School of Global Studies Blog

writes Media Practice for Development and Social Change student Cheyanne Bryan

*The views in the following article are the personal views of the author and are not an official position of the School.*

[Contains subtle spoilers for Netflix’s ‘Don’t Look Up’]

Netflix’s recent star-studded film, Don’t Look Up, gives a not-so-subtle message about the urgency of the current climate crisis, however, many of these themes can relate to ongoing pandemic debates. Emerging shortly after the worldwide success of Squid Game, the popular streaming platform’s most recent addition is filled with political and social critical commentary that is not missed by viewers.

It has been confirmed by the film’s director, Adam McKay, that Don’t Look Up serves as a visual metaphor for the impending climate emergency, using a comet as a stand-in. Throughout the film, two scientists try to convince the government and citizens to act or else the world will experience an extinction-level catastrophic event.

As COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, has passed and emphasised the fragile state of the planet, a timeline has been set to show the urgency of the current state of the world. According to Climate Clock and many climate experts, we have less than seven years to reduce emissions close to net-zero before the world is tipped to a state of no return, resulting in accelerated animal extinctions, permanently damaged ecosystems and extreme weather. This not only highlights the emergency of the receding global state, but it shows that the issue will undeniably affect many people in thought their lifetimes.

Whilst the nuances and relation to the fight for environmental development in the film parallels our own, many of the issues and arguments raised share a resemblance to attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic as well.

THE GOVERNMENT AND LARGE COMPANIES ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF CHANGE

As COP26 and many climate change centred events have highlighted, large companies and global governments are at the forefront of driving the change. Being the biggest contributors or the ones with the most power, impactful change starts with them making improvements to their regulations and policies.

In recent years, green policies of consumerist companies have been critically examined to identify what improvements can be made to lessen the crimpling impact on the planet. Examples of this, include the UK government introducing the 5p levy for single-use plastic bags from 2015 and many fashion retailers offering money off for donating clothing or textiles back to them.

Don’t Look Up features a profit-driven tech CEO who uses data to predict that the comet, which is hurtling towards Earth, will contain valuable elements which can be used to boost his wealth if he can harvest it. Through his connections and status, he convinces the fictional US government to not act as he will share some of the profits with their elite.

In connection to the COVID-19 pandemic, recent news has shown Downing Street in breach of COVID-19 rules and regulations during the height of the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic period, ordinary citizens have been fined for not following guidelines, however, the same actions have not been implemented for those in positions of power.

DENIAL PUTS VULNERABLE PEOPLE AT RISK

When the scientists present their discovery to the US government, a timeline of six months is stated. Yet, the closer that deadline approaches, the more disastrous the effects will be, but they have enough time to try altering the comet’s trajectory and save all life on Earth from extinction.

However, this was not achieved and as the film draws to an end and the imminent collision is about to happen, a cycle of people all around the world can be seen. From people in rural African villages to those in western cities, the effect of the collision is displayed on screen for viewers to watch as the world ceases to exist.

Being two years since the coronavirus pandemic has become known to the public, many people still refuse to wear face coverings or adhere to guidelines set out with the advice from medical experts. Whilst it is known that coronavirus can be transmitted from person to person without present symptoms, people refusing to take the necessary precautions to reduce the infection rate contribute to the spike in cases. In turn, this launches a train reaction which usually only causes harm to vulnerable people. In this case, those who cannot wear a mask due to medical or physical disabilities.

The UK has surpassed 150 000 in coronavirus-related deaths since late 2019, and this number will continue to grow.

The same can be said about the environment, everyone can do a little to collectively make a big impact. Whilst the impact may not be seen by everyone, especially comfortable city dwellers, those working closely with the environment or indigenous groups that are heavily reliant on the natural world for food and shelter, are the ones that will be the most in contact with the depleting environmental state.

Whist the overt portrayal of the film’s message has angered film snobs, it vividly conveys two of the strongest similarities surrounding both the coronavirus pandemic and the climate emergency. By emphasising how large companies and governments play the biggest role in offsetting change and how vulnerable people are put at the most risk when others deny scientific facts and evidence, audiences are to distinctly see the sameness between the fictional world and our current one.

Writes Postgraduate International Development student Jenifer Colpas Fernández

*The views in the following article are the personal views of the author and are not an official position of the School.*

International Development student and Tierra Grata CEO Jenifer Colpas Fernández was selected as CNN Hero this year, in recognition of her remarkable work in Colombia, which has helped provide access to clean energy, water and safe sanitation to rural communities through decentralized, affordable and non-polluting solutions.

Taking a shower at night and often with clothes, or practicing open defecation because you are afraid that someone will approach you, is a feeling that thousands of rural women experience due to the lack of access to safe bathrooms in Colombia and beyond.

Being aware of this situation, which occurs daily in the most remote rural communities of my country, Colombia, made me take the decision (6 years ago) to dedicate my life to developing and implementing solutions to improve people’s sense of dignity and well-being, while providing them with opportunities through access to basic services of clean energy and safe water and sanitation.

To date, we have reached more than 12 thousand users, with the implementation of more than 1,300 solutions, in more than 40 rural communities. Furthermore, we have gained the recognition of international organisations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UN Environment, and more recently CNN Heroes.

Our mission is to provide people with essential products and services, and we will continue working until each person who lives in rural communities wakes up every day to live and fulfil their dreams, not to just manage to survive.

CNN Heroes is a contest during which CNN selects people from around the world that are doing great things. The winner of the contest will be the hero with the majority of votes so Jenifer needs our support. Voting ends on the 7th of December. You get 10 votes, every day, to help your favourite heroes. Vote today, come back tomorrow for 10 more votes. Vote again every day until December 7th.

Writes International Development student Hannah Gardner 

*The views in the following article are the personal views of the author and are not an official position of the School.*

I absolutely love Christmas! But hate the waste it brings. Want to enjoy Christmas without the waste? Read on…  

Appeasing the societal pressure

With so many years of commercialism heaving down on the holiday, it’s easy to feel the pressure to buy gifts for your loved (or less loved) ones. Not that gift-giving is inherently wrong, it’s just that when we’re not sure what to get someone, (and I’m speaking for myself here) we can often buy them something just for the sake of it, to appease the societal pressure.

Something my sister does is *not* giving Christmas gifts if she can’t think of anything meaningful to get for someone. Instead, she gives gifts randomly, when she sees something a certain person would like or need. This makes gifts much more special, loudly conveying a depth of thought.

However, I know this may not be the most conventional approach, and many of us will still feel the pressure to follow the norm. One way to avoid buying arbitrary gifts, is to turn to charity gift cards, such as those offered by Oxfam. Oxfam sell various gift cards, from “Food for a Family” for £10, to a larger gift like “Safe Water for a Community” for £50. Check out their ethical gift guide. Another way of thoughtful gift-giving, is to make waste-free Christmas treats, like gingerbread. Baking for friends, family and colleagues saves you from the trap of capitalism, and keeps the money in your wallet!  

The wrapping paper trap

When we do have gifts to give, the next trap we often fall into is the issue of wrapping paper. While a fun way to present your gift, wrapping paper usually ends up in landfill.

Although, again, we might feel some sort of societal pressure to present gifts in a certain way, wrapping paper isn’t an imperative part of gift giving - you can give naked gifts! 

Alternatively, some ways I’ve wrapped gifts in the past included using the patterned loo-roll paper from Who Gives A Crap. And lastly, there’s never really a need for sticky-tape, use twine or ribbon. My sister wraps gifts in scarfs sometimes; that’s a win-win as you get to keep the scarf too!  

Hopefully these tips have been helpful, but if nothing else, one way to keep it greener this Christmas is to ask yourself if there’s a more sustainable way to approach the situation in every decision you face. Little changes make all the difference – be proud of yourself for even the smallest of switches!  

writes Politics and International Relations student Alette Moller

*The views in the following article are the personal views of the author and are not an official position of the School.*

For some of us, Brexit is a word of the present which reminds us of an attitude of the past. An isolation which is suffocating in a multicultural world. For others, Brexit is a step into a greater sense of self and security. However you view it, Britain’s position on the international stage has shifted, and the government is looking to strengthen political ties outside of Europe.

A new era

It is now over five years since Britain voted to leave the EU, with Brexit being described by some as the ‘damp smell’ that Britain can endure but not ignore. Widely, moreover, Britain’s international reputation is regarded as being ‘in tatters’. A proud Briton, for example, should never ask Putin’s close ally Alexander Lukashenko what he thinks of this nation. His description of Britain as an ‘American lapdog’ is slightly less than flattering. According to Lukashenko, he hasn’t heard of the UK ‘for a thousand years’. However, it is important to look closely at what power Britain can muster away from the EU, and how effectively it can wield this.

Boris Johnson has been seeking economic and political ties outside of Europe, with the view of heightening Britain’s influence. More specifically, the Government aims to have trade agreements in place with countries accounting for 80% of Britain’s trade by 2023. From 2019 to 2021, trade agreements with over 60 countries outside the EU have been signed, and the UK’s request to join the CPTPP has been met with favour. The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between countries around the Pacific Rim. Yet, is this is all a bandage, perhaps, over the large crater that is the British economy’s predicted loss of $56 billion a year outside the EU, according to the European Commission?

Isolation: not an option

It is clear that a future outside of Europe comes with disadvantages, and it is hard not to take a negative stance on a post Brexit future. Regional power groups have become a way for nations to build significance and influence globally. Therefore, being that no country can reasonably stand in isolation, not only has the UK requested to join the CPTPP, but there is also momentum in London to strengthen the CANZUK Union, being the UK’s economic integration with Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, the irony is such that Britain has left one regional power bloc in which it had influence, to join others within which it may have none. For example, in a deal agreed between the UK and Australia, the latter will likely receive an exports boost ‘six times greater’ than the UK.

No special relationship to fall back on

Another relationship that is important to examine is Britain’s relationship with America. Post Brexit, Britain looked cautiously over at the US, and pondered whether the special relationship might materialise. What has been clear for some time, however, is that the US, as a powerful democratic state, does not need Britain’s permission to act. As journalist Andrew Rawnsley highlighted in the Guardian, Britain chose to ‘estrange itself from the liberal democracies in its neighbourhood’, at the same time that US dependability was acutely waning. Notably, America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan reveals a ‘not so special relationship’ with Britain, as Biden paid no heed to what the UK thought. The cautious eye of Britain has not been satisfied, and an ‘all-weather friend’ is notably absent. Britain’s global interests appear to be at stake.

Covid, containers and complications

Not only does Britain face the reality of being subjected to power plays outside Europe, but must consider the reality of trading with nations further away. Brexit means a stronger reliance on container shipping for the UK, as it trades with nations outside of Europe.

Covid-19 revealed a structural vulnerability in global trade, and container shortages are a resulting symptom. Unfortunately, these container shortages and price hikes have coincided with a time when Britain needs to foster trade with countries further afield.

What next?

Political and economic ties in which Britain is the weaker partner may seem to be the future of UK politics. Despite this, Britain has the fourth highest number of unicorns in the world, being a new company which reaches the valuation of $1 billion or more. Britain also has some soft power, with about one in four countries worldwide possessing a head of state who has studied in the UK. There is the looming threat of such soft power fading, of course. Naturally, the illusion of taking back control and power through Brexit is proving to be futile in an interconnected world. Overall, therefore, when we look at Britain’s international relations post Brexit, we see the post-imperial nation continue on its decline, yet perhaps with more rapidity than was hoped.

writes International Relations lecturer Dr Andrea Brock

*The views in the following article are the personal views of the author and are not an official position of the School.*

A small earth wall separates the tiny village of Lützerath from the enormous diggers operating in Garzweiler II, one of three opencast lignite coal mines operated by energy company RWE in the German Rhineland. 

The mine is 235 metres away, and coming closer every day. A number of houses in Lützerath have already been torn down, the area covered with gravel, grass, and some wildflowers. It’s hard to imagine that people lived here just a couple of years ago. Other houses are fenced off, with RWE security in front, twenty-four hours a day. Most people have resettled and have moved away.

Challenging eviction

But one farmer is holding out. Eckhard Heukamp is challenging the imminent eviction from his farm in the courts, arguing that the coal mining plans from the 90s should no longer allow for continued extraction in the light of climate change and coal phaseout. He was already displaced once, 15 years ago –when his farm in Borschemich was demolished, the land long dug up. Now he is fighting for his parents’ house and farm, which dates back to the 18^th century.

He is not alone – citizens initiatives and groups are organising regular demonstrations, events, and a permanent vigil at the edge of the village facing the mine. Activists have set up a permanent occupation on Heukamp’s land – the ZAD Rhineland. The term ZAD comes from the French Zone à défendre – a militant occupation to stop big development projects. The most well-known ZAD is probably the ZAD de Notre-Dame-des-Landes that stopped a new airport being built near Landes, France, and famously resisted militarised eviction by the French state.

The ZAD Rhineland was set up to defend Lützerath against RWE and the police, and to stop coal extraction in the Rhineland. People are ready to put their bodies in the way in what might be the final showdown, the decisive battle. “If Lützerath stays, they won’t be able to get to the next five villages”, someone tells me. “But it will be hard”. 

We spend all day building defence structures. Treehouses, barricades, lock-ons, and towers are popping up everywhere. People are giving climbing workshops and sharing blockading skills, discussing police repression and state violence, building up solidarity structures and a new kitchen, plotting and planning for day X – when RWE comes to cut trees or police show up to evict the camp. 

Police violence and repression

The last big eviction in the Rhineland – the eviction of Hambacher Forst, which was recently declared illegal – ended up lasting five weeks before it was stopped by the courts. Thousands of police officers were brought in, but many more people came to defend the forest. Police were heavily criticised for the brutality with which they treated activists and the little regard they showed for their safety. One journalist died during the police operation, many ended up in precarious and unsafe situations. 

This is happening all over Germany – only last year, during the eviction of the Dannenröder forest in central Germany, a protester was seriously injured when he fell four meters from a tripod after police officers cut the safety rope which held the tripod in place. The occupation was set up to stop another ecologically destructive infrastructure project – the new A49 motorway. Another protester, Ella, was sentenced to over 2 years in prison for allegedly injuring a police officer during the eviction – despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The collaboration between police and private security services in the Rhinish coal mining area has been well documented; repression, criminalisation, and violence go hand in hand. Few companies are as powerful as RWE. It’s structurally entrenched in the local political economy, and protected by German police forces who frequently act as private security. Many villages and towns are themselves RWE shareholders, and numerous politicians are on RWE’s payroll. In 1979, the German news magazine Spiegel warned:

Unrivalled and barely manageable, RWE is ruling over one of the largest monopolies of the Western world. 

Today, Europe’s largest emitter continues to lobby for continued lignite coal mining – the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. If successful – the German government’s coal phase-out is set for 2038, much too late. Meanwhile, RWE is suing the Netherlands for 1.4 billion Euro compensation for phasing out coal by 2030. 

It’s up to all of us to stop climate catastrophe

It might well be that this time, too, the courts will rule that the eviction of Luetzerath was illegal. But by then, the trees will have been cut, the land dug up, the village destroyed.

It’s windy at the edge of the mine where I’m sitting. I’m told this has been the case ever since RWE cut down the trees that once protected the village. And yet, the windmills next to the mine are not moving – the powergrid is overloaded – there’s too much wind, and coal power stations take too long to switch on and off. 

The digger keeps moving towards us, ruthlessly. The power stations in the background keep burning coal, generating electricity for a system that requires abundant cheap energy to power endless growth, to generate profit for those in power at enormous ecological and social costs. 

Another world is possible

The ZAD Rhineland shows that a different system is possible – a system that operates on the basis of solidarity, not competition; of degrowth, not growth; on climate justice, not green capitalism or ecological modernisation. True sustainability needs not just an end of coal, but the abolishing of those who protect coal interests – police, security, prisons – and of the economic and political system they are part of.

Joining the ZAD Rhineland is a good place to start this fight. From 29 October, the ZAD invites all of us to come to the anti-eviction skill share and protest camp, and to stop RWE. Whether you want to sit in a treehouse, build barricades, or cut veggies – please join, if you can. Every body counts.