Sustainability is a dynamic process that guarantees the persistence of natural and human systems in an equitable manner (IPCC, 2018), or in terms of sustainable development, it is defined as the means to economic development that balances social and environmental outcomes. ‘Sustainability’ was first introduced by Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a German forester, as recommendation for how forests should be managed (scientifically) to preserve their economic value. These concepts have been mainstreamed particularly through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Yet, despite the disproportionate impact that climate change and the environmental crisis have on Indigenous peoples and local communities, and the importance of Indigenous and non-dominant knowledges for sustainability science and sustainable development, their voices are often excluded from associated discussions. Some argue that sustainable development is just another form of colonialism, as this approach “is not a different conversation than the one that Indigenous people have been having in various forms since the earliest days of invasion and colonisation” (Pearson, 2020). 

Agendas rooted in Global North interests overlook important entry points for solutions and possibly perpetuate colonial and oppressive structures (Cameron, 2012), without addressing the root of our current socio-environmental problems. Sustainability indicators, such as the Environmental Performance Index and Carbon Footprint, reflect the values, worldviews, and biases of those who created them, and can be used to justify their agenda (Requena-i-Mora and Brockington, 2021).

Sustainability research often overlooks the links between climate change and colonisation. Some authors have even called for the Anthropocene (a proposed geological epoch to describe the period of significant human impact on the Earth) to be defined from the colonisation of the Americas (Todd, 2017). They argue that “the ecocidal logics that now govern our world are not inevitable or ‘human nature’, but are the result of a series of decisions that have their origins and reverberations in colonization” (p.763). 

Gram-Hanssen et al. (2021) also explain clearly and succinctly in their paper the links between climate change, colonialism and capitalism, and the need for transformations to be based on Indigenous perspectives of relationality and reciprocity. (For a non-academic article, we suggest Amitav Ghosh’s novel, The Nutmeg’s Curse). Colonial legacies also persist in the differential impacts of climate change on populations and their interactions with their environments (Collins, 2021). 

Climate change urges us to act, adapt, and transform; however, the process of identifying challenges and possible transformations is a political response and lies on issues of power and sovereignty (Golden et al., 2015). Transformation should seek equitable change, avoiding perpetuating past wrongdoings, and making room for different ways of doing and being in the world. 

Marginalised communities are not necessarily against development, but seek autonomy for alternative models, to be able to make decisions that impact their future, according to their values, world views, and perspectives. These decisions, in many ways, reflect a desire for the fundamental rights and privileges that most people in the Global North already enjoy (e.g., access to clean drinking water, which is often undermined by expansion of extractive industries in the Global South) (Hudson & Vodden, 2020).

Many proposed climate change solutions, such as carbon offsets, have been considered by some Indigenous leaders as ‘carbon colonialism’, with the Bolivian president Luis Acre calling for an alternative model to capitalism during the recent COP26 in Glasgow. Similarly, while renewable technologies such as wind and solar power have the potential to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions while still providing energy, these projects risk perpetuating social injustices on communities who were not included and do not reap the benefits.

1. What does sustainability mean for me and my research? Are there (neo-colonial) elements that could be addressed, while building on positive elements? Are there local concepts similar to sustainable development that would be more appropriate for the context? 

2. How do I perceive ‘development’; do I think there is a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way? Are these ideas based on my own worldview or can they be universally applied?