Slavery increases the drivers of climate change
To say that climate change is a complex problem is undoubtedly an understatement. So many variables are involved that it sometimes feels impossible to gain a complete understanding.
Climate Change Increases the Number of Enslaved People
In a recent article, Kevin Bales and Benjamin Sovacool describe how “climate change is a threat multiplier to slavery, but slavery is also a threat multiplier to the causes of climate change.”
It is estimated that there are presently 40 million enslaved people in the world that are found in many countries, including wealthy western ones. Slaves are often forced to engage in environmentally destructive activities to the point that if the enslaved people were a country, they would fall behind only China and the United States in producing carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.
People become slaves because of debt bondage and becoming vulnerable to slavers during and after extreme weather events. Debt bondage occurs when individuals owe money and slave traffickers allow them to work to pay off the debt.
Extreme weather often leaves people homeless and without adequate food or water. Odisha, a cyclone in India, caused 15,000 fatalities and 1.6 million homeless. These conditions leave people hungry and exhausted and cause people to engage in risky migration as well as signing up for questionable employment. Slavers take full advantage of these circumstances.
Considering the frequency of severe storms will increase, without a worldwide effort to stamp out slavery, forced labor will continue to be a reality for millions, unless we take action.
Slave Labor Contributes to Climate Change and Environmental Degradation
There is a significant loss of trees when enslaved people illegally harvest protected forests, releasing large amounts of CO2. When forests are clear-cut and burned, thousands of species are annihilated, and their survival is threatened.
In Ghana, slaves mine for gold in protected forests, which infuses the environment with mercury. Mercury is so toxic that it will harm living creatures for many years. Debt bondage slaves are often found illegally overfishing to the point that marine ecosystems have collapsed.
Modern enslaved people are often forced to use dangerous chemicals such as pesticides and fuel additives. Other harmful chemicals, such as cadmium and lead, are produced through mining.
Debt labor is often used to make bricks. To fire the bricks, charcoal, coal, and materials such as tires, which contribute to greenhouse gas pollution and local air pollution, are used.
To free the 40 million people trapped in slavery would cost $20 billion over 10–20 years. This money would stop environmental crimes and institute ecological protections.
Also important would be the employment of formerly enslaved people. Jobs would involve rehabilitating damaged and destroyed areas.
Credit
This article is based on: Bales, Kevin and Sovacool, Benjamin K. (July 2021) From forests to factories: how modern slavery deepens the crisis of climate change. Energy Research & Social Science, Vol 77, 102096.