Toronto Star: Earlier this week, the world’s top scientists not only mentioned colonialism as a catalyst for causing climate change but also for making segments of the population vulnerable to its impacts today and in the future.

“Present development challenges causing high vulnerability are influenced by historical and ongoing patterns of inequity such as colonialism, especially for many Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the world’s most authoritative global climate change report says in its summary for policymakers.

Environmental journalist Yessenia Funes, who first reported in Atmos magazine, wrote that the addition if the word “has tremendous potential for how world leaders shape future climate policy.” If colonization is acknowledged as a cause, decolonization has to be part of the solution.

The final language in the summary is meticulously scrutinized and discussed line by line – and not just by the world’s top scientists, but also by officials representing 195 governments, ” Funes wrote. Meaning they all formally recognize the role of colonialism.

Industrialization wreaked havoc on the planet. Industrialized nations made their money in industries such as cotton, cocoa, rubber, mining and oil from colonial expansion. This expansion needed not only to push some people off their lands, by hook or crook, but to also commodify others for labour. This model of growth for some at the expense of others is historical and ongoing.