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Reasons for the differential effects of climate change

Climate change has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and low income around the world. People's ability to mitigate and adapt to the negative consequences of climate change are shaped by factors such as income, race, class, gender, capital and political representation. Since communities that are affected the most, such as low-income communities or communities of color possess few if any adaptive resources, they are particularly vulnerable to climate change. It is especially difficult for people living in poverty or precarious situations to recover from environmental disasters as a result of not having the necessary resources. In addition, such populations often receive an unequal share of disaster relief and recovery assistance. They generally have minimal involvement in decision-making, and political and legal processes that relate to climate change and the natural environment as well. As a result of years of racist and classist policies, people of color and poor communities have been concentrated in the most polluted communities. At least 68% of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired plant, while only 56% of the white population does. The NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program was created in order to support community leadership in addressing this human and civil rights issue. The program works at addressing the various practices that are harming communities worldwide and the policies that are needed to correct these impacts. They also advocate for the reduction of harmful emissions, advances in energy efficient and clean energy, and the strengthening of community resilience.

Climate Justice Protests

An increasingly popular way to get public officials to give attention to climate justice is through protests and strikes. In 2019, Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old Swedish native, has started a revolution. Thunberg’s School Strike for Climate has brought a great deal of media attention to the idea of climate justice. Every Friday she skips school to strike for the climate and she once stated in an interview with Democracy Now!, “Since you don’t give a damn about my future then I won’t either,” referring to the Sweedish members of Parliament. She reaches the audience through impactful phrases and scientific information making the climate crisis a reality and not as far off as some politicians want us to think. When Thunberg came to the United States to speak at the UN Climate Summit she travel across the Atlantic Ocean by sailboat in protest of the emissions caused by airplanes. Thunberg’s radical way of protesting has created “The Greta effect” which inspires a new generation to take a stance on climate justice as a political issue. She is joined by many other students in her school strike for action towards climate change. Also, her protests has brought about increased media attention to the issue of climate change in hopes that elected officials will make a change in years to come.

Political approaches towards climate justice

Many people took a political approach to make climate justice aware on an international level. The 21st century became the time to take serious action towards climate justice because many elite groups were decreasing in power and they were unable to solve the environmental and social issues for climate justice. One group that emerged as a result of this was the Climate Action Network(CAN) and their “commitment to carbon trading was confirmed when Friends of the Earth International broke away in 2010…” However, climate justice activists demands were too high to meet. For instance, some of their demands include, “50 percent greenhouse gas emissions cut by 2020” and “payment of a rapidly rising climate debt”, which is impossible to do because “in 2010, damages to Pakistan alone amounted to $50 billion.” Therefore, it was important to take alternative steps such as connecting with UNFCCC, which is part of the United Nations, to focus on certain areas around the world. These areas included, “Nigerian and Ecuadorian oilsfiels”, “Canada’s tar sands”, and “Britain’s coal-fired power stations and main airport”, and many more. This helped spread climate advocacy to many countries because by creating links between different advocate groups of climate change, the world was work together to solve this major issue quicker.