Colonialism and the Environment

Colonialism has far-reaching environmental effects. Colonial enterprises allowed people to accidentally and knowingly introduce exotic plants, animals, and diseases to colonies and bring biota back to Europe and other colonial settings. Colonial actors transformed the landscapes and waterscapes, introducing new land use systems, but many were (and still are) unsustainable and unsuited to local climates and environments. Monoculture agriculture, for instance, depletes soil nutrients, reduces biodiversity, and makes ecosystems more vulnerable to global climate change. Colonial authorities frequently prioritized export crops over local food security, increasing food insecurity and heightening the risk of famine. In the name of colonial progress, civilization, and productivity, vast swaths of endemic forests were cut down, wetlands were drained, and land reclaimed to create farms, plantations, towns, and cities. Natural resources, including timber, spices, and minerals, were extracted from colonies and exported to fuel colonial powers’ lifestyles and economic development, with colonialism and capitalism interwoven with environmental changes. Even the creation of biodiversity conservation measures followed colonial actors’ desires to secure their continuous access to natural resources and protect their commercial interests. Studies show that pre-colonial societies were complex and dynamic, with long-standing and effective environmental governance and management arrangements that sustainably used resources. However, global colonialism severely disrupted local environmental governance and management regimes. Colonized peoples lost vital resources and were excluded from decision making, resulting in countless environmental injustices. Historically marginalized social groups, including but not limited to Indigenous peoples living in colonial territories, settler colonial societies, and postcolonial nations continue to experience various environmental injustices traced back to colonial and neocolonial policies, economic practices, and racial ideologies. Climate change is also reinforcing existing old environmental injustices and creates new ones for people living in colonial situations. Industrialized Global North nations (current or former colonial powers) are primarily responsible for causing climate change due to their high greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, Global South countries (mostly former colonies) and Indigenous peoples in settler colonial societies contribute little to emissions but suffer the worst climate impacts. Moreover, climate colonialism is happening around the globe. Those in the Global North are buying land and establishing carbon offset projects in the Global South, undermining local peoples’ ways of life. Colonial mindsets still hinder decision makers from recognizing the value of Indigenous and postcolonial solutions to environmental issues, despite promising examples of enhanced resilience, social and environmental justice, and environmental guardianship practices tied to the resurgence of Indigenous knowledge.