FREE with Clara Mattei Who Profits From Climate Solutions? Green Colonialism Explained
Feb 10, 2026
Hamza Hamouchene, researcher and activist with the Transnational Institute and Algeria Solidarity Campaign coordinator, unpacks green colonialism and who profits from climate solutions. He discusses green grabbing, debt and dependency, why market fixes fail, links between liberation and climate justice, and strategies like delinking and sovereignty. Short, sharp, and sharply political.
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Environmental Orientalism Justifies Land Theft
- Environmental Orientalism frames Arab lands as degraded 'empty' spaces needing Western repair to justify dispossession.
- This narrative masks property rights, sovereignty, and enables land and water control by colonial powers.
Morocco Solar Project: A Green Grab Example
- The Noor/Ouarzazate solar project in Morocco used 3,000 hectares taken from pastoralists with minimal consultation.
- Hamza shows it yielded private profits, public losses, high water use, and 80 million euros annual losses socialized onto citizens.
Demand Reparations, Not Climate Debt
- Climate reparations, not debt, are necessary because the industrialized West historically caused the crisis and the Global South lacks resources to respond.
- Hamza stresses fair allocation and financial/technological transfer instead of debt-based solutions.
