How can we work towards climate justice in saving the planet and its people?
It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the drastic effects of climate change on the planet. This past year brought raging wildfires, catastrophic flooding, rising sea levels and record high temperatures—and these events show no signs of calming down without significant intervention. Homes, communities and species are being threatened, and this is being felt all around the globe.
But while many are just starting to open their eyes to these extreme weather patterns, certain communities are facing these disasters to a more severe degree. It’s important to recognize that climate change has unequal and unfair effects on different populations around the globe, and it is generally the marginalized, underprivileged communities that are experiencing the worse effects. This inequality must be a key and guiding consideration in the fight against climate change.
“The impacts of climate change will not be borne equally or fairly, between rich and poor, women and men, and older and younger generations,” reads the United Nations’ Sustainable Development blog.
Low-income people and countries are disproportionately affected by climate change, and ironically are often the ones who are emitting the least damage to the environment through practices like excessive pollution or plastic consumption. People of colour, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, elderly and very young people, all tend to face the risks and realities of climate change that most white upper-middle-class communities have the luxury of avoiding. The impact of climate disasters like storms and floods, wildfires, severe heat, poor air quality, access to food and water and disappearing shorelines caused by rising sea levels are being felt by these communities more than any others.
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Communities of colour are often more at risk from air pollution, with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sharing that race is the top indicator for the placement of toxic facilities in the USA, which leads to chronic illnesses. Seniors and people with disabilities face more issues in periods of severe heat, as well as challenges such as being able to safely evacuate from severe storms or fire, as noted by Yale Climate Connections. This resource continues to convey that lower-income people may live in subsided housing, which often is located in a flood plain, or may have mold problems, or inadequate insulation or air conditioning, which don’t stand up against severe heat or storms. Developing countries in Asia and Africa, in particular, are up against significant risks, with global warming of 2˚C putting over half of Africa’s population at risk of undernourishment.
“Climate change is happening now and to all of us. No country or community is immune,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “And, as is always the case, the poor and vulnerable are the first to suffer and the worst hit.”
If we want future generations to be able to survive on this planet, we must consider each and every community, and this is why climate justice is the best framework to approach the environmental issues we are facing.
Climate justice looks at the climate crisis through a human rights lens, because it is a human rights issue. It considers the ethical side of climate change, looking at how some people and places are more vulnerable to its impacts and how we must work together to create a more sustainable future. Climate justice is a movement that helps us better understand the impacts of climate change on the world and the inequities it imposes so that we can better fight the crisis for the well-being of our global population.
One of the biggest barriers preventing people from considering and combating the climate crisis is a sense of disconnection—the feeling that it’s not affecting us directly, it’s a gradual and detached issue, it’s not something that personally affects every one of us. Therefore, there is a lack of urgency and sense of responsibility when it comes to saving our planet.
But this will not suffice, and as climate disasters continue, we may not realize just how personal the crisis is until it’s too late.
Climate justice uses a human-centred approach to environmental issues so that we must take accountability for our actions and understand our role in the climate crisis. It’s not something that only climate activists should concern themselves with; it’s a global issue that every government, business and individual should actively advocate and work to prevent.
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So how can we work towards climate justice in saving the planet and its people?
It begins with our beliefs, our words, our habits and our actions. We must understand that the climate crisis is a human rights issue, and take responsibility for our role in this. We must educate ourselves and others on social justice issues related to the planet, as well as consider and amplify the voices of impacted communities and activists. It's imperative to use our voices and platforms, and mobilize our communities to create positive action and stand for environmental rights as human rights.
We must make efforts to discover and support organizations and parties that are prioritizing climate justice. Climate Justice Alliance is working to emphasize race, gender and class considerations in discussions and actions around the climate. The NAACP is working to advance energy efficiency and clean energy, while strengthening community resilience and livability in terms of good justice, transportation equity and civil and human rights in emergency management. It's our responsibility as citizens and as consumers to keep climate justice top-of-mind when making any decisions and actions.
We must hold ourselves, our communities, our governments and corporations accountable for reinforcing human rights through climate action, and ensure that people are not neglected in the fight against global warming.
Cooperation and compassion are key for moving forward, and by working together, we can create a more positive and sustainable future for present and future generations. This cannot be achieved without climate justice.