Climate Change

 

Climate change ranks as one of the greatest threats to humanity. Communities of color and low-income and poor communities throughout the globe are often the most vulnerable and hardest hit by the effects of climate change. These populations also often have the least access to resources and institutional processes of decision making around mitigation, adaptation and resiliency strategies. Climate change impacts will further exacerbate existing conditions of inequality, poverty, disenfranchisement, urbanization and displacement. Poor governance structures, the dominance of fossil fuel intensive extractive global industries in global politics and economic systems and weakened democratic political systems all fuel climate change and inequality around the world. Cities are seen as both the laboratories for innovation and change as well as ground zero for climate impacts and inequality. Most of the world’s population and most of the world’s poor will be inhabiting urban spaces vulnerable to changing climate impacts, further stressing both social and ecological systems to their limits.

 

Climate justice, today, is recognized as powerful social movement that emerge from progressive political-economic and political-ecological ideas to combat climate change.[1] Climate justice demands systemic approaches to address social, environmental, and economic inequalities grounded in democratic practices and direct action. Climate justice advocates for a re-evaluation of the current economic system and challenge leaders to act with integrity towards the construction of a sustainable environmental future for all people and the environment.[2]

 

[1] Bond, Patrick. Politics of Climate Justice: Paralysis Above, Movement Below. Paper Presented to the Gyeongsang University Institute of Social Science, Jinju. 2011. P

[2] Hoerner, Andrew and Robinson, N. Just Climate Policy -- Just Racial Policy.  Racial and Gender Justice. The Race, Poverty, and Environmental Journal. 2009. P.32; P.35