Climate justice begins with taking responsibility

The Philanthropist: To what extent do you see the climate crisis as both a conse­quence and a cause of social injustice?

Karo­lina Frisch­kopf: We must work on climate justice now — later it will be too late! The climate crisis is affec­ting most who have contri­bu­ted to it the least – espe­ci­ally people in the Global South, who alre­ady often live in preca­rious condi­ti­ons. Rising sea levels, melting perma­frost soils, droughts lasting seve­ral years and flash floods are destroy­ing habi­tats and endan­ge­ring liveli­hoods. This is deeply unfair. If we look back, the indus­tria­li­sed nati­ons have caused the majo­rity of histo­ric emis­si­ons to date and have bene­fi­ted dispro­por­tio­na­tely from fossil fuels. They now have a special responsibility.

TP: What needs to happen now?

KF: When it comes to climate change – i.e. the net-zero target – basi­cally ever­y­thing needs to be tack­led with diffe­rent measu­res at the same time. Inequa­lity can only be over­come if our economy under­goes a funda­men­tal trans­for­ma­tion and focu­ses on a climate-neutral circu­lar economy. This is a huge task that requi­res efforts on all sides. At the same time – and just as importantly – there must be compen­sa­tion for what are known as ‘loss and damage’ costs, which are mainly incur­red in the Global South. 

The climate crisis is hitting those who have contri­bu­ted the least the hardest – which is deeply unfair.

Karo­lina Frisch­kopf, Direc­tor HEKS

TP: Meaning?

KF: Count­ries that in the past were able to deve­lop massi­vely at the expense of others have an obli­ga­tion. They have emit­ted huge amounts of CO2 and have thus built up their econo­mic strength and current prospe­rity. At the Confe­rence of the Parties COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022, the ‘Fund for Respon­ding to Loss and Damage’ was estab­lished, which is inten­ded for precis­ely this purpose. At the moment, howe­ver, it’s only nation states who are paying in, and not the ‘carbon majors’ – large corpo­ra­ti­ons that often gene­rate many times more emis­si­ons than entire count­ries, such as Switz­er­land. These compa­nies should also pay into these funds in future in order to bear their share of the conse­quen­ces of their busi­ness activities.

TP: What else needs to be taken into consideration?

KF: Compen­sa­tion alone is not enough. Here, too, frame­work condi­ti­ons are needed to ensure that no new problems arise during implementation. 

TP: What are they?

KF: Land and human rights must abso­lut­ely be respec­ted, and envi­ron­men­tal protec­tion must not be igno­red either. It is not accep­ta­ble that we keep pumping CO2 into the air here in the Global North – and then lease land some­where in the Global South for offset­ting – without talking to the local people or respec­ting their land rights. It is crucial that local people – and espe­ci­ally indi­ge­nous commu­ni­ties – have a say in the decis­ion-making process. 

TP: What are you envisaging?

KF: The tradi­tio­nal know­ledge of local and indi­ge­nous people must be taken on board. These commu­ni­ties have learnt over gene­ra­ti­ons how to cope with drought or rainy seasons, how to grow orga­ni­cally and protect biodi­ver­sity – this know­ledge is enorm­ously valuable. And it is lost when – irre­spec­tive of local condi­ti­ons – agri­cul­tu­ral compa­nies simply use mono­cul­tures, ferti­li­sers and pesti­ci­des to maxi­mise profits in the short term, thus destroy­ing the ferti­lity of the soil in the long term.

TP: The signa­tures for the Respon­si­ble Busi­ness Initia­tive (RBI) 2.0 were coll­ec­ted in record time. What would it do if it were accepted?

KF: The submis­sion took place on 27 May 2025 … A great success in terms of the signa­tures coll­ec­ted. Other­wise, this initia­tive is not actually that spec­ta­cu­lar. We only want Swiss compa­nies to respect the human rights and envi­ron­men­tal stan­dards applied and obser­ved in Switz­er­land as a given at their produc­tion sites in the Global South, too. And if there are viola­ti­ons, the local popu­la­tion must be able to assert their rights before a Swiss court. This is not an anti-busi­ness act – on the contrary: This is a given for all compa­nies that act respon­si­bly. It’s all about fair­ness and the same rules for ever­yone – a level play­ing field.

TP: What role should Swiss finan­cial insti­tu­ti­ons play? 

KF: If we want to achieve climate neutra­lity, we can only do this through an econo­mic­ally equi­ta­ble circu­lar economy. Howe­ver, all other aspects must not be forgot­ten along the way. Finan­cial insti­tu­ti­ons should invest more in sustainable projects, taking social and envi­ron­men­tal crite­ria into account. It is about chan­nell­ing capi­tal flows in such a way that they support the tran­si­tion to a climate-neutral and fair economy.

TP: The Fridays for Future move­ment has lost momen­tum. What will it take to involve the youn­ger gene­ra­tion more closely in finding solu­ti­ons for climate justice?

KF: It is under­stan­da­ble that, after the pande­mic, many young people want to disco­ver the world and live without cares – and at the same time, this very atti­tude to life can quickly turn to frus­tra­tion when the reality of the climate crisis catches up with them. In order to involve this gene­ra­tion more closely in finding solu­ti­ons, we need spaces where they can arti­cu­late their worries and fears about the future, but also iden­tify their opti­ons for action. 

TP: What could a space like this look like?

KF: With the Trans­form­Ac­tion Lab program, for instance, we offer young people the oppor­tu­nity to reflect on topi­cal issues in groups, exch­ange expe­ri­en­ces and deal with the complex inter­re­la­ti­ons between climate change, global inequa­lity and econo­mic struc­tures. Self-reflec­tion is an important element here. We work toge­ther with young people on taking respon­si­bi­lity for their actions, inclu­ding when it comes to the climate crisis. 

TP: You are calling for a funda­men­tal rethink in poli­tics and society. What current approa­ches do you see that point in the right direction?

KF: A just world, in which human dignity, peace and the protec­tion of natu­ral resour­ces are central, cannot be achie­ved over­night. This requi­res an inner shift in perso­nal atti­tu­des and chan­ges on a social, econo­mic and poli­ti­cal level. There are many UN initia­ti­ves that advo­cate climate justice and sustainable deve­lo­p­ment, but poli­ti­cal backsli­des, such as recently in the US, call this progress into ques­tion. It is naive to believe that the conse­quen­ces of climate change can be igno­red – they are real, profound and, in many cases, irrever­si­ble. Only if we under­stand how these chan­ges affect the world and future gene­ra­ti­ons can we respond appro­pria­tely. There is a need for further rese­arch, infor­ma­tion and, above all, action.

TP: HEKS campai­gned for the adop­tion of the UN Decla­ra­tion on the Rights of Small­hol­der Farmers. Why?

KF: Small­hol­der farmers are still, first and fore­most, the people who feed the world. Para­do­xi­cally, howe­ver, it is they who are worst affec­ted hunger and extreme poverty in many count­ries. Many govern­ments neglect their rights and needs in their agri­cul­tu­ral and trade poli­cies and leave the food busi­ness to the agri­cul­tu­ral corporations.

In 2018, the United Nati­ons adopted a land­mark decla­ra­tion enshri­ning the rights of small­hol­der produ­cers. HEKS has lobbied Switz­er­land to support this decla­ra­tion and remains commit­ted to its imple­men­ta­tion. The decla­ra­tion conta­ins very speci­fic artic­les, almost all of which are very rele­vant to our work. For instance, regar­ding the right to seeds, the streng­thening of their land rights, but also the right of farmers to poli­ti­cal parti­ci­pa­tion. Without secure land rights and control over their seeds, farmers cannot produce sustain­ably. The UN Decla­ra­tion provi­des a compre­hen­sive inter­na­tio­nal tool that is successfully used by many farmers’ orga­ni­sa­ti­ons around the world, such as in Hondu­ras or Zambia, to demand and defend their rights.

TP: What do you mean by inclu­sive co-exis­tence? Is it prima­rily about prospe­rity and education?

KF: These factors are important, but only part of the issues around inclu­sion. Back­ground and skin colour are still a factor in certain envi­ron­ments, as well as being a woman, being young or being old. These issues can be the reason someone is excluded by a system, a commu­nity, a society. Issues around inclu­sion are not always inten­ded in a biased or discri­mi­na­tory way – it just happens; it is very often struc­tu­ral and unconscious. 

An inclu­sive system is desi­gned to break down indi­vi­dual struc­tu­ral barriers. It is about giving people the oppor­tu­nity to make their voices heard, regard­less of their back­ground, educa­tion or social status. It is crucial that the struc­tures them­sel­ves are also desi­gned to be inclu­sive. After all, syste­mic discri­mi­na­tion is often unaware of, but deeply rooted in, our social norms. A lot of self-reflec­tion is needed. For me, this means, for instance, that as a direc­tor, I have and take up a lot of space. I have to be aware of this and make this space available so that others can occupy it, too. My contri­bu­tion to an inclu­sive society is to share the space with others.

TP: What can be done to tackle this?

KF: We are invol­ved in various projects in this area. An important one is the anti-racism and discri­mi­na­tion advi­sory centre in St. Gallen. There, we work with people who are affec­ted to help deter­mine whether they have expe­ri­en­ced discri­mi­na­tion. If discri­mi­na­tion is taking place, the follo­wing ques­ti­ons arise: What can I do and how do I get out of it? Another task is to work with insti­tu­ti­ons, the public sector and compa­nies to find out where barriers of discri­mi­na­tion exist. There is a tool­box with ques­ti­ons for this purpose. Blind spots are normal – we all grow up in a society with biases that we pass on uncon­sciously. And that’s where we start, that’s where we look. For every single one of us, inclu­sion begins with inter­ac­ting mindfully with each other in our day-to-day lives.