Climate justice

Meanwhile, there is growing consensus that people in regions that are the least responsible for climate change as well as the world's poorest and most marginalised communities often tend to suffer the greatest consequences.

They might also be further disadvantaged by responses to climate change which might exacerbate existing inequalities around race, gender, sexuality and disability.

Whether fundamental differences in economic systems, such as capitalism versus socialism, are the, or a, root cause of climate injustice is a contentious issue.

[33][34] According to a 2020 report by Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute,[35][36] the richest 1% of the global population have caused twice as much carbon emissions as the poorest 50% over the 25 years from 1990 to 2015.

This raises issues of intergenerational equity as it was these generations (individuals and their collective governance and economic systems) who are mainly responsible for the burden of climate change.

[54] These groups will be affected due to inequalities based on demographic characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, and income.

[55] The damage is worsened because disadvantaged groups are last to receive emergency relief and are rarely included in the planning process at local, national and international levels for coping with the impacts of climate change.

[56] Communities of color, women, indigenous groups, and people of low-income all face higher vulnerability to climate change.

[58] Indigenous peoples are unjustifiably impacted due to their low income, and continue to have fewer resources to cope with climate change.

[65] A 2023 study estimated that the top 21 fossil fuel companies would owe cumulative climate reparations of $5.4 trillion over the period 2025–2050.

[82][83][84] The urgent need for changes, especially when seeking to facilitate lifestyle-changes and shifts on an industry scale, could lead to social tension and decrease levels of public support for political parties in power.

[92][93][94] A study suggested governments of nations that have historically benefited from extraction should take the lead, with countries that have a high dependency on fossil fuels but low capacity for transition needing some support to follow.

[95] In particular, transitional impacts of a rapid extraction phase-out is thought to be better absorbed in diversified, wealthier economies as they may have more capacities for enacting absorptive socioeconomic policies.

In December 1990 the United Nations appointed an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to draft what became the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), adopted at the UN Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

The issue of the fair terms for sharing responsibility was raised forcefully for the INC by statements about climate justice from developing countries.

Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof."

In April 2010, the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth took place in Tiquipaya, Bolivia.

The World Bank allowed to low income countries temporarily stop paying debts if they are hit by climate disaster.

[119] The projected decrease of this grain and other crops can threaten the welfare and the economic development of subsistence communities in Latin America.

[122] In August 2019, Honduras declared a state of emergency when a drought caused the southern part of the country to lose 72% of its corn and 75% of its beans.

[123] The expected impacts of climate change on subsistence farmers in Latin America and other developing regions are unjust for two reasons.

In the 1980s and 1990s low world market prices for cereals and livestock resulted in decreased agricultural growth and increased rural poverty.

These changes are driven by rising sea temperatures and increased maximum water vapour content of the atmosphere as the air heats up.

[127] Hurricane Katrina in 2005 showed how climate change disasters affect different people individually,[128] as it had a disproportionate effect on low-income and minority groups.

[128] A study on the race and class dimensions of Hurricane Katrina suggests that those most vulnerable include poor, black, brown, elderly, sick, and homeless people.

[130][131] After the hurricane, low-income communities were most affected by contamination,[128] and this was made worse by the fact that government relief measures failed to adequately assist those most at risk.

The unprecedented monsoon rains and melting glaciers, attributed to climate change, submerged one-third of the country under water.

This situation highlights the essence of climate justice, emphasizing how nations with minimal contributions to global emissions suffer the most severe consequences.

[133] The islands of of Martinique and Guadeloupe are heavily contaminated with chlordecone, following years of its massive unrestricted use on banana plantations in the region.

A 2018 large-scale study by the French public health agency, Santé publique France, shows that 95% of the inhabitants of Guadeloupe and 92% of those of Martinique are contaminated by the chemical,[135] far higher than the world average.

Fridays for Future demonstration in Berlin in September 2021 with the slogan "fight for climate justice".
Many participants of grassroots movements that demand climate justice also ask for system change.
Global warming—the progression from cooler historical temperatures (blue) to recent warmer temperatures (red)—is being experienced disproportionately by younger generations. [ 45 ] With continued fossil fuel emissions, that trend that will continue. [ 45 ]
In 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands confirmed that the government must cut carbon dioxide emissions further, as climate change threatens citizens' human rights. [ 68 ]
Net income of the global oil and gas industry reached a record US$4 trillion in 2022. [ 97 ]
After recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic , energy company profits increased with greater revenues from higher fuel prices resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine , falling debt levels, tax write-downs of projects shut down in Russia, and backing off from earlier plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions . [ 100 ] Record profits sparked public calls for windfall taxes . [ 100 ]
Though the U.S.'s per capita and per GDP emissions have declined significantly, the raw numerical decline in emissions is much less substantial. [ 102 ] Growing populations and increased economic activity work against mitigation attempts.
A house is crushed and swept off its foundations by flooding from a breached levee in the Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana, due to a storm surge from Hurricane Katrina . Around 90% of the Ninth Ward's population is black.