In June 2023, Finland’s minister for economic affairs Vilhelm Junnila resigned just over a week after taking office due to a disparaging comment he made about what he terms ‘climate abortions’. Junnila, a member of the far-right Finns Party, reportedly suggested that a solution to the climate crisis, which many Europeans are passionately driving, was to increase the number of abortions among African women. He is also linked to scandals promoting neo-Nazi ideology.
In his 2019 speech in parliament, he said: “It would be justified for Finland to shoulder its responsibility by promoting climate abortions. Climate abortion would be a small step for a person, but a giant leap for humanity.” This comment drew criticism in his country where one politician described the concept of climate abortion as ‘eco-fascist’. Eco-fascism is an extremist movement that blends racism and environmental issues.
Mainly found in countries such as Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, eco-fascists tend to be found within white supremacist or nationalist circles. Therefore, it is very difficult to distinguish most environmentalists and conservationists from eco-fascist ideologies, seeing how they use everything in their power to push decarbonisation ideologies down the throats of developing countries.
Nonetheless, eco-fascists advocate for nature and environmental protection through the implementation of authoritarian policies, includingstrict population control, forced migration and the preservation of a particular racial or ethnic group they consider to be ‘pure’ or superior.
In the eighteen century, economist Thomas Malthus argued that population growth would surpass the availability of resources, leading to famine, poverty and other social problems. His theories suggested that population control measures, such as limiting birth rates or encouraging delayed marriage, were necessary to avoid these issues.
Eugenics later embraced these ideas by arguing that population control measures should be used to selectively limit the reproduction of individuals or groups deemed “undesirable” based on their perceived genetic or social characteristics. These measures include advocating for policies such as sterilisation, restrictive immigration, or even forced segregation to prevent the propagation of what they considered to be inferior traits.
Similar to Nazism, the ideologies of eugenics are explicitly associated with extreme forms of racism, oppression and human rights abuses. These attitudes persist in the traditional West but nobody really cares to talk about these gross desecrations. They hide behind anti-migration and protectionist policies that are centred on nationalism. As Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally puts it, “The best ally of ecology is the border”.
Whereas Europeans go abroad to teach about free trade, open borders and respect for human rights, they are often wanting in their own countries. Almost a month does not pass without a boat carrying migrants capsizing in the Mediterranean high seas or politicians spewing racist slogans about blacks and Muslims. France currently faces what is characterised as the “worst social upheaval in years” after police killed a teenager of North African descent.
The traditional West has a dark history of colonisation, resource extraction and other horrible designs in Africa and elsewhere. This historical context sets the stage for understanding the West’s continued influence and its damaging effects on people’s acceptance of the neo-colonialist climate change agenda, which is seen to worsen a cycle of climate injustice and further exacerbate inequalities.
The people of European stock, including the Finnish politician, demonstrate extreme hypocrisy in their treatment of “others” in a world they believe was only made for them. Their ideas about climate change are devious and dangerous for humankind as slavery, colonialism, apartheid, and now climate change fundamentalism.
These mindsets motivated by white supremacy have one thing in common: they are about the white race benefiting from the earth, which was meant for everyone. Assisted by capitalism and other dogmas, Europeans and the entire traditional West are uncompromising in the way they deal with “others” in parts of the world they consider insignificant.
African leaders, who once complained about being packed like sardines when they went to pay homage to their eternal mother Queen Elizabeth a few years ago, recently went to Paris for a two-day summit to beg for climate fairness. They went to remind rich countries about a pledge they made in 2009 to deliver USD 100 billion annually to finance climate action in developing countries.
After highlighting the developed countries about the challenges faced by African countries in accessing vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the continent should never be seen as a place that “needs generosity, we want to be treated as equals”. However, the firm stance taken by African leaders at the Paris Summit will surely be dismissed as if they were not even present or said anything.
Europeans treat Africa with contempt and disdain in every sense when it comes to climate, pollutionand other issues. Europe frequently dumps hazardous waste and unwanted vehicles on the continent. Ships often dump electronic components and other illegal consignments of toxic waste near inhabited areas, resulting in numerous deaths. European countries with their business and human rights laws rarely hold anyone accountable for these atrocious acts.
Before vaccine nationalism during Covid-19, pharmaceutical companies were already known for human rights violations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and these included supplying deadlymedicines, blocking access to essential medicines and polluting the environment. Medicines, even life-saving ones, can become pollutants when they are in the wrong place or administered in the wrong doses.
A global study published in 2022 found that rivers worldwide, including in Antarctica, are tainted by pharmaceuticals. Team leader Alistair Boxall, a professor of environmental science at the UK’s University of York, expressed frustration that even after decades since many medicinal drugs first came into wide use, they continue to be labelled“emerging pollutants”. Big corporations of all types enjoy protection from their mother states as they ravage the earth. as long as their foul play is outside the penalty box, that is, in far-flung places away from their doorstep.
Around 2013, investment experts James Altucher and Douglas Sease wrote a book for the Wall Street Journal called “Investing in the Apocalypse.” In it, they argued that the end of the world is a profitable opportunity for those who know how to “fade the fear” while others panic. As seen at the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, Europe fervently invests in oil firms while they burn fossils.
Today, it seems many have followed Althucher and Sease’s advice. Billions of dollars have been poured into expanding renewable energy production under the guise of addressing the destruction of the environment in developing countries, instead of dealing with public or environmental health and policies aimed at preventing what appears to be premediated climate abortions.
States and corporations have joined forces to turn the apocalypse into a money-making opportunityas poorer countries continue to suffer at the hands of eco-fascists who are desperate to exterminate races with “bad” genes. The climate agenda appears to have nothing to do with saving the earth and more to do with advancing profit-seeking and racist interests.
The current status quo shall remain as wealthier countries buy carbon ‘credits’, a licence to dump huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, from poor states, and this self-assured act is extremely troubling. The downside of carbon ‘credits’ for poor countries is that they are just caught up in a web that is designed to exterminate them.
Before any discussions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, issues related to environmental pollution, waste dumping and unfair treatment of developing countries by wealthier countries and their corporations must take top priority.
Poor countries must insist that all the efforts to address these atrocities are based on principles of environmental justice, equitable resource distribution and sustainable development. And rich countries and companies must foot the bill and pay reparations, otherwise, they will not stop perpetuating environmental degradation, social inequality and economic exploitation in the developing world.
Siya yi banga le economy!