Cutting the Supply of Climate Injustice

Abstract

This article considers the role of activism and politics to restrict the supply of fossil fuels as a key means to prevent further climate injustices. We firstly explore the historical production of climate injustice through extractive economies of colonial control, the accumulation of climate debts, and ongoing patterns of uneven exchange. We develop an account which highlights the relationship between the production, exchange, and consumption of fossil fuels and historical and contemporary inequalities around race, class, and gender which need to be addressed if a meaningful account of climate justice is to take root. We then explore the role of resistance to the expansion of fossil-fuel frontiers and campaigns to leave fossil fuels in the ground with which we are involved. We reflect on their potential role in enabling the power shifts necessary to rebalance energy economies and disrupt incumbent actors as a prerequisite to the achievement of climate justice.

Involucrar a la gente para transiciones justas: Resumen ejecutivo

“…The recent case against Shell is perhaps one of the most telling examples: the Dutch court ordered Shell to achieve a specific emission reduction target along its entire supply chain, effectively suggesting that the company had to cut back production (Mayer and van Asselt 2023). But litigation has long been used as a strategy for addressing justice issues in the Niger Delta (Frynas 1999) and in Kenya (in the Lamu case and against several windfarm and geothermal projects) (Newell and Adow 2022).…”

Landscapes of (In)justice: Reflecting on Voices, Spaces, and Alliances for Just Transition

“…The recent case against Shell is perhaps one of the most telling examples: the Dutch court ordered Shell to achieve a specific emission reduction target along its entire supply chain, effectively suggesting that the company had to cut back production (Mayer and van Asselt 2023). But litigation has long been used as a strategy for addressing justice issues in the Niger Delta (Frynas 1999) and in Kenya (in the Lamu case and against several windfarm and geothermal projects) (Newell and Adow 2022).…”

Where the power lies: Developing a political ecology framework for just energy transition

“…The failure to meaningfully address the climate crisis points to many conceptual blind spots and the need for a wider analytical lens, such as that provided by political ecology. Newell and Adow (2022) argue that when it comes to regulating contemporary fossil fuel emissions, for example, the focus must shift to address supply side approaches, to regulation and to reduce global inequality caused by colonial exploitation and the generally highly racialised nature of extraction. Further, the significance of space, place and power-relations in transition to low-carbon energy systems is emphasized by Huber (2015).…”