“Reparations, not investments” — Shereen Talaat on climate debt, reparations and public finance

Episode 2: “Reparations, not investments” — Shereen Talaat on climate debt, reparations and public finance

In the second episode of Burned: The Price of Oil, host Shady Khalil speaks with Shereen Talaat, Founder and Director of MENA Fem Movement. They explore the global financial system’s deep colonial roots – and how private-finance-first approaches to the energy transition trap Global South countries in more debt and fossil fuel dependence.

Shereen shares how private finance seeks profit, not justice, and that only public finance, reparations, and debt cancellation can deliver a truly just transition. Speaking from the perspective of the global majority, communities across the Global South who did the least to cause the climate crisis – not the billionaire 1% minority – she calls for climate and colonial reparations to repair centuries of extractivism and exploitation.

Together, Shereen and Shady unpack how the structures of debt and global financial architecture are the new face of colonialism, and how the rich countries are withholding the trillions in public finance they can actually mobilise to pay for a fair and funded fossil fuel phaseout. But this isn’t the end of the story. Across the Global South and beyond, communities are organizing and resisting and won’t let the polluters or profiteers get away with it.

About Shereen Talaat:
A lifelong activist from Egypt, Shereen Talaat is a passionate advocate with over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of social justice, economic development, and environmental rights.