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Audre Lorde’s words have never been more relevant than they are today, especially in the face of the climate and energy injustices highlighted by the just-concluded #COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
“The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”
Think about this: 30 years of COP negotiations, a decade since the Paris Agreement, two decades after the Kyoto Protocol, and 31 years since the UNFCCC was established – yet the world is still fighting for the basics of climate justice and real implementation.
One could argue that the COP process reflects elements of colonial and neo-colonial power dynamics, especially in how decisions are influenced by wealthier nations while vulnerable countries often former colonies bear the greatest impacts of climate change.
This does not mean the process is entirely colonial, but its structure and outcomes often mirror global inequalities rooted in historical injustice.
Lorde’s reminder is clear: true change will never come from the same tools that created the problem.
To dismantle climate and energy injustice, we must choose new tools and a new house.
We cannot fix a broken energy system by relying on the same extractive models that created the crisis. The rush for critical minerals, the exploitation of frontline communities, the prioritization of profit over people these are the master’s tools. They may offer temporary wins or shiny “green” solutions, but they will never deliver genuine transformation.
Real climate justice means rejecting systems built on extraction, inequality, and sacrifice zones. It means building new structures rooted in fairness, community rights, ecological integrity, and shared prosperity.
To make the COP process more effective and capable of delivering immediate, transformative results, we need new tools that break away from the old extractive systems.
A People-Centered Accountability Mechanism: A binding framework that holds countries and corporations to real consequences when they fail to meet climate, human rights, and environmental obligations. No more voluntary promises without enforcement.
Justice-Based Finance Tools: A new financing architecture that guarantees direct access to climate funds for local communities and subnational governments, bypassing bureaucracies that delay action.
Community-Led Climate Decision Platforms: Formal spaces where frontline communities, Indigenous peoples, women, and youth have equal negotiating power, not just observer roles. Those most affected must shape the solutions.
A Global Just Transition Regulator: An independent body that monitors mineral supply chains, prevents exploitation, ensures worker protections, and enforces environmental standards, so energy transition does not become a new form of colonialism.
Equity-Driven Technology and Knowledge Sharing: A mechanism that breaks monopolies on green technologies, enabling open, affordable access for developing countries to deploy solutions quickly and fairly.
Loss and Damage Delivery Dashboard: A transparent, real-time tracker showing who has pledged what, who has paid, and where the money is going so the world can finally see action instead of speeches.
These tools shift the process away from extraction and inequality, and toward justice, accountability, and shared prosperity precisely the transformation needed for a liveable future.
In conclusion, we don’t need to wait until COP100 to create a global mechanism that truly implements the many commitments and pledges already made. When truth is delayed, falsehood and empty promises take centre stage. It’s time to act, not to postpone.
By Dr Michael Terungwa David (AKA Village Boy), Director, GIFSEP
