Last Updated:February 09, 2025, 18:30 IST
The ephemeral violence induced by climate-related policies in the Global South is largely irrelevant in discussion platforms. What fascinates and energises the institutionalisation of denialism remains the spectacular notion of the rise of profit
The Global North does not experience the same level of loss and violence due to calamities triggered by climate change, as in the Global South. (Image for representation: AFP)
In 2019, more than 11,000 scientists signed a statement warning of the “catastrophic threat” posed by climate change. The climate catastrophe statistics further reveal that “2024 was 0.72°C warmer than the 1991-2020 average, and 1.60°C warmer than the pre-industrial level making it the first calendar year to exceed 1.5°C above that level”. Also, it exposes the hypocrisy of the Global North, largely responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
It takes little to understand that natural catastrophes do not discriminate between human economies or national borders; however, when the calamities triggered by climate change are seen through the lens of recovery, it becomes palpable that the Global North, which enjoys rich resource and a much safer environmental ecosystem, do not experience the same level of loss and violence as their counterparts in the Global South. Also, they recover much faster due to a robust economic system.
No wonder that the beatific visage of feel-good anecdotes remains an integral part of the denialism ecosystem. The ephemeral violence induced by climate-related policies in the Global South is largely irrelevant in the global discussion platforms. What fascinates and energises the institutionalisation of denialism remains the spectacular notion of the rise of profit.
Losses and the concomitant violence are deflected to select geographical regions whereas profit is internalised by regimes of power, mostly to be found in the Global North. The anxiety of facts and figures matters insofar as they can contribute to the establishment and accumulation of such a regime, which is not only racially prejudiced but also insensitive and brutal.
For example, in a comic book titled, ‘Once Upon A Time: A True Story About The Miracle Molecule – Carbon Dioxide’, the brainchild of a group called CO2 Coalition, the character of Mr Gordon, a scientist, says to his three neighbours that carbon dioxide emissions have a net benefit for Earth: “Everything green in our very green world owes its existence to carbon dioxide… And every person and every animal … are built from the carbon in CO₂, which we get from eating vegetables and meat.”
Likewise, a Mobil advertisement reinforces the same degree of denialism, boldly announcing: “Good news: the end of the Earth as we know it is not imminent.”
It goes on to claim: “More than 30 years have passed since the environmental movement began. They made their point. There is no longer a need for alarmists… [T]o those who think industry and nature cannot coexist, we say show a little respect for Mother Nature. She is one strong lady, resilient and capable of rejuvenation. The environment recovers well from both natural and man-made disasters.”
Yet another account of denialism, which undergirds climate denialism, can be traced to the emergence of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. While it is overtly sceptical and critical of the European Union, a closer examination shows that its rhetoric of denialism is enmeshed in its modus operandi linking climate change to planetary evolution, arguing that it “has been going on for as long as the Earth has existed”. To drive its denialism, it boldly asserts that “carbon dioxide is not a pollutant but an indispensable component of all life”.
Similarly, in August 2018, Alexander Gauland, the party’s spokesperson, declared: “Here and now, the AfD is fighting the false doctrine of man-made climate change,” adding that “0.3 percent of [scientific] studies indicate that global warming is man-made.”
Seen in this light, one can understand how the cultures of concealment and the structuring of the carbon economy are essential in presenting a glossy picture of the global world order, ensuring the maintenance of economic inequities that uphold palpable hierarchies – ultimately to be exploited by global powers. As author Amitav Ghosh says: “The poor nations of the world are not poor because they were indolent or unwilling; their poverty is itself an effect of the inequities created by the carbon economy.”
If we accept the dictum ‘knowledge is power’, it follows that ‘information is a weapon’. The 21st century is an age of information and, unsurprisingly, media and social media platforms are increasingly used as gatekeeping mechanisms by the powerful elite. In such a world, we find an acute madness to manipulate, control, suppress, even exterminate communities or nations on the basis of information.
Information also churns out to be the marketing gimmicks, ensuring everything of public use gets privatised while simultaneously making consumers feel privileged to access these products. The same strategy is employed in silencing news of environmental catastrophes.
Having outsourced energy production, manufacturing, and food production to other countries, many western nations have also outsourced risks, environmental crises, and poverty. And yet, it is ironic to see these former colonial powers condescendingly lecturing us.
As one can understand, these cultures of concealment are central to the extractive ideology of the Global North. No harm or no damage involves no compensation, and the freedom to continue the extraction of all that sustains, nourishes, and promotes life in the developing countries, or the Global South. No wonder then that Ghosh argues that carbon emissions “continue to be a major, although unacknowledged factor, in the contemporary politics of global warming”.
In fact, the accelerated changes can be damaging to the extent that they can change the entire cartography and the attendant sense of recognition, as Ghosh mentions that “even a child will begin a story about his grandmother with words: ‘in those days the river wasn’t here and the village was not there where it is’”.
If we depend on leaders and such scientists to share with us the anecdotal record of climate catastrophes, then we are probably flirting with danger. One needs to be reminded that evil always tries to evade the grip of language. Therefore, the rhetoric of the political-corporate-military nexus can hardly serve as a source of energy or faith when dealing with the future of this planet. Are we listening?
(Om Prakash Dwivedi is a literary critic and columnist. He tweets @omdwivedi82. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views)