[Ecodharma] Green Colonialism (article)

[Kokuu]

Dear all

On the final panel of the Ecology and Buddhism summit, one of the panellists admitted that she had reservations about being the only person of colour in spaces talking about environmental issues, in which differences between the realities of ethnic groups tend to be minimised. This received a mixed reception in the chat, with some people welcoming this observation, and others not so much, calling it an 'agenda'.

A recent UN meeting of Indigenous world leaders expressed similar concerns, that their lands have often been given far less protection when it comes to the exploitation of resources during the era of fossil fuels, and that major economies are looking towards them again to provide the metals that are required for batteries to store renewable energy, and for placement of renewable power sources themselves.

The Great Turning needs to listen to indigenous voices, and the voices of marginalised communities, to avoid the mistakes of the past, and bring everyone into a more sustainable future.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/23/un-indigenous-peoples-forum-climate-strategy-warning

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Naiko]

Thank you for the article, Kokuu.
Gassho,
Naiko
stlah

[Ryumon]

Batteries are an interesting example, because very few countries produce the metals needed for batteries. Two of the main producers are Australia and China. The DRC is the leading producer of cobalt, and South Africa has the most manganese, and most lithium comes from three countries in South America. These are, oddly, very localized deposits; it almost seems like giant meteors of lithium and manganese and cobalt hit the earth at some time in the past in a few locations.

https://www.mining.com/web/ranked-top-25-nations-producing-battery-metals-for-the-ev-supply-chain/

Oil has been exploited much more, and is probably more destructive to the environment, but it's true that the rush toward renewables is creating a great deal of stress around these metals.

And these batteries are not sustainable; we'll run out of the metals in question before we can equip the world. There are new technologies that may change this:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/04/1066141/whats-next-for-batteries/

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

sat

[Hoseki]

Dear all

On the final panel of the Ecology and Buddhism summit, one of the panellists admitted that she had reservations about being the only person of colour in spaces talking about environmental issues, in which differences between the realities of ethnic groups tend to be minimised. This received a mixed reception in the chat, with some people welcoming this observation, and others not so much, calling it an 'agenda'.

A recent UN meeting of Indigenous world leaders expressed similar concerns, that their lands have often been given far less protection when it comes to the exploitation of resources during the era of fossil fuels, and that major economies are looking towards them again to provide the metals that are required for batteries to store renewable energy, and for placement of renewable power sources themselves.

The Great Turning needs to listen to indigenous voices, and the voices of marginalised communities, to avoid the mistakes of the past, and bring everyone into a more sustainable future.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/23/un-indigenous-peoples-forum-climate-strategy-warning

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

Hi Kokuu,

I would think most people would have an agenda like "please don't destroy the place I live." That said, A way to avoid politically poisoned language is just to describe it differently. So instead of asking for the inclusion of ethnic groups we could inclusing of the stakeholders. The people who live in these places that are being disrupted. That can't be done indeffinately because political actors with the backing of big money will try to poision the term and it's difficult to build momentum if we keep changing the termonology but for conversations I think it works pretty well. Basically, it connects the damage being done to the needs of specific people. It helps to be able to put a face to an issue.

We should probably also be prepared for conflict between the different stakeholders and possibily within the communities that comprise the stakeholders. Hard stuff to tease out.

Appologies for the length.

Gassho,
Hoseki
Sattoday

[Tairin]

Thank you for sharing this article Kokuu


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Heiso]

Thanks for sharing, Kokuu. I've been following a few projects here in the UK that are aiming to increase representation from more diverse backgrounds in jobs working with land, especially in farming. It's a shame that attendees of a Buddhism and Ecology summit would think there is an agenda in discussing race or ethnicity but I guess it shows how far the culture war rhetoric has permeated.

Batteries are an interesting example, because very few countries produce the metals needed for batteries. Two of the main producers are Australia and China. The DRC is the leading producer of cobalt, and South Africa has the most manganese, and most lithium comes from three countries in South America. These are, oddly, very localized deposits; it almost seems like giant meteors of lithium and manganese and cobalt hit the earth at some time in the past in a few locations.

https://www.mining.com/web/ranked-top-25-nations-producing-battery-metals-for-the-ev-supply-chain/

Oil has been exploited much more, and is probably more destructive to the environment, but it's true that the rush toward renewables is creating a great deal of stress around these metals.

And these batteries are not sustainable; we'll run out of the metals in question before we can equip the world. There are new technologies that may change this:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/04/1066141/whats-next-for-batteries/

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

sat

Kirk - The financial, environmental, and geopolitical impact of transition to electric vehicles and the 'battery boom' in general is a really interesting area that I've been reading into recently. Funnily enough I was reading that MIT article earlier. It might be worth starting a new technology thread with a focus on the environment somewhere but in the meantime here is another interesting piece by a researcher at Oxford: https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p...rbon-vs-fossil

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah