The Climate Crisis is a Justice Crisis

Image by FRIDA, 2020

Yes, you heard it well. The climate crisis is a justice crisis. We have been thinking wrong, this is not only an environmental crisis, but it’s also a social one which makes the whole situation much more complicated.

We are not just fighting for our future and one of the next generations anymore. We are not only combating re-wilding and reforestation to decrease CO2 levels. We are not just fighting to keep temperatures below 2.5 degrees at a pre-industrial level.

We are also fighting for human rights linked with the climate crisis, for those in sub-Saharan Africa who do not provide income anymore due to all their herds dying after floods or extreme droughts. We fight for indigenous communities whose heritage is being lost as they see their lands destroyed and their lifestyle affected by climate change. We fight now to break environmental racism in America and many other countries around the world. We fight for those small countries in the Pacific who become the next Atlantis day by day, and their voice or power is not big enough to create urgent and drastic measures NOW.

This is the real fight, people; there must be an adjustment of the economies and societies, and here comes the hard part.

Due to increasing temperatures and unpredictable rainfall, many children in Kenya become sick because their families are unable to provide them with sufficient food and safe water. Image from Human Rights Watch, 2015

We must re-arrange our societal system to a more inclusive, just, and egalitarian one. Even if the climate crisis becomes more ravaging than it already is, less than 1% of the population will be safe from its devastating consequences. What about the rest? Do we die from the overheated world? Do we die of hunger? Do we eliminate every indigenous community?

The climate crisis is sure as hell important, but humanity faces climate injustice, which doesn’t appear as one of the main points in the conversation. How do we raise awareness?

• Write about it, we are a massive community of fantastic writers, and we have the capability of reaching millions.
• For the college and master students, bring these points to the discussion. Whether an economist or an engineer, climate justice applies and should be considered for any discipline today.
• If you are a young professional, bring this topic to the table of the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. Inform your clients involved with sustainable development.
• If you are part of an NGO, educate your team on this and provide workshops, webinars, and action to take. This is another side of the story, and it should not go untold.
• Read about it! Today’s top picks are Climate Justice by Mary Robinson and A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and its Assault on the American Mind by Harriet A. Washington.

My final food for thought for you?

How will you be a good ancestor? How will you fight for our society and humanity? Will future generations be proud of your job?