Plans by a nonprofit run by Soros to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into climate programs in the Third World reek of “green colonialism,” experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Open Society Foundations (OSF) will commit $400 million over eight years to support green industrial policies in a group of developing countries known as the Global South. according to According to a July 16 press release, this new funding is the latest in a series of efforts by left-wing billionaire George Soros to pressure developing countries to align with his organization's environmental policies, ultimately to the detriment of local populations in the pursuit of climate goals, experts told DCNF.
“This is a deeply ill-conceived idea, but it is in the name and guiding principles of the Open Society Foundations,” Parker Thayer, a research fellow at the Capital Research Center, told DCNF. “OSF's latest effort to remake the 'Global South' through top-down government industrial policy will be a disaster for developing countries whose problems are best solved by the free market. It is nothing less than a misguided experiment in green colonialism.”
One of the ways OSF intervenes in developing countries is by investing resources in conservation efforts such as the Amazon rainforest. OSF's Latin America program works to conserve ecosystems. according to According to a 2021 press release, farmers and agribusinesses are deforesting the Amazon to meet demand for beef and soybeans, continuing to develop and industrialize available land, and using the newly deforested land for agriculture and cattle grazing. according to To the Council on Foreign Relations.
“We've seen so-called climate change experts force local communities to protect their perimeters with forest conservation schemes,” says Miriam Lang, a professor of environment and sustainability at Ecuador's Andina Simón Bolivar University. Said Leadership News. “But now these experts are asking them to stay away from the forests because the carbon in the forests must remain untouched. This is a modern form of colonial theft and is deeply irrational.”
OSF has over $4 billion in net assets under management. according to until the IRS filing in 2022. In addition to its own expenses, the foundation also regularly donates to other climate-related organizations, giving more than $2.5 million in 2022. (Related article: Soros heir calls on Democrats to support Biden as pressure grows to oust him)
“They're deeply connected to the World Economic Forum and the internationalist agenda,” David Blackmon, who spent four decades in the oil and gas industry before writing and consulting in the energy sector, told DCNF. “This is a massive transfer of wealth that will displace what have been cheap and reliable sources of energy: oil, gas and coal, and replace them with weather-dependent sources like wind and solar.”
The plan lists Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Senegal, Malaysia and Indonesia as countries where the grants will be distributed. according to To the press release.
“It's commonplace for think tanks and economic policy experts to provide policy recommendations to governments on all aspects of industrial and economic policy,” Laura Carvalho, OSF's Director of Economy and Climate Prosperity, told DCNF. “Top-down prescriptive recommendations don't work particularly well because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. We want to invest in ideas that are home-grown and home-owned, which is why we will support efforts around knowledge generation, policy options, civil society engagement and capacity building in our target countries and beyond.”
We will significantly increase support for economic development by investing $400 million over eight years to develop green industrial policies that contribute to economic growth in the Southern Hemisphere and address the climate emergency. https://t.co/7P3tK3w6yQ pic.twitter.com/GiRBAiWQIJ
— Open Society Foundations (@OpenSociety) July 16, 2024
In a press release, OSF claims the initiative will help “create jobs and reduce inequality in developing countries.”But Steve Milloy, a senior legal fellow at the Energy and Environmental Law Institute, told DCNF that these green jobs should be viewed with skepticism.
“So this whole argument about green jobs is ridiculous. These are not good jobs. These are jobs that don't last, these are not the kind of jobs that involve economic growth,” Milloy told DCNF. “So, taken at face value, this is just an exposé of the green jobs hoax and a virtue signaling to Soros. I think this is actually a cover for something else, which is, you know, money going to poor countries for political demagoguery.”
In the United States, where there is already a big push toward green energy, most of the jobs created in the industry are in building power plants rather than operating them, and are temporary once projects are completed, while the fossil fuel sector needs more full-time workers. according to According to Forbes, less than 1% of workers who have left the fossil fuel industry in the past have taken green energy jobs.
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