sudden rise in young activists becoming involved in climate justice protests and strikes. Young people brought a new voice and a fresh perspective onto the scene, one that popularises James Lovelock’s idea of thinking of the earth as a unique ecosystem – a moving, living, whole organism. Ashish’s first bout of optimism comes here, as he explains how we are in an exciting (not a despairing) moment in time where humans are becoming conscious of the earth in this way, which allows us to now work towards finding solutions.
Focus then moves to climate justice; to the social and cultural inequalities/conflicts that are inextricably linked to climate issues. Ashish shows us two maps of the world, one of social conflict, the other of climate vulnerability – they are almost identical. The new climate justice paradigm Ashish advocates shows us that where we see climate change, we see the ongoing impacts of colonial empires. Carbon, for example, has its own history; economic infrastructures have been created from its emissions and those who benefitted the most (e.g. British and European empires) were least affected by its impacts, while those who benefitted the least were the most affected. This trend is equally transparent today as Ashish relates that when wealthier countries negotiated the carbon emissions target in Copenhagen in 2009, the lives and deaths of millions of island residents were in their hands. Ashish posits that we may be heading towards even greater inequalities as climate inaction – what some are calling “delayism” – continues. Even though the immense damage caused by fossil fuel mining may now be waning, the exploitation of environments in search for minerals for renewable energy sources, and the impacts on local populations, is only just beginning.
Ashish inevitably speaks of the failings of the 2015 Paris Agreement and reiterates the point made by innumerable scientists, environmentalists, climate activists etc. that we are in a “now or never” moment. This, he argues, is our last chance to lower global warming levels to 1.5c (currently we are on track to hit 2.7c), or there will be a climate catastrophe whereby vast swathes of the world will be uninhabitable. Here Ashish seems to be at risk of sounding like a broken record, however, he manages to maintain an ultimately positive outlook, as he relates to us that more and more, the question being asked is whether a language of optimism (as opposed to catastrophe) ought to be implemented when approaching climate issues and climate justice.
This optimism feeds into the new climate justice paradigm, which Ashish tells us starts with thinking differently about the question of vulnerability. Currently, it’s typical of both individuals and collectives to see vulnerability solely as a security risk, though this puts us on a footing where inequalities are only exacerbated. Climate justice has emerged as a paradigm to challenge and oppose this dominant framework within which we operate. The example Ashish uses to demonstrate a different perspective on vulnerability is the recent “vaccine apartheid” seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby more vulnerable countries (e.g. Cuba, Senegal, Vietnam) actually found themselves in a stronger position than wealthier countries (e.g. US, UK). The new climate justice paradigm seeks to address vulnerability both in wealthier and poorer countries and understand what it means to do this.
Ashish hopes that the research that is coming out of this paradigm shift will lead to conversations around understanding the cost-benefit of massive early climate investments, which will help to establish a common-sense basis for such investment. Interestingly, when posed the question of (greatly paraphrased) ‘Is capitalism the problem?’, Ashish’s answer was neither yes nor no – instead, he advocated a strategy of cooperation and collaboration. His response is emblematic of the climate justice paradigm, as well as of himself.
There will be several more opportunities to catch Ashish Ghadiali this year, including three upcoming webinars as part of the GSI’s Equilibrium series (see here). You can also follow him on Twitter @ashishghadiali, where he regularly posts.