ECOLOGICAL NEOCOLONIALISM AND ECOLOGICAL DEBT: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF NORTH-SOUTH RELATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47820/recima21.v4i7.3637Keywords:
Ecological neocolonialism. Sustainable development. Global trade. Ecological debt.Abstract
The emergence and prevalence of ecological neocolonialism — a manifestation of the historically persistent, asymmetric power relations between developed (North) and developing (South) countries — poses a significant challenge to the global achievement of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Predatory exploitation of nature, especially in Southern hemisphere countries, and aggressive economic policies have created a damaging pattern of ecological debt attributable to industrialized nations. The world's biodiversity, including the survival of the human species, is in danger due to this ecological debt, also known as environmental liabilities, accumulated by the North due to its production and consumption practices. This debt is intensified by contemporary exploratory activities, especially of transnational corporations, which adopt strategies such as the acquisition of ecologically fragile territories, the act of biopiracy, and the neglect of indigenous ancestral knowledge. Moreover, an asymmetric global trade flow of natural resources amplifies the ecological footprint of rich countries, exceeding the limits of their territorial boundaries (WIEDMANN et al., 2013). This imbalance, further exacerbated by the unfair attribution of prices to different productive factors, incentivizes the exploitation of natural environments by indebted countries, thereby hindering sustainable development. Through an analysis of this exploitative North-South relationship, this paper scrutinizes ecological neocolonialism and ecological debt, elucidating their implications for the SDGs.
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