Strategies for addressing climate justice issues

The following are some strategies for addressing climate change issues:

• Fossil fuels are responsible for over 75% of global GHG emissions, accounting for 90% of CO2 There is no climate justice without a just phase-out of all fossil fuels: coal, oil, and gas (Danielle et al., 2021). The only path to a sustainable and resilient world and to achieving climate justice is to adopt an alternative economic model that quickly moves away from its addiction to fossil energy and prioritises people and sustainability over profits and extractivism. Therefore, developed and emerging countries, as the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, should take the lead in emissions reduction. This will require reducing the use of fossil fuels and advancing the use of clean energy.
• Make clean energy affordable to low- and moderate-income communities to ensure that benefits are experienced by those who need them most.
• The UNFCCC should take the lead in assessing timely progress in reducing GHG emissions towards overall targets at national and international levels, and in anticipating climate change impacts. It should then take appropriate measures to reduce climate-related risks and disasters in the near future.
• Achieving both climate and social justice requires addressing the historic and ongoing injustices that have contributed to the current existential climate crisis, and empowering local communities to participate in climate decision-making processes. This involves acknowledging that historically polluting countries and industries are responsible for the crisis the world is facing, and that those who have contributed the least to the problem are now suffering the most. It starts by holding polluting corporations and countries accountable and demanding that they pay for the damage they have caused and continue to cause.
• Creating sustainable disaster recovery budgets at national, regional, and international levels should be a critical step moving forward. This should take into account not only the cost of restoring property and economic losses, but also the human costs associated with climate change.
• Accelerating policies that improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, such as vision zero programmes, and highlighting model programmes that incentivise non-vehicle modes of transportation.
• Funding and incentivising non-vehicle mobility programmes in states and municipalities, including zero-emission zones

Activity

Activity 2.2. Identify ways of addressing climate injustice in your local area.