Report Links Colonial Rule to Environmental Damages

A report titled "CO2lonianism, Ecocide, Reparations" from the University of Lagos investigates the environmental impacts of British colonial rule in Africa, urging that these damages be factored into reparations discussions. The lead author, Professor J.

G. Nkem Onyekpe, PhD, Head of the Department of History and Strategic Studies, asserts that the ecological harm constitutes a distinct category of damage, potentially valued in the hundreds of trillions of dollars.

The report cites a 2022 estimate of over $10 trillion per year in resources appropriated from the global South. It was presented on August 28, 2026, to an audience of academics and legal experts and has been submitted to the African Union's newly established sub-commissions on reparations.

The report also references a study from Kanungu District, Uganda, linking land degradation to farmer livelihoods. The legal landscape for such claims has evolved since 2021, with significant developments in defining ecocide and the establishment of an African Union committee to address environmental destruction.