If you didn't know, now you know

Topics: Climate Change, Racial Justice

Age: from 12 years old Group size: any group size Duration: 1-3 hours

Introduction

What is Racial Justice? What is intersectionality? And Decolonization? Explore these questions and reflect on the links between them and climate change! This workshop idea was originally developed in Coquimbo, Chile, by Jorge Gómez (Integridad Absoluta), as part of Resist! The Global Climate Divide.

Step by step instructions:

1. Energizer and/or getting to know each other. (10 mins)

2. Affects game. To approach the climate movement through an intersectional lense, start by playing a game looking at the causes and effects of climate change: -Give everyone a person description individually and have them share this character (examples in annex I) - Ask them to place themselves on a line looking at who would be affected the most by climate change and who would be affected the least and have the participants. - Debrief and ask participants questions such as: - Can you order people? Is it easy or hard? - Is everyone affected by climate change?

- Who in general is affected the most/least? - What are the structures in place that put some people more at risk than others? - Is it possible to have a climate activism that unites all of these people? - How? (50 mins)

3. Definitions. Introduce the terms: racial justice, intersectionality and decolonization (terms contained in the glossary at the beginning of this toolkit), and ask the following questions: - Is it the first time you hear these terms? If so, can you guess what they mean? - Where/When have you heard these words?

4. Interviews. Divide the participants in groups and ask them to go around in the area to ask people in the community if they know these three terms. Invite them to think of a creative way of presenting the outcomes of the interview. (1 hour)

5. Presentation. (30 mins)

6. Debriefing and evaluation. You can debrief the workshop with questions such as: - How was the interviewing process? Was it hard/easy? Did you enjoy it? - What was the reaction of people to these words? Did they know them already? - Why are these words important? - Do you see some of the discussed things in your community? (30 mins)

Online adaptation

The effects game can also be done on a Jam Board drawing a line and discussing it out loud. For the interviews, they can be organised in separate video calls and then presented on the following day.

Annex I: Examples of roles

Tourist Guide. You are a Tourist Guide in the Maldives. You support your family by taking tourists on boat rides to look at coral reefs and beautiful fish. You need tourists to come in order to get paid. Water levels are rising, shrinking the Maldives. There are less fish for people to see.

First Nation Tribe. You are a member of an indigenous tribe. Your community is dependent on natural resources and moving around. You have the smallest ecological footprint and do not contribute to greenhouse emissions. Increased weather extremes and variability impacts domestic and wild plants and animals making your food and lifestyle unsustainable. Environmental degradation erodes the quality of life dependent on the purity of the land, water, flora and fauna, and affects your cultures, languages and spiritual health and well-being.

Individual in Flood Risk UK. You live in the North of the UK. Changes in the weather has led to flood risks becoming more frequent in your area. Now every year or more frequently you have to leave your home and stay elsewhere as there is water everywhere. You cannot get insurance for your house, you have to reduce your hours when the flooding comes which reduces your income and puts you and your family under the poverty line.

Black Woman in the USA. You live in an Black majority area as racist housing policies prevent you buying or getting a mortgage in “desirable” areas. Your area has extremely high exposure to environmental hazards with the water contaminated by uranium making it unsafe to drink. You have tried to protest and bring 38

this to the attention of policy makers in your area however this is dangerous as the police tear gas, beat up and kill black people.

Businessman from Japan. You are a businessman from Japan involved in the sales of Toyota electric cars. Earthquakes are increasing in your area putting yourself and your family at risk. Intense and extreme weather events such as typhoons and tsunamis are becoming more frequent and are a real risk to you, your young children and to your business that you rely on to feed your children.

Farmer on the edge of the Sahara. You live on the edge of the Sahara and farm for a living. Rising temperatures are increasing desertification which is reducing the amount of fertile land to live off. In order to increase the yields from crops you decide to grow tobacco as it is a cash crop. This increases your profit when the weather is right for growing but also cannot feed your family. When the weather is bad you cannot grow tobacco or food.

Student in India. You are a university student in India studying geography and environmental law. You live with constant anxiety and dread around the effects of climate change and how there is so little response. You are worried about the future, about how to live a sustainable life and if it is responsible to bring children into a world such as this.

Politician from Vietnam. You are an economic minister in Vietnam. Developmental strategies for economic growth are made more difficult by following global warming policies. Vietnam could lose 11% of its GDP as climate change could affect agriculture, tourism and fishing in the region. If you choose to invest in industries that are profitable it is good for your country's economy and brings up the quality of life in Vietnam but investing in these same industries contributes to global warming which will then bring the QOL down again. You think whatever happens you will be voted out and lose your job.

Refugee from Syria. You are a refugee fleeing the conflict in Syria with your family, this conflict was exacerbated by droughts in the region caused by climate change. You and your family are now in a refugee camp in a much colder winter than normal. Your camp has covid-19 cases and testing kits and medication is held up as supplies cannot get to you as there are unprecedented storms at sea.

Lithium Miner in Bolivia. You mine Lithium from salt deserts for phone and electric car batteries. The mining is increasing droughts which threatens livestock farming and leads to vegetation drying out. New green methods of mining Lithium threaten your livelihood as you have invested in the mining of lithium.

Farmer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. You rely on farming cattle and crops for food. Shifts in the timing and magnitude of rainform is undermining the food production in the area which is dramatically increasing competition for the arable land in the area. Conflict in the area is increasing as land and water decrease, there is a lot of violence and cattle raiding. If the violence continues you may be forced to leave your home to protect your family.