Climate justice

The issue in depth

The planet’s climate has constantly been changing over geological time, with significant fluctuations of global average temperatures.

However, this current period of warming is occurring more rapidly than any past events. It has become clear that humanity has caused most of the last century’s warming by releasing heat-trapping gases—commonly referred to as greenhouse gases—to power our modern lives. We are doing this through burning fossil fuels, agriculture and land-use and other activities that drive climate change. Greenhouse gases are at the highest levels they have ever been over the last 800,000 years. This rapid rise is a problem because it’s changing our climate at a rate that is too fast for living things to adapt to.

Climate change involves not only rising temperatures, but also extreme weather events, rising sea levels, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, and a range of other impacts. There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that global warming is mostly man-made: 97% of climate scientists have come to this conclusion.

The effects of climate change are already being felt now, but they will get worse. Global warming has reached approximately 1°C above pre-industrial levels. Every half degree (or even less) of global warming counts.

It is important to remember that no one list of the effects of climate change can be exhaustive. It is very likely that heatwaves will occur more often and last longer, and that extreme precipitation events will become more intense and frequent in many regions. The oceans will continue to warm and acidify, and global mean sea level will continue to rise. All of this will have, and is already starting to have a devastating impact on human life.

The urgent need to address climate change has become even clearer with the release of a major report in October 2018 by the world’s leading scientific body for the assessment of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC warns that in order to avoid catastrophic global warming, we must not reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – or at the very minimum not exceed that. The report sets out the massive differences between the 1.5°C and 2°C scenarios. 

By working to limit the increase in average global average temperatures to 1.5°C, the IPCC states that we could for example:

• reduce the number of people both exposed to climate-related risks and susceptible to poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050;
• protect 10 million people from risks related to sea levels;
• reduce the proportion of the global population exposed to increase in water stress by up to 50%, or one in every 25 people on this planet.

Perhaps most importantly, the IPCC report gave the world a clear deadline to avoid catastrophe: greenhouse gas emissions must be halved from their 2010 levels by 2030 to avoid reaching 1.5°C. Our governments must therefore take immediate steps right now to change course. The longer we take to do this, the more we will have to rely on costly technologies that could have harmful impacts on human rights.

These are some of the ways climate change can and is exacerbating inequalities:

• Between developed and developing nations:

At a national level, those in low-lying, small island states and less developed countries will be and already are among those worst affected. People in the Marshall Islands already regularly experience the devastating flooding and storms that destroy their homes and livelihoods. The 2018 heatwave in the northern hemisphere made headlines across Europe and North America, but some of the worst effects were also felt in places like Pakistan, where more than 60 people died – mostly labourers already working in intense heat – as temperatures soared above 44°C.

• Between different ethnicities and classes:

The effects of climate change and fossil fuel-related pollution also run along ethnicity and class lines. In North America, it is largely poorer communities of colour who are forced to breathe toxic air because their neighbourhoods are more likely to be situated next to power plants and refineries. They experience markedly higher rates of respiratory illnesses and cancers, and African Americans are three times more likely to die of airborne pollution than the overall US population. 

• Between genders:

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change, reflecting the fact that they are more likely in many countries to be marginalized and disadvantaged. This means that they are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate-related events as they are less able to protect themselves against it and will find it harder to recover.

• Between generations:

Future generations will experience the worsening effects unless action is taken now by governments. However, children and young people are already suffering due to their specific metabolism, physiology and developmental needs. This means, for example, that the forced displacement experienced by communities impacting a whole range of rights – from water, sanitation and food to adequate housing, health, education and development – is likely to be particularly harmful to children.

• Between communities:

Indigenous peoples are among the communities most impacted by climate change. They often live in marginal lands and fragile ecosystems which are particularly sensitive to alterations in the physical environment. They maintain a close connection with nature and their traditional lands on which their livelihoods and cultural identity depend.

We are calling on governments to:

• Do everything they can to help stop the global temperature rising by more than 1.5°C
• Reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 at the latest. Richer countries should do this faster. By 2030, global emissions must be half as much as they were in 2010
• Stop using fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) as quickly as possible
• Make sure that climate action is done in a way that does not violate anyone’s human rights, and reduces rather than increases inequality
• Make sure everyone, particularly those affected by climate change or the transition to a fossil-free economy, is properly informed about what is happening and is able to participate in decisions about their futures