Self-Defense Through Knowledge: Climate Literacy as Rights Protection

Sor Juana wrote extensively about education as self-defense against manipulation and domination. She understood that those denied knowledge cannot advocate for themselves. Climate literacy functions similarly: communities without understanding of climate science, carbon accounting, or environmental policy cannot recognize when corporations and governments are deceiving them about true costs of extraction and pollution. This concept emphasizes practical knowledge—how to read climate reports, identify greenwashing, understand carbon footprints and supply chains. It means education programs that teach people to question corporate claims about sustainability and government promises about climate action. Sor Juana's insistence on rigorous reading and critical thinking becomes methodology: approach all climate claims skeptically, demand evidence, cross-reference sources. For Global South communities facing land grabs justified by climate mitigation or renewable energy projects, climate literacy provides intellectual tools to refuse harmful impositions. Knowledge becomes collective self-defense against those profiting from environmental destruction while claiming environmental concern.