Honouring queer inclusivity in climate activism 🌈
Dear friend,
This past month has been a sweltering one, and we hope you have been keeping well. However, this also reminds us that we live in a time where heat waves are becoming even more dangerous and frequent, but there are many among us that cannot escape the heat. The most precarious amongst us do not have access to air-conditioning at home or at work - something that lays bare the injustice that structures our society.
As climate activists fighting for a more equitable future, we also cannot forget about those who do not fit in the ‘traditional’ moulds of society. Our bimonthly theme, ‘queer’, looks at the assumptions, exclusions, and silences that are implicit within our common striving for more collective, equitable futures.
Ultimately, the only way we can build a more equitable society is if we begin by including everyone in the conversation, and reimagine futures that everyone can see themselves inside.
For a better world,
SG Climate Rally
For this coming month, SGCR looks at the concept of queer in the run-up to Pink Dot, which takes place on 18 June. In a time when trans, non-gender conforming, gay and women’s identities and bodies continue to be highly contested both globally and in Singapore, we want to take this time to reflect on meaningful interconnections between climate activism and the struggle against our heteronormative patriarchal society. If you would like to contribute a piece, drop us a DM!
If you feel like you’ve been melting recently, you’re not the only one. This past month has been one of the hottest Mays ever, with 13 May seeing the highest temperature ever recorded in May for Singapore (36.7 deg C). The rise in temperatures has been attributed to climate change and the urban heat island effect. India and Pakistan faced heatwaves of their own as well, with Delhi reaching a record high of 49.2 deg C and Jacobabad reaching 51 deg C. Hundreds of millions face the impact of crop losses, water and power shortages, while poor workers bear the brunt of the heatwave.
Australia’s conservative Liberal-National government was defeated at the polls on 21 May, with voters backing candidates from the Labor and Green parties, as well as ‘Teal Independents’, who campaigned on stronger climate action. New Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised voters that Australia will adopt more ambitious emissions targets, although he has refused calls to phase out coal use.
The United Nations published its 2022 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, warning that at least four of the ‘planetary boundaries’ seem to be operating out of the ‘safe operating space’ for human habitation, accelerating the risk of global collapse. Unfortunately, the media did not give much attention to the report.
Two new exciting climate books have dropped - "What Climate Justice Means And Why We Should Care" by Elizabeth Cripps (read an excerpt here), a good introductory primer into the concept of climate justice, as well as “Climate Change as Class War: Building Socialism on a Warming Planet” by Matthew Huber (read a review here), on how climate policies must address the material interests of workers and build a mass working-class movement.
Take care and see you again next month!