Genocide is a human rights and climate justice issue

Countless environmental organisations and movements worldwide have publicly declared their support for Palestinians and called for an end to the genocide in Gaza. Well known activists and movements have been staging regular and high profile demonstrations and protests at the global negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

Of course, Gaza is now much more vulnerable to climate change than before Israel’s bombardment damaged the vast majority of its farmland, energy and water infrastructure, and displaced more than 85% of the population. That much is obvious. But for many within the climate movement, struggles for Palestinian liberation and climate justice have become inextricably intertwined. 

Both causes are gaining momentum and widespread international support, and both are facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles and entrenched interests as advocates fight against the clock. But there is more behind this entwinedness than just a sense of comradery between two movements fighting big interests.

Shared roots of common struggles

Today, the climate justice movement calls not only for action to mitigate emissions but also for fundamental shifts in socio-economic systems and geopolitical divides that perpetuate the crisis, addressing issues of social equality, distributive justice and control of natural resources. The devastation in Palestine, the military backing of Israel by the US and other wealthy allies despite condemnation by the UN, the inaction of other developed nations to intervene — these are all hallmarks of a global system in which the powerful act in their minority interests with impunity.  

Climate activists know this too well. Developing countries are collectively home to more than 85% of the world’s population, but responsible for a significantly smaller share of historical emissions. Meanwhile the United States, United Kingdom and European Union have less than 11% of the world’s population and account for 39% of cumulative historical emissions and current CO2-related warming. 

In 2022, research showed that just 1% of the world’s population was responsible for almost a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions growth from 1990 to 2019. The top 0.01% saw their emissions grow by 80% in the same period that global experts, activists and the United Nations called for dramatic cuts to safeguard the most vulnerable of humanity. The same geopolitical order that allows Israel to act with impunity, allows a small, wealthy minority to continue to drive us into a global climate crisis. 

Armed conflict is a climate issue

Armed conflicts, wherever they occur, cost lives and destroy communities and even whole cultures. But they also have two very tangible effects on the climate crisis: they cost money and emit huge emissions — both of which are in extremely short supply as we struggle to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. 

A conservative estimate of emissions from the first two months of Israel’s war on Gaza exceeded the individual annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations. The majority, 99.9% of the estimated 281,315 tonnes of CO2, is attributed to Israeli tanks, artillery, bombs, aircraft missions and US supply flights. An additional 0.0025% are estimated to come from Hamas rockets. 

To quote David Boyd, the UN special rapporteur for human rights and the environment, who told The Guardian: “Armed conflict pushes humanity even closer to the precipice of climate catastrophe, and is an idiotic way to spend our shrinking carbon budget.”

Global military spending still massively outweighs climate finance — in 2023 military spending reached an unprecedented $2.4 trillion, with no signs of slowing down in the coming years. Climate finance reached a paltry $115 billion in 2022. Estimates show wealthy nations can spend up to 30 times more on military spending than they do on climate finance for vulnerable nations. 

To put those figures into perspective, in 2024 developing countries and multiple independent experts estimated that roughly $1.3 trillion a year would be needed to adequately address the climate crisis. That means we could solve the climate crisis and still have $1 trillion left in change annually if we simply diverted military spending to climate action.

Ending the genocide in Gaza is a human rights imperative first and foremost. But it is also in the interests of all humankind if we are to avoid some of the worst climate impacts. 

Solidarity through a freedom swim

On 27 April, South Africa will celebrate 31 years of democracy, a journey in which we managed to avoid a much greater conflict and loss of life than many anticipated. And we must remember that achievement did not come without the solidarity of peace, justice and freedom-loving friends and activists around the world. 

As a symbol of solidarity and support, under the auspices of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a group of swimmers will be hosting a charity relay swim from Robben Island on Freedom Day. Three teams, of four swimmers each, will set off from Robben Island, bracing the icy waters of Table Bay, to swim from the island to Bloubergstrand, while a fourth team will swim from the beach to meet them.

 All donations will go to Gift of the Givers for the food, water and medical assistance they provide in Palestine. Our goal is to raise R500,000, a small sum in the shadow of global armaments. But every meal provided or hospital repaired keeps hope alive for a better future for Palestinians and an end to the bombardments overhead. 

Charlotte Scott is global learning and engagement manager at SouthSouthNorth. She has 11 years of experience working on climate and development, including climate finance and civil society engagement with climate negotiations. She is a PhD candidate and Canon Collins Sol Plaatje scholar, researching the role of civil society in knowledge and policy influencing. She writes in her personal capacity.