It’s Not Like We’d Listen To Them Any More…

Environmental organisations “are still very white, especially at the top”, the co-director of Greenpeace has said as research showed little to no improvement in the ethnic diversity of their workforces. Areeba Hamid’s comments came as the third annual racial action on the climate emergency (Race) report into diversity among environmental charities found fewer than one in 20 of those working in the sector identified as people of colour or as other racial or ethnic minority groups. The average among the UK workforce is 16%, or just more than one in eight.

Quite why they believe this is necessary I don’t know - it’s not as if I’m going to pay any more attention to their nonsense if it’s spouted by a brown face rather than a white one… 

“Environmental organisations are still very white, especially at the top,” Hamid said. “I find myself in CEO meetings where I’m the only person of colour in the room, and it just doesn’t feel right in 21st-century Britain. ”

It would have felt very right just a few decades ago, I can’t help but think. 

The lack of improvement comes despite environment institutions’ apparent efforts and willingness to engage. Researchers said 161 – the highest number yet – had provided data, including all the UK’s largest environment NGOs. Together they represented 28,600 employees, more than double the number of workers accounted for in the previous year’s report, giving researchers the best picture yet of racial diversity in the sector.

Manu Maunganidze, part of the team that published the report, said: “The more we uncover, the more we realise there’s still much work to do – but that’s not a setback, as long as we stay committed and grounded in why racial diversity matters in the first place.”

 Why?

“People of colour may be minoritised in the UK but, globally, they’re on the frontlines of climate change. Those most affected by environmental disasters – floods, wildfires, rising tides – are too often those who aren’t given a seat at the table. This is why representation is so critical.”

So you need more diversity because those in the home countries are suffering? Well, why not go do it in those countries and not the UK?