COP Failed the Global South Again. Here’s What We Do Now.
Aaron Kirshenbaum
COP 29 ended with another toothless agreement this year that once again hurts communities in the Global South. Global South countries are the least responsible for climate change but bear the vicious brunt of it. They also bear the brunt of Western imperialist intervention and occupation. The Global South needed $1.3 trillion to survive this crisis and abusive relationship. Instead, the non-binding agreement was $300 billion by 2035 at an undefined rate, not accounting for inflation, and with the possibility of creating massive levels of debt. COP 29 neglected the climate and failed those most in need. It prioritized preserving a global system of power that will not abdicate it and will not talk about the military’s role in climate. COP was seen as such a violent scam by Papua New Guinea, an island in the Pacific Ocean, that they walked out of negotiations.
Now, Papua New Guinea is part of a historic International Court of Justice case launched by Vanuatu and Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change. The Global North’s deadly negligence threatens their existence and could violate International Human Rights Law. For decades, the U.S. military has occupied the Pacific. They have conducted bomb testing, built up ecologically toxic bases, and occupied and backed dictatorships in the Philippines. Now they are further militarizing the Pacific as China threatens our attempted global economic monopoly, including in green energy, as we heard from KJ Noh in our recent webinar on what was missing from COP 29.
The initiators of these ICJ hearings on the responsibility of states regarding the climate crisis, are from small island nations in the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Pacific Command houses over 200 of the military’s 800+ military bases and accounts for 22% of the Pentagon’s total energy usage.
In the Japanese Island of Okinawa, the US military’s multiple bases have contaminated the drinking water, leaving over 450,000 residents at risk. The 2021 leak from the Red Hill Naval Storage Facility in illegally occupied Hawai’i has also poisoned the drinking water for the residents of O’ahu. Another leak could risk the water supply being undrinkable. Our air force base in Guam has leaked hazardous chemicals into the soil. Each of these bases has contributed to the Pentagon’s status as the largest single emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world.
While we continue to increase this needless, expensive, and imperialist presence across the Pacific, the sovereignty and existence of these same islands are threatened by the natural disasters caused by this military build-up. These bases do not exist for the protection of those living there. Where the US military’s boots touch the soil, we only continue to escalate and drive destruction, to the land, to peace, and to the basic sovereignty and freedom of the region. These bases do not exist for the protection of U.S. citizens. The militarization of the Pacific is part of an emerging cold war with China.
Escalation with China does nothing to keep the U.S. safe, nor the world. By refusing cooperation and diplomacy, the U.S. cuts off the green energy programs that China is developing, escalates proxy wars that continue to destroy the planet, and creates a moment where the World Court is hearing climate testimonies in the context of International Human Rights Law. Simply put, the continued more than excessive presence of our poisonous bases in the Pacific does nothing except exacerbate catastrophe
COP 29 continues to show us that we cannot expect those in power to save us from this crisis. We can not expect them to be honest about the militaristic root causes of this crisis. It’s up to us to center them. The world is in constant flux, and so we need to be clear-eyed about how we react to this heightened instability. We must keep our sights on the root causes to chart out our plans of action. To understand that Indigenous people protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity so #Landback is crucial. To ensure that any possible Pentagon cuts come with redirecting money to life-giving programs. To center demilitarization in the fight for climate change in all environmental movements.
Aaron Kirshenbaum is CODEPINK's War is Not Green campaigner and East Coast regional organizer. Based in, and originally from, Brooklyn, New York, Aaron holds an M.A. in Community Development and Planning from Clark University. They also hold a B.A. in Human-Environmental and Urban-Economic Geography from Clark. During their time in school, Aaron worked on internationalist climate justice organizing and educational program development, as well as Palestine, tenant, and abolitionist organizing.