Never mind aid, never mind loans: what poor nations are owed is reparations | George Monbiot

At Cop26 the wealthy countries cast themselves as saviours, yet their efforts are hopelessly inadequate and will prolong the injustice

The story of the past 500 years can be crudely summarised as follows. A handful of European nations, which had mastered both the art of violence and advanced seafaring technology, used these faculties to invade other territories and seize their land, labour and resources.

Competition for control of other people's lands led to repeated wars between the colonising nations. New doctrines - racial categorisation, ethnic superiority and a moral duty to rescue" other people from their barbarism" and depravity" - were developed to justify the violence. These doctrines led, in turn, to genocide.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist