Climate Justice

What is climate justice?

Climate change is an issue of injustice, similar to how we think about other human rights violations. It is the result of a small group of powerful people taking actions that inflict harm on another group of people: the rest of us. The people who suffer the most are already marginalized, such as people in lower-income countries and those who experience discrimination in higher-income countries.  

That’s why you’ve probably heard a lot of activists and social movements using the phrase climate justice, which uses a human-centric lens to talk about policies to bring about change in a fair and equitable way.   

A climate justice approach looks at the root causes of the climate crisis and how climate change builds on and magnifies inequalities. It calls on powerful institutions to address these imbalances and injustices, and to lay the groundwork for a future that does not replicate the discrimination of the present and the past.  

A movement for climate justice centres itself on the demands, experience and knowledge of groups and communities most affected by the climate crisis.  

It calls on all of us to recognize our own privilege in the way we campaign and mobilize for a just and equitable future. 

Gender, racial, class, ethnic, disability and intergenerational justice are essential to truly achieving climate justice. 

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What causes climate change?

• Burning fossil fuels
• Agriculture and deforestation
• Land-use change

The planet is warming more rapidly than ever due to a series of human-made factors.  

The burning of fossil fuels for energy and transport – like so-called ‘natural gas’, oil and coal – emits toxic pollution which poisons our air and lungs and is responsible for more than 70 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide and methane in the air trap energy in our atmosphere and heat up the planet. 

The harmful effects of fossil-fuel emissions are deepening at an alarming rate. This is because our governments are not transitioning our economies away from a dependence on fossil fuels fast enough. While in many parts of the world renewable energy investment has increased, fossil fuel use is not decreasing because total energy use keeps increasing.

Our governments – especially those in high income, high emitting countries – need to focus on transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards more sustainable, just energy solutions and on helping lower income countries to do so too. 

Which industries contribute to climate change the most?

Almost all industries engage in the burning of fossil fuels, but some contribute to greenhouse gas emissions more than others. Unsurprisingly, the industry producing the most fossil-fuel emissions is the energy sector, which sells a product that by definition harms the climate.  

The second largest polluter is the agriculture sector. Practices like industrial livestock farming, deforestation and land-use change not only contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in our air but also destroy our natural defense to increasing carbon dioxide levels. Forests and trees consume carbon-dioxide and play a huge role in protecting our atmosphere, but they are regularly destroyed by intentional forest fires to clear land for commercial farming. 

Who is most impacted by inaction on climate change?

Climate change will continue to harm all of us unless governments take action and seek help to do so if they need it. But its effects are much more pronounced for certain communities and groups, as well as those who are generally already disadvantaged and subject to discrimination. This includes, but is not limited to:

People in developing nations, especially coastal countries and small island states

Those in lower income countries, especially low-lying, small island states and less developed countries, are already among those worst affected by climate change. People in these countries have contributed very little to greenhouse gas emissions, but their countries are among the most harmed.

While some countries are especially vulnerable to climate change due to geography – such as small island states – it is no accident that lower-income countries experience the most loss and damage. This is due not only to their exposure to climate-related disasters, but also to the lasting consequences of colonialism, and its legacy of unequal distribution of resources among countries. These power differentials are enabled by present-day racism and neo-colonial attitudes.

Lower-income countries lack the money to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. And yet those with the necessary resources, like corporations and governments from higher-income countries, regularly ignore their legal responsibilities and obligations to address these harms.

Despite this profound power imbalance, many governments and activists in lower income countries are fighting back. For example, a campaign run by the government of Vanuatu and students from the small Pacific Island nation resulted in a historic vote at the UN, which strengthened the calls to consider inaction on climate change an issue of international justice.

Communities suffering from environmental racism

The effects of climate change and fossil fuel-related pollution also run along racial lines and other types of social hierarchies.

For example, in North America, poorer communities of colour are often forced to breathe toxic air because their neighbourhoods are more likely to be situated next to power plants, petrochemical facilities and refineries. They experience markedly higher rates of respiratory illnesses and cancers. African Americans are three times more likely to die of airborne pollution than the overall US population.

Marginalized women and girls 

Women and girls are often confined to roles and jobs that make them more reliant on natural resources. Because they face barriers in accessing financial or technical resources or are denied land ownership, they are less able to adapt to climate change. This means that they are more at risk from the impacts of climate-related events as they are less able to protect themselves against it and will find it harder to recover.

Children

Children and young people are already suffering due to their specific metabolism, physiology and developmental needs. This means, for example, that forced displacement experienced by communities (which impacts 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.

What should governments be doing about climate justice?

States have an obligation to protect human rights, including from harm caused by climate change.

So far, the actions and commitments taken by the Canadian government and other states are inadequate to prevent the climate crisis. Much more ambitious action is necessary. It is imperative that governments take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance that they do so in a way that avoids harming human rights.

Amnesty urges the Canadian government to rapidly and substantially strengthen its efforts to address the grave and mounting human rights implications of climate change. Canada must commit to end the use of all fossil fuels and shift to 100% renewable energy as soon as possible and no later than 2040.

At the same time, the Canadian government must ensure that the transition to a zero-carbon economy respects, protects, and fulfills human rights. The Canadian government must also provide substantial financial and technical support to help the hardest hit communities, home and abroad, mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The dramatic impacts of climate change have exposed with devastating clarity, how integral a healthy environment is to the enjoyment of all our other rights.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

How is Amnesty holding leaders accountable and push for an end to fossil fuels?

Powerful decision-makers need to put people before profit and bring about a full and fast end to fossil fuel use.  

True justice will include an end to the destruction of the planet, but also support for those who are most affected.  

Governments and company CEOs are violating our human rights when they choose to continue destroying the environment. This is not just a question of goodwill, but a legal obligation that applies to all governments and corporations. The movement to phase out fossil fuel production and use should be carried out fairly. That’s why high-income countries who have emitted the most historically carry a heavier burden for delivering climate justice. These countries should provide money to lower income states so all parties can meet their emission reduction targets.

We’re seeking justice for the impacts of climate change. We collect evidence and research to demand those in power take action and to strengthen the legal case against them.

Perhaps most importantly, we campaign with people like you to make enough noise so that inaction on climate change will not go unnoticed.