Climate Justice and Equity

Decisions about responding to climate change cannot be based on science and economics alone. They need to incorporate considerations of humans’ relationships and responsibilities to each other, and how people who have more resources to take action can help others who have less.

Climate actions also need to avoid putting an additional burden on people who are already struggling. For example, one way to adapt to an increased risk of flooding from heavy rains is to establish policies that do not allow people to move back into flood-prone areas following a destructive flood event. The most basic question may be whether the people affected agree with this and want to move. But beyond this, more affluent households are more likely to have the financial resources to find housing elsewhere and recover from flood events. In order for the policy not to put an undue burden on less affluent populations, they will need financial assistance to move elsewhere and recover.

What is Climate Justice?

Climate justice has two parts:

1. Recognizing that climate change disproportionately affects socioeconomically vulnerable groups of people who often are the least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and have carried the heaviest societal burden of environmental hazards;
2. Requiring action to protect and empower vulnerable and historically disadvantaged communities.

Climate justice can involve technological solutions but it is centered around people and includes listening; learning about the disproportionate impact of climate change and energy choices on historically disadvantaged communities; empowering communities that lack money, political influence, and other resources; and removing barriers that have prevented historically disadvantaged communities from taking the lead on making decisions that affect them.

Intersecting Vulnerability Factors

The table below lists factors that lead to disparities in vulnerability to climate change in the United States. The different factors often intersect with and compound each other. The examples are not comprehensive, as climate change affects so many aspects of our lives that it is difficult to come up with a complete list.

In general, climate change exacerbates existing socioeconomic disparities, and hits those who are already vulnerable the hardest. Vulnerable groups of people often rely on systems that are less functional and closer to breaking, and these groups may experience climate impacts well before the wider population (for example, before a problem gets prioritized as an issue of general concern, or before something happens to mobilize widespread assistance.)

Broadening the perspective to beyond just the U.S., global inequities are based on many of the same factors as within the U.S., such as income, race, housing, and occupation. On a global scale, wealthier nations generally have more resources available for adapting to climate change. Adaptation solutions may play out on national and international levels; for example, people who live in communities prone to flooding, wildfires, or drought may adapt by relocating their residences, businesses, public infrastructure, or farms. People may be forced to relocate if their homes and livelihoods are destroyed and they cannot rebuild them. Migration driven by climate hazards could take place within a country, or across borders.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of 2021 "hazards resulting from the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as abnormally heavy rainfall, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental degradation, or sea-level rise and cyclones are already causing an average of more than 20 million people to leave their homes and move to other areas in their countries each year." [UNHCR, 2021] Climate change and resulting lack or resources can also lead to violent conflict and political instability that turn more people into refugees who are looking for safety and stability.

Countries vary over orders of magnitude in the total amount of carbon dioxide they’ve emitted in the past as a country, how much they emit now, and how much they emit per capita. One of the challenges in creating international agreements on carbon emissions and adaptation efforts, and in creating domestic support for such agreements, is in resolving the real-world economic implications of decisions that, in principle, might take these sorts of factors into account.

Just Adaptation Solutions

Because climate change interacts with socioeconomic inequities that are already pervasive, complex, and difficult to repair, climate change adaptation solutions that are socially just can be challenging to implement successfully. Two important points to recognize are:

1. Climate change adaptation is inherently local and must be tailored to communities’ needs, because solutions that work for one community may not work for other communities.

2. Investment is necessary in order to reduce risks from climate change.

In its 2022 report on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identified several categories where public and private investment are needed in order to help people who are facing poverty: [J. Birkmann et al, 2022]

• Natural assets  (e.g., mangroves, farmland, wetlands)
• Human assets (e.g., health, skills, Indigenous knowledge)
• Physical assets (e.g., mobile phone connectivity, housing, electricity, technology)
• Financial assets (e.g., savings, credit)
• Social assets (e.g., social networks, membership of organizations such as farmer cooperatives).

Example Solution: Community Gardens

An example of investment that promotes climate change resilience and climate justice is the support of community gardens. New York City, for example, had over 100 acres of land devoted to community gardens in 2019, and most are in neighborhoods where residents do not have nearby access to public parks. Permeable surfaces such as gardens play an important role in soaking up stormwater in cities, which is increasingly vital as heavy rainfalls become more frequent. EarthJustice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law organization, describes the benefits of New York City's community gardens:

The type of investment and support that helps community gardens thrive includes financial support from city government and private funders, advocacy from non-profit organizations such as the New York City Community Garden Coalition, and legal support from organizations such as EarthJustice that work to get protected legal status for community gardens.

Example Solution: Affordable, Energy-Efficient Housing

Another example of a just solution is building affordable housing that incorporates energy efficient features such as insulation, heat pumps for energy efficient heating and cooling, and energy efficient appliances. These types of energy efficiency measures will reduce energy use and monthly energy bills, so this type of housing helps residents with low incomes because it is not just affordable to purchase or rent—it is also affordable to live in. This solution is both an adaptation and mitigation solution: it helps people adapt to extreme heat by providing air conditioning to those who might not otherwise afford it, and it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by reducing energy use.

Developers may need public or private investment to be able to build this type of affordable housing, such as government or private foundation grants and funds from private donors.