Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting

3 Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting

"My truth will only land if you have the grace to fully listen." said Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti speaking at the World Leaders Summit Opening ceremony, COP 26, Glasgow, 2021.

Elizabeth Wathuti added: "My truth will only land if you have the grace to fully listen."

Country profile: United Kingdom

• Locator map
• Country map

Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than half of the days are overcast.

Population: 68,138,484 (2023 estimate).

Capital: UK: London – population 9,648,110 (2023 estimate); Scotland – Edinburgh; population 553,569 (2023 estimate). COP 26 held in Glasgow: population 1,698,088 (2023 estimate).

In the opening video, Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning we’re fighting; you will learn about the climate crisis from different standpoints across the Global South. The video opens with a series of speeches given at COP 26, held in Glasgow in 2021, to provide a strong opening reminder that the Global North cannot survive on its own, and that the inequalities of the climate crisis play out very differently in the Global North and Global South, as well as across the countries of the Global South. 

COP is an international decision-making meeting held each year by the United Nations. As Rebecca Lindsey of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains, ‘COP is short for “Conference of the Parties,” meaning those countries who joined – are “party to,” in legal terms – the international treaty called the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’ (Lindsey, 2022). Lindsey goes on to say: 

"Parties to the treaty have committed to take voluntary actions to prevent ‘dangerous anthropogenic [human-caused] interference with the climate system’. Countries take turns hosting an annual meeting at which government representatives report on progress, set intermediate goals, make agreements to share scientific and technological advances of global benefit, and negotiate policy."

(Lindsey, 2022)

The edited contributions in these videos come from national representatives and climate activists from across countries in the Global South and show you the debates that are too often silenced. In Video 1, the edited speeches from COP 26 are interspersed with interviews from key contributors who will appear in the weeks to follow. 

These contributors are listed below:

• India Logan-Riley is a Māori climate activist, whose short but powerful speech at COP 26 gained global media attention.
• Professor Saleemul Huq (1952–2023) was Director of the International Centre for Climate Change & Development based in Bangladesh. He was also a Professor at Independent University, Bangladesh. Huq attended all sessions of the COP to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and was an expert on adaptation and sustainable development. In 2023, Huq was appointed as one of the external members of a new Scientific Advisory Board of the United Nations.
• Distinguished Professor Steven Ratuva is a Fijian academic based at the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa (New Zealand), who you met in Week 16. 

This video will help you to:

• begin assessing why listening to voices from across the Global South matters to the outcomes of debates about the climate crisis.
• recognise the global inequalities of the impact of the climate crisis.
• appreciate the value of listening to alternative standpoints and knowledges. 

3.1 Working with Voices from the Global South 1

You should now watch the first video in the International virtual field trip, Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting. As you watch, make some notes on: 

• why listening to a variety of voices and the knowledge they articulate matters to the quality and possible outcomes of debates about the climate crisis.
• the inequalities of the climate crisis, and the ways that these inequalities play out very differently in the Global North to the Global South, as well as between the countries of the Global South.

Video player: Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting

ADD VIDEO HERE.

Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting

Activity 2: Watching Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting.

Timing: Approximately 20 minutes

1. What in the video got you thinking, and why? It could be something that surprised you (e.g. the small audience numbers for some of the speakers), connections you made to earlier parts of the strand (e.g. about the workings of power and influence at such meetings, or the lingering impact of colonial legacies), or new ways of thinking about the climate crisis. (Please note that this is a reflective question, so no Discussion is provided.)

Activity 2: Watching Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting, Your response to Question 1.

2. Why do you think knowledge from the Global South matters to the quality and possible outcomes of debates about the climate crisis?

Activity 17.2: Watching Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting, Your response to Question 2

3.2 Take notes 

You should feel free to use a notebook, as you might on any traditional geography fieldtrip, in a way that suits you. But, as an example, these are the kind of points you might have noted from the first video (your notes will, of course, be less lengthy). The list includes facts that stood out as important, quotes from speakers that might have made you think, questions that you may want to return to again later, as well as talking points that resonated with topics studied in previous weeks. 

Example of how you could take notes from Voices from the Global South 1. The view from Glasgow: we’re not drowning, we’re fighting.

• UK Share of cumulative global CO2 emissions (2021): 4.52 %. Interesting – compare figures across all countries on the field trip?
• Powerful images and statements at start about why listening to voices from GS is V important.
• Logan-Riley emphasises the significance of making a speech in ‘the colonial motherland,’ of ‘speaking truth to power,’ ‘naming the colonial roots of the climate crisis’– discuss significance with other students?
• Seen to be too challenging ‘the organisers take the microphone away?! Done to US President too!?!
• ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ – what’s this? Mentioned by Logan-Riley. 
• Very interesting account by Ratuva: GN (former colonial powers) and GS (former colonised territories) but, as he says, not that simple; ‘nuanced and complex on the ground’ (at around 6 mins). 
• Interesting account of how power works at such global meetings. Points made by Huq – ‘GN holds the power’ (6 mins 32 seconds). Maybe revisit workings of power in Weeks 11 and 16? 
• Not just inequalities of impact of climate crisis but inequalities of voicing challenges and alternatives – interesting.
• Striking to see how empty room is when Huq speaks!
• Not only inequalities of impact of climate crisis but getting heard; Huq uses Mottley’s speech to talk about mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage – key to climate inequalities between GN and GS; return to. 
• ‘GN runs the narrative around climate change’ (at roughly 11.46). How does this work? 
• Huq talks not of ‘climate justice but climate injustice.’ Food for thought – revisit Week 13 notes
• Powerful points by Logan-Riley ‘Learn … Listen … Honour our knowledge.’