Carbon colonialism: how rich countries export climate breakdown - Dr Laurie Parsons

As governments and corporations race toward net zero, a darker reality is emerging behind the language of sustainability. In this provocative talk, Laurie Parsons argues that the green transition is reproducing many of the same inequalities and exploitative relationships that defined colonial rule.

From cobalt mines and carbon offsets to 'clean' supply chains and land grabs in the Global South, the costs of decarbonisation are increasingly being pushed onto the world’s poorest communities.

Drawing on research gathered for his award winning book Carbon Colonialism, Parsons challenges the comforting assumption that climate action is automatically just. Who benefits from the green economy? Who bears its human and environmental costs? And can a transition driven by endless consumption and corporate power ever deliver genuine climate justice?

This is a sharp, urgent and challenging rethink of the politics and distribution of climate change.

About the speaker

Dr Laurie Parsons is Reader in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, Chair of the Royal Geographical Society Climate Research Group and winner of the American Association of Publishers Prose Award for Economics Book of the year 2024.

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This event has been organised by the South East regional committee.

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