We know that slavery is still a monumental humanitarian issue.
Climate change is another well-known and scary challenge.
You may not know that these tragedies are linked– and so are there solutions.
In Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving the World, renowned slavery expert Kevin Bales unwraps the connection between exploitation of people and of the planet. Around the world, forced labor goes hand in hand with environmental destruction.
Through a close look at the prevalence of slavery and ecocide, Bales reveals how two of humanity’s most pressing issues are undeniably connected.
Gold and Exploitation in Ghana
When you think of Africa and slavery, you probably think of the transatlantic slave trade. If you’re a regular Novel Hand reader, you might even think of the child labor used to produce cocoa on the continent. But you likely don’t know about the slave labor used to mine gold in Ghana.
Forests are destroyed to make way for deep mining pits. The methods used by miners and their slaves to mine the gold are nearly prehistoric. Bales describes slaves with flashlights strapped to their heads, carrying bags of gold hundreds of feet out of the mine.
The gold is then processed with mercury– a chemical that the West hasn’t used in decades for its hugely detrimental health effects. In Ghana, trace amounts of mercury seep into the natural environment, contaminating animal habitats and drinking water.
Seafood with a Side of Child Labor
In Bangladesh, Bales interviews a young boy enslaved to clean shrimp and fish. Tricked by the promise of well-paying work, Shumir had no choice but to work long days– sometimes even 24 hours straight.
The mangroves of Bangladesh are excellent at storing carbon. But to meet the massive global demand for seafood, miles of these mangroves have been cleared to make room for shallow pools where shrimp can grow. This is where Shumir was forced to work, exploited just as the natural environment was for the profit of his slaveholder.
Save the Rainforest– and Its People
The Amazon rainforest is a prominent symbol of environmental protection. But behind its destruction is a slave force exploited to make charcoal to clear the forest for cattle.
Slaveholders trick the poor into working to cut down wide swaths of forests. While the Brazilian government has made progress with anti-slavery police forces and mobile courts, there’s considerable work left to be done: Bales tells the story of two environmentalists assassinated for their peaceful protection of the rainforest.
These protectors of the forest practiced sustainable and regenerative agriculture, caring for the earth while providing meaningful work for themselves and others. Caring for both people and planet is possible.
In Blood and Earth, Bales tells the stories of several victims of forced labor. Their stories represent the lives of many others.
If we are serious about ending slavery and reversing climate change, we must consider how they are linked. As Bales says, “If we could end slavery tomorrow it wouldn’t stop all global warming, and if we could end environmental destruction that wouldn’t bring all slavery to and end. If we could miraculously end both slavery and environmental destruction, that wouldn’t solve all the world’s problems, but it is remarkable how many of those problems intersect where slavery and ecocide meet… what we eat, or choose to wear, the things we buy for our homes, or choose not to buy, all link us in one relationship after another to people in slavery, national economies, and protected forests.”
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