argia.eus
INPRIMATU
ANALYSIS
Climate justice
Jenofa Berhokoirigoin @Jenofa_B 2025eko urtarrilaren 13a
Josh Edelson/AFP

There was no one or all. That we all suffer at least if the necessary changes are not made so that no one suffers the climate emergency. You – reader – I – Jenofá-, they – poor – and they – rich. The fires in Los Angeles did not give me satisfaction, but a sense of justice. I remembered my grandmother's phrase. "Poor or rich, we're all equally on time to die." I would ever like to talk about climate change with the same statement: if it has to come, let it come for everyone.

Hidden
Hills, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills… The fire broke into the ultra-rich world. Millions in smoke and millionaires call the fire companies. - Do you have private firefighters supporting the Pacific Palisades house? We are in a situation of extreme need, all the houses around are burning. Any price available for your payment. Thank you," Elon Musk, the richest in the world, posted a message of desperation on the social network. Money in exchange, for the interests of each. Always. The disease of the rich.

The 50 richest in the world consume more than 1.3 billion people worldwide. If we all consume the same as those 50, we would exceed for two days the carbon budget – the amount of carbon that humanity can bring to maintain warming to an exhilarating extent. Two days. A normal citizen would need 834 years to produce a one-year pollution in Elon Musk – 5,437 years a poor one. Data from Oxfam.

The fire struck a month ago in a very similar way the slums of Mayotte, in the province of Barcelona. Although paradise, the rich do not have a home on this island. 77% of Mayott are in employment poverty. Chabolas account for 38% of hostels. One third of the indigenous population is paperless. This misery, under the seal of the French State, colonized it in 1841. For them there are no private firefighters, no insurance, no state public services. The Minister of the Interior clarifies that they no longer have precarious refuge to survive: “Mayotte cannot once again become an island of chabolas.” We don't know how much the cyclone died, and we'll never know. Because it doesn't matter to us. We know they're "thousands," or "tens of thousands," but officially they're "39." These 39 would be registered as French nationals. The others are inconsistent, null and void.

That's why it smells of justice (climate) to the fires in Los Angeles.