What Is Green Colonialism?

What do Indigenous peoples in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have in common with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Nevada? They’re all fighting against mining projects that supply electric vehicle companies like Tesla, Ford, and General Motors with minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

Co-founder of Protect Thacker Pass Max Wilbert, is fighting alongside several Indigenous tribes and colonies in Nevada to protect the McDermitt Caldera from lithium mining projects.

“These issues are connected. When people stand up for their lands here at Thacker Pass, we're also standing for child slaves in Congo. We're standing up for the [Indonesian] Amana Manyara,” Wilbert said. “Mining is not green.” 

Activists like Wilbert utilize the term “green colonialism”, also known as "eco-colonialism", for projects that describe themselves as “green” or “clean,” yet still exploit local populations and ecosystems in a way that mirrors European colonialism from the 1600-1900’s. But how does modern day eco-colonialism repeat the colonization practices of centuries ago? 

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Classic Colonial Tactics

Exploitation colonialism was historically marked by the political and economic subjugation of another country to exploit the population as labor and natural resources as raw materials. Belgium utilized this form of colonialism when King Leopold II sent European explorers to colonize the Congo in 1870 and eventually enslave the Indigenous people to harvest rubber and ivory. 

In 1906, Belgium created private mining companies that extracted copper, silver, gold, diamonds with enslaved Congolese laborers. In the book King Leopold’s Ghost, author Adam Hochschild details the full history and impact of Congo’s colonization.

“More than 80 percent of the uranium in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs came from the heavily guarded Congo mine of Shinkolobwe,” Hochschild writes. 

Until the Congo’s independence in the 1960’s, Belgium exploited over $1 billion in resources while displacing and murdering millions of Congolese through starvation, disease, and execution for failing to meet work quotas. Only seven months after Congolese independence, anti-colonial Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was assassinated by CIA-backed forces.

In 1965, mining companies were nationalized as state-run operations after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) achieved independence from Belgium. Diamond mining revenue was intended for public funds, but instead flowed to corrupt government officials. Decades of wars with neighboring countries collapsed industrial mining operations, and many people became small-scale artisanal miners.

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Is Colonialism Really Over?

Decolonial activists and scholars believe colonialism is not an event that has ended, but is a system that dictates the modern global economy. 

The Katanga region in the southeastern corner of the Congo has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the world combined. Loose mining regulations in 2002 and a peace accord in 2003 attracted private foreign companies like Anvil Mining (Canada), Barrick Gold (Canada), AngloGold Ashanti (South Africa) to the DRC to begin projects in land grabs that mirrored European colonization. Several mines have switched ownership between multinationals like Glencore (Swiss), Freeport-McMoRan (American), and China Molybdenum Co, while new mine construction displaced civilians. Since 2009, China has taken ownership of 15/19 cobalt-copper mines.

Cobalt mining has been particularly profitable. Companies like Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft utilize Katanga cobalt for cell phone batteries, while Ford and Tesla make deals to meet growing demand for electric vehicles. In his book Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives, author Siddharth Kara describes how labor exploitation generates foreign profits.

“The most fortunate tunnel diggers in Kasulo earn around $3,000 per year,” Kara writes. “By way of comparison, the CEOs of the technology and car companies that buy the cobalt mined from Kasulo earn $3,000 in an hour, and they do so without having to put their lives at risk each day that they go to work.”

While the mineral is essential for in-demand clean energy sources like solar and wind, these cobalt mines leak toxic waste that poison soil and streams, killing off fish, worms, and crops. The risk of birth defects also increases when a parent works in a cobalt mine.

“As of 2022, there is no such thing as a clean supply chain of cobalt from the Congo. All cobalt sourced from the DRC is tainted by various degrees of abuse, including slavery, child labor, forced labor, debt bondage, human trafficking, hazardous and toxic working conditions, pathetic wages, injury and death, and incalculable environmental harm.”

When Will Colonialism End?

While decolonial strategies widely vary, most agree on political acknowledgment of injustices, historical reparations, and listening to solutions brought by Indigenous civilians. It considers reshaping the economy to end patterns of unsustainable consumption and endless growth that harms ecosystems and human populations.

The demand for minerals like cobalt is only increasing, so it’s unlikely corrupt politicians or profit-seeking foreign companies will enthusiastically embrace these solutions. With minerals comprising 99.3% of DRC exports, these jobs are some of the only viable ones for the Indigenous people there. 

Activists in Congo are working on mining reform bills that raise royalties on mining companies to try redistributing the wealth, and teaching workers how to advocate for improved working conditions. Holding these companies accountable to be socially responsible is the first step. 

In Kinshasa, Congo, civilians are burning flags and throwing stones at Western embassies to protest US foreign intervention in neighboring Rwanda’s militaries, who've been accused of backing the rebellion that has displaced millions of Congolese citizens for natural resources. The Congolese people have been ready to take their country in their own hands and stop the "looting" of their homelands.

“At the time of the Congo controversy a hundred years ago, the idea of full human rights, political, social, and economic, was a profound threat to the established order of most countries on earth,” Hochschild wrote. “It still is today.”

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What You Can Do

• Join movements from Friends of the Congo and donate to efforts that stop child mining in the Congo.
• Follow @focuscongo and @pappyorion for on-the-ground reporting and support to the people of Congo.
• Send a pre-written letter to your Congress representatives within minutes to demand the end of military aid to Rwanda. 

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Hero image depicts Tin ore used in electronics and sold by armed groups in Eastern Congo. (Photo by Sasha Lezhnev/Source)