Associate Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University
Disclosure statement
Fatima Garcia Elena does not work for, consult, own
shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would
benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations
beyond their academic appointment.
The Conversation is funded by the National Research Foundation,
eight universities, including the Cape Peninsula University of
Technology, Rhodes University, Stellenbosch University and the
Universities of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pretoria, and
South Africa. It is hosted by the Universities of the Witwatersrand and
Western Cape, the African Population and Health Research Centre and the
Nigerian Academy of Science. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a
Strategic Partner. more
An indigenous leader from Brazil protests against the destruction of their lands and people.
EPA-EFE/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA
Climate change, plastic pollution, rising sea levels –
environmentalists in developed countries are calling for action on the
planetary emergency. But when environmentalists are brave enough to
speak out in places like Barrancabermeja, Colombia, they’re often
protesting against very local problems. Lack of sanitation, contaminated
water, deforestation for palm oil – degradation of the local environment and the direct threat to human health are closely linked and clear to people here.
Barrancabermeja hosts Colombia’s largest petroleum refinery, which
has been operating for just over 100 years. Over that time, local
industries have contaminated natural water courses with heavy metals,
which has been absorbed by the soil and the surrounding vegetation that
local cattle eat, which have also showed high levels of heavy metals.
The plumbing that is supposed to supply the city with fresh water
doesn’t reach all areas, meaning that some places lack running water and
sewage treatment. This situation has motivated passionate environmental
protests.
Read more:
Environmental stress is already causing death – this chaos map shows where
But these are nothing new. In the general city strike of 1963,
pollution and access to water were two of the main issues. Safe drinking
water was also a recurrent theme throughout the city strikes of the
1970s. Even during the worst of the Colombian conflict from the 1980s to
the early 2000s, the people of Barrancabermeja were brave enough to
continue protesting for the right to clean water, and they still do
today.
Here in the heavy industry heartland of Colombia, environmentalism
has old roots and has endured through decades of violence and
intimidation. In order to understand how street movements can prosper,
it’s worth asking how people here have maintained popular concern for
the environment over so many years and under so much pressure.
A protest for safe drinking water in
Barrancabermeja, January 2018. The sign reads: ‘Out of love for your
mother, we want potable water’.Fatima Garcia Elena, Author provided
Local danger, global solidarity
Environmental protests in developing countries in Asia, Latin
America, Africa and the Caribbeann can be dangerous. These regions are
often collectively called the Global South. Of the 20 countries
with the most murders of environmental activists in 2018, 19 are
considered to be part of the Global South. The only exception is
Ukraine, which ranks 10th with three deaths. Philippines has more
registered murders than any other, with 30 killed in 2018. But it’s
closely followed by Colombia, with 24.
These are only official numbers that don’t account for disappearances
or unregistered assassinations. They also do not accurately capture the
atmosphere of persecution and abuse that torments activists. In
Barrancabermeja, environmental leaders are slandered, bullied and
threatened. Many have had to abandon their home and seek political
asylum abroad.
Read more:
Defending the environment now more lethal than soldiering in some war zones – and indigenous peoples are suffering most
The environmental movement gained the support of millions of people
in 2019. Extinction Rebellion and the climate strikes have mobilised
people who are concerned about climate change but live lives of relative
affluence, far from the front lines of battles over fresh water and
clean air. This doesn’t diminish their role or invalidate their cause.
Standing in solidarity with people less fortunate and calling for
coordinated, global action is essential, and it’s great to see the media
covering it. But the experiences of people protesting in
Barrancabermeja need to be heard too.
A London demonstrator holds the planet aloft during the Global Strike for Climate, September 20 2019.EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER
It’s important to acknowledge the differences between environmental
struggles around the world to address the diverse challenges of failing
ecosystems and value the contributions of all towards finding solutions.
Raising awareness of rising temperatures and shifting coastlines is
important – the climate crisis is after all a global problem. But the
risks aren’t evenly distributed, and the effects are more localised and
pressing for some. Media scrutiny of the powerful in places like
Barrancabermeja could raise pressure to protect the brave work of
activists there.
Let’s show that environmentalism is both global and local, and
responding to threats both present and future. Let’s show solidarity
with the people in Barrancabermeja. Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.
