“Climate crisis is a racial justice issue.” – Malene Alleyne

The hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for a rights-based approach to extraction and climate change.  At the hearing, Malene  Alleyne, a human rights attorney, expressed concern about the expansion of oil exploration and extraction in the Caribbean, stating that fossil fuels, quote, are fueling the climate crisis, which threatens the survival of Caribbean islands, unquote.  These calls are issued in the middle of COP26, where oil and gas are among key topics.

Malene Alleyne

Malene Alleyne, Founder, Freedom Imaginaries

“First of all, I think COP is just reinforcing what I have always known which is that the climate crisis is a racial justice issue, not only because it disproportionately impacts racialized communities but because as COP is so clearly demonstrating, the discussion on climate crisis excludes the people who are disproportionately impacted, being racialized communities.  So if you look at some of the commentary coming out of COP right now, the very strong message I am getting is that, you know, black and brown people are not being included in a meaningful way or they’re being excluded in a disproportionate way and also even, you know, delegates from the Caribbean were complaining that they had access issues because of funding or because of actually getting to participate in COP.  So this is in many respects a racial justice issue.”