The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report, released on February 28, is being overshadowed by Russias invasion Ukraine.ThDespite being outdated and more grimmer than ever,, is still a major news story. Vulnerability, adaptation and impacts.
The report also highlighted the following: With new clarityThese consequences are unfair. The worst effects of climate change will be felt by those least responsible. True adaptation will require redressing these climate injustices between, among, or within nations.
This bookshelf feature highlights 12 titles that address racial, gender, and other manifestations of environmental/climate injustice.
The list starts with a conceptual overview, The Intersectional Environmentalist. It ends with Form and Flow which is a concrete assessment on the different impacts of major adaptation projects located in New York, Rotterdam and Jakarta. Between are autobiographies as well as manifestos and social agenda platforms. There is also a collective-help book, updated demographic information, and a summary of the demographic makeup of green organisations.
Descriptions of titles are drawn from copy provided to them by their publishers, as is the case with all this feature.
The Intersectional Environmentalist – How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression and Protect People + Planet, by Leah Thomas (Voracious Books/Little Brown 20,22, 208 pages; $25.00).
The Intersectional Environmentalistexaminesthe inextricable link between environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and promotes awarenessof the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people especially those most often unheard. Leah Thomas’ book, Activist Leah Thomass, is both a call to action as well as a promise to work for the empowerment of all peoples and the improvement of the planet. She demonstrates that environmental injustices can affect people of color in unequal and unfair ways. However, she also argues for civil rights and the fight to save the planet. This book is essential reading and will help define a generation.
Integrating Ecology & Justice in a Climate Change, edited and published by Sam Mickey (University of San Francisco Press 2020), 88 pages, $14.00 paperback
Climate emergency poses a grave threat to humanity and all life on Earth, as unprecedented changes are taking place. This is a problem that affects survival and sustainability. However, it raises questions regarding justice. It is impossible to understand ecological destruction without understanding the systemic inequalities in social systems. The book Integrating Ecology and Justice: A Changing Climate covers a broad range of topics, including Zen Buddhism and Pope Francis. It also addresses the Global North and Global South. This book provides tools to help you think through these complex issues and facilitates the creation of healthy, convivial and contemplative ways of being in this world.
Green 2.0: 2021 NGO & Foundation Transparency Report Card, by Chandler Puritty, Green 2.0 2021, 157 Pages, Free Download Available Here)
Green 2.0 presents data on diversity among staff of non-profit organizations (NGOs), and data on diversity grant-making from foundations for the fifth consecutive year. The 2021 NGO report card includes a detailed breakdown on racial, ethnic, and head counts, retention rates, as well as data on diversity, equity and inclusion practices for individual NGOs during the period January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
WhiteSkin, Black Fuel: The Danger of Fossil Fascism, by Andreas Malm & the Zetkin Collective, Verso Books 2021 576 pages, $29.95 Paperback
What does the rise and rise of the far right have to do with the fight against climate change White Skin, Black Fuel presents the first comprehensive study of far rights’ role in the climate crisis. It reveals the deep historical roots of this new political constellation. Fossil-fuelled technologies are steeped in racism. They were loved more passionately by the classical fascists than anyone else. Right-wing forces are now surfacing, with some claiming to have the solution to closing borders to save the country as the climate collapses. White Skin, Black Fuel is an epic and compelling story that shows a future where political fronts can only heat up.
Climate Change is Racist: Race, Privilege, and the Struggle for Climate Justice, by Jeremy Williams, Icon Books 2021. 208 pages. $16.95 paperback.
Racism can refer to institutional biases and personal prejudice. Climate change doesn’t work in this way. It is structurally racist and is disproportionately caused in majority White countries by majority White people. The majority of the damage is largely borne out by people of color. Jeremy Williams, a writer, environmental activist, and author, takes us on a brief, urgent journey around the globe from Kenya, India, the USA, Australia, and elsewhere to see how White privilege intersects with climate change. We will examine the environmental facts and hear the stories of those most affected by climate change. It is time for us all to find our place within the global struggle for justice.
The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions to a Broken SystemAnna Gifty Opoku Agyeman edited this book (St. Martins Press 2022), 272 pages, $28.99
The Black Agenda is edited by Anna Gifty Opoku Agyeman. It is the first book of its type and a bold, urgent move towards social justice. It asks the question, “What’s next for America?” It covers topics such as policy-making and mental health, artificial intelligence and climate movement, the future work, the LGBTQ community, criminal justice, and many other areas. The essays contain groundbreaking ideas that range from Black maternal and infant care to reparations for AI bias to inclusive economic policies, ideas that have the potential to heal and uplift not only Black America but the whole country.
A Bigger Picture: My Fight for a New Africa Voice in the Climate Crisis, by Vanessa Nakate (Mariner Books 20, 240 pages, $22.00).
While attending the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland), in January 2020, Vanessa Nakate was cropped from a photo of five young climate activists. The other four activists were all black. This incident highlighted the message Nakate had been sending all along: the voices of those who have been left out of the climate debate are now being heard. Nakate’s story as a young Ugandan girl who sees that the climate crisis has disproportionately affected her community is told in A Bigger Picture. Her book, which chronicles her journey from shy Kampala girl to world leader, is a powerful manifesto and poignant memoir. It presents a vision of the climate movement that emphasizes resilience, sustainability and equity.
How women can save the planetAnne Karpf (Hurst Publishers 2021), 392 pages, $26.00
Here’s a paradox: Women, especially women of color, are the ones most affected by climate change. Our most prominent climate activists are girls and women, but it’s men who make the decisions about the future of the planet. We weren’t all in this together, but we could. Instead of expecting individual women to save our planet, we need global climate policies that promote equality and gender inclusion. Anne Karpf, a sociologist, shines a spotlight on the inspiring ideas, compelling research, and tireless campaigns, which have inspired her to believe in hope. Faced with the greatest crisis of our time, she offers a powerful vision: A Green New Deal for Women.
Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science, by Jessica Hernandez (North Atlantic Books 2022), 256 pages, $17.95 Paperback
Despite the fact that climate devastation is most severe to Indigenous communities, mainstream environmental policy and discourse have not included Indigenous science. Jessica Hernandez Maya Chorti, Zapotec environmental scientist, and founder of environmental agency Pia Soul, presents and contextualizes Indigenous environmental knowledge. She also proposes a vision for land stewardship that heals instead of displaces, that creates rather than destroys. Hernandez demonstrates that in order to restore the health of the planet for all, Hernandez uses case studies, historical overviews and stories that feature Indigenous Latin American women who are land protectors.
Gonna Trouble The Water: Ecojustice and Water RacismMiguel A. edited this book. De La Torre (The Pilgrim Press 2021 160 pages, $24.95 paperback).
Gonna Trouble the Water examines the sacred nature and use of water against non-white communities. It is grounded in the intersection between environmentalism and racism.It is clear that to deny water, you are denying life. With compelling contributions by scholars and activists as well as politicians and theologians like Bill Ritter (ex-Colorado governor), Ved P.Nanda, a global academic lawyer, and Michelle Andrea Martinez (Detroit-based activist), Gonna Trouble the Waterde-centers the idea of water being a commodity to bring attention to water’s dignity, its life-giving character, and the dignity of water.
Climate Justice and Feasibility – Normative Theorizing and Feasibility Constraints. Climate Action, edited and published by Sarah Kenehan & Corey Katz (Rowman & Littlefield 2021), 260 pages, $45.00 ebook
This multidisciplinary collection contains contributions that reflect on how to understand the relationship between climate justice principles and climate action feasibility constraints. Some discuss the usefulness and utility of theories to guide policymaking and action on climate. Others draw important parallels or distinctions between the constraints that were faced in order address the COVID-19 epidemic and those that are needed to address global climate change. International contributors to this volume employ a wide variety of approaches, frameworks, and re-examine the ways in which climate justice should have been considered at the policy level by researchers, students, and policymakers.
Form and Flow: The Spatial Politics and Urban Resilience of Climate Justice and Urban Resilience, by KianGoh (The MIT Press 2021 298 pages, $35.00 paperback).
Cities around the globe are creating plans to adapt to climate changes and create new ones. Many times, those living in marginalized areas resist these plans and offer counterplans to protest unfair and exclusionary actions. Kian Goh explores climate change response strategies as well as the mobilization and participation of community groups to challenge the perceived injustices or oversights of these plans. Goh looks at urban design and socioecological geopolitics to see how contested visions are created and shaped. She examines initiatives such as Rebuild By Design in New York and the Giant Sea Wall in Jakarta and Rotterdam Climate Proof and interprets their competing narratives. She then proposes a theoretical framework to design equitable and just urban climate futures.