Reparative Justice and the Colonial Continuum: Towards a Pan-African Research and Policy Agenda on Climate Reparations

This article argues that climate change is not just an environmental problem. It is also a problem of justice, deeply rooted in the history of slavery, colonialism, and racial exploitation. For Africa, today's climate crisis cannot be separated from the way colonial powers extracted land, labour, and natural resources for centuries, leaving behind weakened economies, damaged ecosystems, and deep inequalities.    

View larger

Our recently published peer-reviewed research article calls for a Pan-African climate reparations research and policy agenda grounded in historical responsibility, structural justice, and African leadership. Published in the African Human Rights Yearbook 2025 (external link) the article emerged from a collaboration between Dr. Patrick Toussaint (external link), Research and Policy Advisor at the Lab, and Krishnee Appadoo (external link) of the University of Mauritius, building on research presented at the African–Caribbean Dialogue on Justice through Reparations under the African Union’s Theme of the Year on Reparations. (external link)

The article argues that climate change is not simply an environmental crisis, but a matter of historical and racial justice. For Africa, today’s climate vulnerability is rooted in centuries of slavery, colonial extraction, land dispossession, and ecological harm. These dynamics continue through global economic systems centred on extraction, debt, and export-oriented development, making the climate crisis a continuation of colonial harm.

The research critiques global climate governance for avoiding historical responsibility and accountability, and examines the significance of the 2025 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which strengthens the legal basis for climate reparations. It also highlights a critical gap: climate harm remains largely absent from African reparations frameworks, constraining their capacity to address the full continuum of colonial and postcolonial harm.

Positioning climate reparations as a question of responsibility, repair, and structural transformation rather than aid or charity, the article provides a foundational framing for our Lab’s ongoing work on climate reparations across research, policy engagement, and movement building.

Above all, as the authors note, the article is “an invitation for African scholars, policymakers, activists, and communities to co-create a climate justice agenda that centres historical truth, redistributive justice, and structural transformation.”

FULL CITATION:

P Toussaint & KA Appadoo, ‘Reparative justice and the colonial continuum: towards a Pan-African Research and Policy Agenda on Climate Reparations’ (2025) 9 African Human Rights Yearbook 593–616

http://doi.org/10.29053/2523-1367/2025/v9a26 (external link) 

OPEN ACCESS LINK: https://www.ahry.up.ac.za/images/ahry/volume9/Article_Toussaint_AHRY_2025.pdf