Climate Justice

Climate justice redefines climate change as both an ethical and political matter and acknowledges the interconnectedness of climate change, justice, and environmental and social equity. Climate justice advocates for a people-centric approach to climate action and emphasizes representation, inclusion, and prioritizing climate risk reduction for vulnerable communities. Advancing climate justice will mitigate climate change and ensure a fair and sustainable future for all.

The impacts of climate change are vast and far-reaching, with global consequences that will affect all human systems, and creating conditions that could potentially displace hundreds of millions by 2050. Marginalized communities face disproportionate impacts from climate change, as historically, they have been concentrated in environmentally hazardous areas.

Climate justice lies at the intersection of climate action and environmental justice movements. Climate justice activism has spanned decades and generations from the 1960s Fish Wars, where local Indigenous tribes fought against the criminalization of hunting and fishing, to Fridays for Future, a youth-led and organized global climate strike movement; the fight for climate justice continues to be movement of collective liberation and action to address environmental injustices and the threat of climate change.

Climate justice seeks to make visible the communities disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change. Marginalized communities often reside in areas with higher exposure to pollution, extreme weather events, and inadequate infrastructure. For example, residents of Louisiana's Cancer Alley, who are predominantly Black Americans, face severe risk of cancer and elevated health burdens due to exposure to deadly environmental hazards. Black Americans are 40% more likely to reside in regions vulnerable to extreme weather-related deaths, and 78% of all African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant.

In the United States today, climate justice is gaining recognition as a crucial framework for addressing climate change, particularly among grassroots movements, environmental organizations, and progressive policymakers. However, significant disparities persist in terms of decision-making power that prioritizes justice for marginalized communities disproportionately affected by climate impacts.

Fundamental to climate justice is to lift and center people with lived experience of climate precarity and impacts in decision-making founded on mutual respect and justice. To advance climate justice, tailored interventions and strategies for specific priority populations are crucial in centering affected community members in decision-making. Climate justice recognizes the intersectionality of these challenges and advocates for equitable policies and practices for a systems transformation.

Changemakers and stewards can influence climate justice at scale in the U.S. by advocating for policy reforms that prioritize the needs of marginalized communities, supporting grassroots movements, and holding governments and corporations accountable for their actions. Promoting system changes that address the root causes of climate injustice, such as unequal distribution of resources and environmental racism, can contribute to creating a more equitable and sustainable future for all.