Capitalism and white supremacy are partially to blame for climate change and must be addressed, according to several experts consulted for a newly released report from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“It’s really about the foundations of our society, the capitalist system, the culture of extraction, and we need to change that. How do we do that?” one expert asked in the report released on April 17.
“If we don’t address capitalism, if we don’t address colonialism, racism, the patriarchy etcetera we are going to tread water for a long time until we eventually drown,” said another.
The report, titled, “What We Heard: Perspectives On Climate Change And Public Health In Canada,” was commissioned by Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam in order to analyze the impact of climate change on the health and well-being of Canadians, as well as to identify “how public health systems need to be strengthened to undertake this work.”
The report said that one of the five “guiding messages” that emerged from the findings was that “systemic drivers of negative health outcomes and climate change overlap; white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism, and racism must be addressed.”
“The key messages we heard underscored that public health and climate change require a focus on decolonizing, justice and equity, adequate funding, political commitment and cross-sectoral partnerships with the expectation that fundamental changes in our socioeconomic structures are needed to rebuild our relationships with each other and with our planet,” the report said.
The report said that barriers to “equitable and transformative adaptation policies” include continuing with “outdated” public health and science education, continuing with the economic model of extraction and growth, and prioritizing a “western way of knowing.”
The “privileging” of fossil fuel companies was also cited as an issue at several points in the report, with several experts describing how disinformation is being spread by “powerful groups that have vested interests in not making changes to adapt to and mitigate climate change, such as the fossil fuel industry.”
“Public health is under attack in some provinces … and there’s this climate change denial that we all know is being fuelled by the fossil fuel sector. So, my worry is that with public health we won’t actually be able to get out there and do what we need to do,” said one expert.
The report also said that Canada could expect to face an influx of cross-border climate refugees as a result of climate change. The experts that raised the topic said public health must approach the issue through an “equity lens.”
“Experts recognized there are and will be many challenges around climate refugees as climate change intensifies. Yet only a few of the experts discussed ways in which public health needs to develop structured plans to prepare for and support both internal and cross-border climate refugees who experience diverse health effects,” the report said.
