In the dusty fields of Sindh, Pakistan, forty-year-old Gul Bibi walks several miles each morning just to find water. Her kids struggle to sleep through the hot nights, made worse by unreliable electricity and unpredictable rainfall. Gul Bibi has never heard of carbon credit or international climate conferences, but she lives with the consequences of decisions made thousands of miles away. Her experience paints a clear picture of what is called carbon colonialism.

What Is Carbon Colonialism?

The phrase “carbon colonialism” might sound technical, but it highlights a clear and ongoing injustice. It refers to how richer nations, mainly in the Global North, Europe, Noth America, and other nations in global north have pumped most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and still benefit from those actions. Meanwhile, poorer nations, often in the Global South, face the worst effects of climate change—despite having done the least to cause it.

Back in the days of colonial empires, European powers exploited their colonies for resources and labor. Today, a similar imbalance continues—not with ships and flags, but through environmental policies, carbon trading, and misleading green campaigns. Wealthy countries and companies often buy carbon credits from poorer countries to “offset” their own emissions. This lets them keep polluting, while communities in the Global South lose their land, forests, and ways of life.

Who is Really Responsible?

Data from the World Resources Institute, Our World in Data,2024, shows that the U.S. and Europe are responsible for over 50% of all historical CO2 emissions. In contrast, Africa contributes less than 4%. Yet, it is African countries where climate-linked disasters like famines, desert expansion, and forced migrations are getting worse.

At the 2021 UN climate summit (COP26) in Glasgow, leaders from the Global South spoke out clearly. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, said, “We don’t want climate finance as charity. We want justice.” Her words struck a chord, but not much changed after the summit.

Real-World Impact: The Case of Mozambique

In 2019, Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique hard. More than a thousand people lost their lives, and millions were forced to flee. Mozambique had almost no role in causing climate change, yet it bore the brunt of one of the worst storms in recent memory. Rebuilding has been slow, and international help has not been enough. Sadly, this kind of story is becoming all too common in the Global South.

The Irony of Carbon Offsetting

Many companies promote projects like tree planting in Uganda or wind farms in India as part of their climate action. While these ideas sound good, the reality is often more complicated. Some projects push local people off their land or ignore the rights of Indigenous communities. A report by The Guardian, 2023 even found that certain carbon credits sold by big corporations were linked to deforestation. Therefore, while companies in the Global North get to look environmentally responsible, the people in the Global South are left to deal with broken promises and damaged ecosystems.

Climate Finance: A Broken Promise?

Back in 2009, developed countries promised to give $100 billion a year to help poorer nations handle climate change. As of 2025, that promise has not been materialized. Even when the money does arrive, it often comes in the form of loans instead of grants—pushing already struggling countries further into debt. This reveals a bigger issue: climate change is not just about rising temperatures. It’s also about fairness, economics, and global responsibility.

Losing More Than Just Land

In places like the Sundarbans—a huge mangrove forest between India and Bangladesh—rising sea levels are washing away more than just soil. Communities are losing their homes, traditional fishing skills, and sacred places. These are not just economic losses; they are cultural and emotional ones too.

Over in Kenya, the Maasai people are watching their livestock die due to unpredictable weather. Their entire way of life, shaped over centuries, is now at risk. No amount of carbon credit can make up for that kind of loss.

Colonialism Through Consumption

Another dimension of carbon colonialism lies in global consumption patterns. The Global North continues to import vast amounts of cheap goods manufactured in the Global South—goods often produced in factories powered by fossil fuels with poor labor standards. This outsourced production keeps emissions off the books for developed nations, but the environmental and human costs remain firmly in the developing world. From garment factories in Bangladesh to mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the supply chains that feed consumer lifestyles in the North deepen environmental degradation and social inequality in the South.

The Path Forward: Climate Justice

To move forward, we need to shift the focus from just managing the climate to achieving climate justice. That includes:

• Recognizing who caused most of the pollution and factoring that into all climate talks.
• Canceling climate-related debt and offering grants instead of
• Listening to and involving frontline communities and Indigenous people in
• Stopping harmful offset schemes that benefit corporations more than

It is also time to stop seeing the Global South only as a victim. These regions have rich traditions of sustainable farming, forest management, and conservation. The world can learn a lot from these practices.

A Shared Future

Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time, but it does not affect everyone equally. Floods in Germany get worldwide coverage, but whole Pacific Islands disappearing often do not make the news. This imbalance in media, money, and action reveals deeper problems with how global power works.

Carbon colonialism is not just about the air, people breathe. It is about the systems that allow some to profit while others suffer. But if people name it, people can change it.

Let’s not wait for more Gul Bibis to suffer alone. Let’s build a world where those responsible for climate change are held accountable, and those suffering from it are supported, heard, and empowered.

Because climate justice is not optional, it is overdue.

References:

1. (Erika Strazzante, https://gceurope.org/global-north-and-global-south-how-climate-change-uncovers-global-inequalities/, 2022)
2. (Roser, https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions, 2020; Roser, https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions, 2020)
3. Macknick, J. (2011). Energy and CO₂emission data uncertainties. Carbon Management, 2(2), 189–205. https://doi.org/10.4155/cmt.11.10
4. (Greenfield, Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless, analysis shows, 2023)

(COP26: Together for our planet, 2023)