The Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger Cannot be Achieved without Addressing Colonialism, Racism, and Climate Change

Abstract

This article explores the historic and contemporary connections between colonialism, racism, and climate change and their effects on hunger and malnutrition. The inquiry is oriented around two case studies. First, how following independence in 1804 Haiti was forced to pay French slaveholders today’s equivalent of 21 billion USD to secure their national sovereignty. Second, how due to climate change driven floods in 2022, Pakistan incurred an estimated 40 billion USD in damages while contributing just 0.3% of global carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial era. Ultimately, the industrial rise of rich nations depended on the invention of race and extraction from the Global South during the colonial era. In turn, the Industrial Revolution launched climate change and contributed to the creation of today’s climate crisis. The ongoing effects of colonialism, racism, and climate change will need to be addressed if the world is to decrease malnutrition and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger.