Reporterre, an independent French online media outlet dedicated to ecology and environmental journalism, has published an in-depth exploration of the enduring “whiteness” (blanchité) of French ecological movements.
Its piece, titled Sortir de l’entre-soi blanc: Neuf pistes pour refonder le mouvement écolo, (Breaking out of the white inner circle: Nine avenues to refound the eco movement), argues this homogeneity stems from historical, cultural and structural biases that marginalise racialised voices, particularly from post-colonial and working-class communities.
The article calls for a radical reinvention of the “green” movement, making it less white, more inclusive and intersectional and, thus, ultimately more effective in tackling the climate crisis.
Launched in 2007 by journalist Hervé Kempf, Reporterre is France’s oldest daily news site focused on ecology. It is managed by a non-profit association and 98 per cent financed by donations of its readers.
It attracts more than 1.5 million unique visitors each month and to date has a team of 15 permanent journalists.
Its latest article criticises the way French ecology has often been “carbo-centric” – overly focused on CO₂ emissions – and shaped by the experiences of white, middle-class activists.
As a result, it is claimed, issues such as environmental racism, including pollution in immigrant neighbourhoods and the legacies of slavery and colonial exploitation, are frequently side-lined.
Symbolic gestures, such as panels featuring a single non-white speaker, are criticised for failing to translate into genuine power-sharing.
According to the piece, European ecological movements developed largely in isolation from racial justice struggles, fostering both “invisibilisation” and a sense of illegitimacy for non-white participants.
The authors call for a transformation that begins with acknowledging white centrality.
They argue that the codes, faces and imaginaries of western ecology remain largely shaped by white experiences.
Malcom Ferdinand, an environmental engineer from University College London and doctor in political philosophy from Université Paris Diderot, describes this as “domination rooted in the racist imagination of the West,” which positions white people as the default reference in their interactions with the world and institutions.
Moving beyond this centrality requires recognising the heavy burden of racism on those who experience it, he said.
People of colour reportedly often “have to erase parts of themselves”, constantly assessing whether they will be heard, caricatured, or met with hostility.
Poet and author Douce Dibondo is cited on this dynamic, saying: “Activism is demanding for everyone”.
“When you’re racialised, you also have to carry this hyper-vigilance and this fear of being instrumentalised.”
The Reporterre piece notes that such survival strategies come at a high personal cost, including chronic stress, anxiety and activist burnout.
Attention is also drawn to who occupies positions of power, particularly in relation to race and to the difficulties non-white participants face.
Belgian consultant and speaker Estelle Depris observes: “When a racialised person raises the subject in a workshop, they often encounter micro-aggressions and endless debates to ‘reassure the white ego.”
Genuine inclusion, the article suggests, begins with binding anti-racist charters that go beyond symbolic gestures. It also requires an end to gaslighting, here defined as the denial of experienced racism, which activists apparently frequently face in supposedly “progressive” spaces.
The authors argue for changing the way ecological narratives are framed, noting that discussing environmental issues in abstract terms such as “human” or “planet” can mask political plurality and inadvertently reproduce colonial hierarchies.
Language itself is scrutinised, with terms like “invasive species” or “jungle” criticised for carrying racialised connotations.
The article also advocates forging equitable alliances with anti-racist ecological collectives from working-class neighbourhoods, overseas territories, or diasporas, creating partnerships based on an equal footing.
Ultimately, the goal is to dismantle white centrality in the movement.
Depris warns: “Naming an injustice without modifying the structures that produce it is not fighting it: it is prolonging it.
“If environmental organisations stop at the observation — ‘our movements are too white’ — without engaging in real political transformation, then they are complicit.”
COMMENT: The knife through Zarutska’s neck, the bullet through Kirk and anti-white racism, writes @bogdanosk https://t.co/bZ7voqdl9d
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 12, 2025
