Since the Russian war on Ukraine and the cut of supplies of gas and oil to Europe, the EU is replacing Russian fossil fuels with imports from other regions. Though the EU’s fossil fuel needs could be drastically reduced through cutting virgin plastic production, EU member states are expanding to find new sources of oil and gas to build new infrastructures. As a result, communities across the world are facing the harsh consequences of the harmful plastic production industry. In this episode, Sarah Diedro Jordão speaks to Sarah Martik of the Center for Coalfield Justice in the USA and Dean Bhekumuzi Bhebhe of Power Shift Africa in South Africa. How does Europe’s hunger for fossil fuels exacerbate negative environmental, social and cultural impacts elsewhere?

Recorded in April 2023. 

Read the Winter is Coming report: https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/winter-is-coming/ 

Amadeo Ghiotto and Delphine Lévi Alvarès co-authored the report, with support from Andy Gheorghiu (Andy Gheorghiu Consulting), and review by Lili Fuhr (CIEL), Tom Harrison (GGON), Carroll Muffett (CIEL), Joan Marc Simon (Zero Waste Europe), Sarah Baulch (The Pew Charitable Trusts), and Jozef Vandermeulen (FairFin). 

Find out more about Sarah Martik: https://centerforcoalfieldjustice.org/about/ 

Find out more about Dean Bhebhe and Powershift Africa: https://www.powershiftafrica.org/ and check out their Don’t Gas Africa campaign: https://dont-gas-africa.org/ 

This podcast series was created by Amadeo Ghiotto (Greenpeace) and Bethany Spendlove Keeley (Break Free From Plastic).

Our audio editor and podcast consultant is Anja Krieger.

The Music is from the YouTube Audio Library:

Accralate - The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100341

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Cover design elements by Bryan Mathers, Visual Thinkery.

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