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ENVS461 blog 11 unit 10 Climate justice and just transitions

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By Chaoran Chen July 28, 2023 - 4:59am
ENVS461 blog 11 unit 10  Climate justice and just transitions

     I've found the "frontline" of the climate crisis, and nowhere is there more sensitivity to climate change than in those island nations that could be submerged at any time due to rising sea levels as a result of global warming. From the perspective of pursuing the climate controversy, many people in low-income areas (who are least responsible for environmental degradation) should not be held accountable for the disproportionate negative impacts on the environment caused locally when climate, racial, economic, environmental, and social issues are linked. Climate justice should protect those who are already doing their best to stay alive under an environmentally relevant tax system (low-income groups who cannot afford to pay environmental taxes).For small island developing States, which may themselves be in financial crisis, the increased probability of extreme weather has forced them to increase their budgets for reconstruction or prevention of natural disasters such as tsunamis and typhoons(Moore,2011). In addition, population displacement due to sea level rise will be a huge obstacle for island governments and people. With growing economic deficits and the negative impact of extreme weather, a food crisis is likely to ravage those poor countries, ultimately jeopardizing the safety of people's property and lives.
       This week's Climate justice and just transitions is related to and similar to the previous weeks' concepts in that they both approach environmental issues from different perspectives and explore the nature of the environmental problems as well as the underlying economic, political and other causes.
    The seed in this week's reading is Climate justice and just transitions, a concept that brings us back to reality when one is still exploring environmental issues and what steps can be taken to mitigate the climate crisis. The climate crisis has never been just an environmental issue, and it is not something that can be solved by people taking public transportation to work, buying fewer non-recyclable items, and using less fossil energy. In fact, it is often the complex economic and social issues behind environmental problems that people should be concerned about. People in extreme poverty, when they can't even feed themselves, don't care if the temperature rises a degree or two, or the sea level rises a dozen centimeters, they only feel that the price of the food they buy has become more expensive and that the probability of extreme weather conditions has increased.

 

 

 

 

Moore, Hilary, & Russell, Joshua Kahn. (2011). Organizing cools the planet: Tools and reflections on navigating the climate crisis (PMPress Pamphlet Series No. 0011). PM Press. https://climateaccess.org/resource/organizing-cools-planet