海角视频

Concerns about the perilous state of our climate are rightly front and centre in global discussions. But too often, one key area is overlooked: environmental justice.

One would have to be living on another planet to not understand the damage we are doing to this one. The climate crisis is here 鈥� and its impacts are felt by us all. It has environmental, economic and social implications, ranging from rising temperatures, extreme weather events and food and water insecurity, to shocks upon global supply chains, urban infrastructures, water supplies and energy systems.

While we are all affected by the consequences of climate change, some communities are impacted more severely than others. Often already marginalised groups of people- ethnic minorities, indigenous persons, people of colour, those living in poverty – bear the brunt of the most harmful effects of the climate change.

This is a form of , or the unequal, inequitable and unfair impact of environmental risks and hazards on people and communities. They have unequal access to environmental protections that others enjoy and are excluded from decision making processes.

In an effort to move quickly on sustainability, we must not leave people behind.

Sarah Smyth, senior cities consultant, 海角视频

What do our experts think?

Sarah Smyth is a senior cities consultant at 海角视频. She explains her view on environmental injustice. 鈥淓nvironmental justice issues are deeply interconnected, with cumulative impacts that can negatively affect health and well-being 鈥� especially for communities of colour and low-income communities.

鈥淲hen we approach sustainability and climate action through a lens of environmental justice, that means taking these considerations into the policy-making process 鈥� and to make sure that in our efforts to advance sustainability, that we are not also impeding social equity. These two things need to work in harmony: in an effort to move quickly on sustainability, we must not leave people behind.鈥� 

Bianca Laura Latini is an associate engineer in the sustainability and physics team at 海角视频 and acts as global lead of social impact. She said, 鈥淭here is a local level and a global level of environmental impact. Communities in the outskirts of cities (where there is likely to be more industrial work, and poor air and water quality), with a dense population, can be disproportionately affected by climate change. And because of historical injustices, they are likely to be minority groups.

鈥淥n a broader, global scale of environmental injustice, we are talking about the global south, which suffers disproportionately from the impact of resource extraction and carbon emissions. This imbalance of dynamics between the global north and south is a key environmental justice issue.鈥�

The imbalance of dynamics between the global north and south is a key environmental justice issue.

Bianca Laura Latini, associate sustainability engineer, 海角视频

Community and key stakeholder engagement

For any approach 鈥� in any industry 鈥� that understands and centres environmental justice, we must make sure we reach out to communities who will feel the effects the most. How do we focus on these communities and engage to a degree that we improve the built environment for those who will be most affected by climate change?

Sarah Smyth said, 鈥� centres on the concept of fair treatment and meaningful involvement. Fair treatment means that all communities have equal protection from environmental hazards and equitable access to environmental benefits. And meaningful involvement means that all communities have equitable access to public participation in decisions that directly affect their environment and livelihoods. We cannot begin to address disparities if we do not have an open community engagement process.鈥�

Developing solutions for all

Environmental justice seeks to address the disparities of climate and environmental hazards across different communities. The world (and the built environment) increasingly tackles sustainability challenges head on, but it is critical that in doing so, all people are treated fairly and are allowed meaningful engagement as solutions are developed and implemented.

Often, those who contribute the least to climate change are the ones who suffer the most. The climate crisis is a political and social problem, as well as environmental one. When these intersecting concerns disproportionately affect people, we must devise solutions that promote equity and address stark disparities.

A central part of this work is understanding and acting on the delicate balance of environmental and social needs. It is an extremely complex picture and one that is hard to untangle.

Bianca Laura Latini said, 鈥淕enerally, when we are talking about mitigating climate change, then there is a natural mitigation to the negative effects on groups of people who are most vulnerable to climate change. There is an inherent positive knock-on effect.鈥�

Climate change mitigation has this inherently knock-on effect, in particular, for vulnerable groups. Conversely, climate change adaptation requires targeted efforts to deliver optimum benefits. This is true at both local and global scales.

Bianca continued, 鈥淚 think it is important to consider how many people may dismiss any prioritisation of social issues and only focus on environmental ones. This dismisses the nuances of the interactions between social and environmental sustainability spheres.

鈥淭he environment belongs to the people who live in it 鈥� we don鈥檛 exist separately from it. For me, this is a collective humanity issue 鈥� addressing both physical and social impacts of the climate crisis, and understanding how they link together, is crucial. We can鈥檛 hope to address the climate crisis separately from humanity!鈥�