“We Are Committed to Ending Racism as We Pursue the Goals of SAL”
The following is from a talk given by Janet Kabue (Area Reference Person for Nairobi, Kenya) at a Sustaining All Life (SAL) delegation meeting before COP26 (the 2021 United Nations climate conference).
We are living through a pandemic. We have gone through a lot in the past two years. We get to be pleased with ourselves. We have gotten so much done in difficult times—it is important to remember that and continue discharging. There are many parts to discharge about.
We watched as over four million people died during the pandemic. Many of the deaths were preventable.
One of the traps of capitalism is to go ahead and get things done no matter who gets hurt or left behind. We fall into that trap of urgency—of wanting things done now. This is something that we get to discharge about as we prepare for SAL’s participation in COP26.
We have talked about “vaccine apartheid.” Some countries have been hoarding the vaccine at the expense of others, literally locking it up. COVID-19 vaccine hoarding by wealthy countries has left the door open for the emergence of new coronavirus variants. We know that some countries ordered five hundred million more doses than they needed, leading to preventable loss of lives in countries that had little access to vaccines. For example, I couldn’t get a vaccine until August 2021. Not everyone from my part of the world survived the wait.
In addition, only certain vaccines were available to countries in certain parts of the world. Then the COP put out a regulation saying that only people vaccinated with particular vaccines could get into the United Kingdom and attend COP26. That excluded people from countries that could not get those vaccines.
Recognizing (we hope that they recognized) the obvious and blatant racism and colonialism of that policy, those responsible changed it to “you can come, but you have to quarantine for ten days in an expensive hotel of our choosing.” That meant that people from certain countries had to think about bearing the added expense of ten additional days of hotel meals and other expenses, absence from jobs and families, and the added disruption of their lives. This is just one example of the policies and procedures that limit the participation of people from certain countries and certain parts of the world.
Activism got them to ease the regulations. However, Global Majority and Indigenous (GMI) people once again had to put in extra time to validate the importance of their lives and their presence at the conference. GMI people have had to deal with racism and systematic oppression every step of the way, on top of dealing with the pandemic and climate change, which continue to hit them in big ways. They must face this and so much more in order to show up and be fully present as GMI. It is important that allies stay aware of this.
These are examples of what we have had to negotiate to be a delegation at the COP. And the ground continues to shift and change. We just received a booklet of new regulations that have to be followed at the COP.
We are committed to ending racism as we pursue the goals of SAL. We continue to discharge and help those around us recognize and face the issues.
(Present Time 206, January 2022)