Written by Dr Celia Petty, Deputy Director, Strategic Lead Livelihoods, The Pearl
Next Friday, 27th February sees the launch of a free online resource ‘Climate Science and Colonialism’, the product of a two year project of the ‘My Climate Risk’ (MCR) Education Working Group, the Himalayan MCR hub and The Pearl MCR hub. ‘My Climate Risk’ is a Lighthouse activity of the WMO’s World Climate Research Programme that is developing a new framework for assessing and explaining regional climate risk – the risks facing people, their livelihoods and their ways of life – making use of all available sources of climate information to provide analysis that meaningful at the local scale.
The Climate Science and Colonialism project has its origins in a ‘My Climate Risk’ 2023 webinar series, ‘Climate Science and Colonialism: Can we do better?’ The speakers, from their various disciplinary backgrounds that spanned social, political and physical sciences, addressed a series of fundamental questions: ‘What are the origins of climate science as we understand it today?’ ; ‘ Why were some questions prioritised whilst others were not explored?’ ; ‘ Whose knowledge was privileged and whose was ignored? ‘; ‘What is the legacy of ways of explaining the world that emerged during the colonial period?’ Most significantly for the present time, how do assumptions and hierarchies originating in this period affect policies and projects that are designed to support climate adaptation, often with unintended negative consequences?
Taking five of the webinars as a starting point, our multi-disciplinary team from across MCR hubs has curated video segments and created critical thinking prompts for educators and students, along with further readings and activities. The resources can be used to create links with existing curricula or as stand-alone modules. They can be used across disciplines, and in both formal and informal settings.
The project has brought together colleagues from disciplines ranging from physics to anthropology and history, but who share the common objective of supporting climate resilience and adaptation, focusing on people in the places, cultures and environments they inhabit. The premise of the project is that education should be a crucial ally of climate adaptation and mitigation but is not, partly due to the impact of colonialism. In the words of its coordinator, Vandana Singh, we need to ‘re-vision climate education’ to better equip the rising generation of students and research leaders to address the existential threat that is ‘Our Climate Risk’.