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Climate change disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable people. To address this problem, we need a justice oriented worldview that places empowerment and protection at the top. Other indicators also show how much work is needed to build this justice-oriented view. A loss of cultural wisdom and ecological knowledge, increased desertification, and the sinking low-lying islands all indicate the need to rethink our global priorities.
Businesses are increasingly concerned about climate change and the impact it has on their business operations. Mark Versey, CEO at Aviva Investors, lists biodiversity loss and climate change in his Annual letterInstitutional investors, wealth managers, and shareholders rank climate concerns as their top stewardship priority. Climate concerns rank also highest in the high-level-of-risk-response blind spotsAccording to research from the World Economic Forum, this is approximately 80%.
To respond adequately to climate challenges, it is important to ask ourselves how we can ensure that the response is fair for all and in the best interests of the planet. We need to ask ourselves some questions in order to do this.
Whose voices have been silenced?
The climate crisis has adverse effects on minority groups. One’s gender, disability or religion can also make it worse. These groups often find themselves being pushed to one side and must be included in decisions about new initiatives and solutions to combat climate change.
Particularly, the voices of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), are being left out of greening initiatives and conversations. For example, Indigenous Peoples constitute less than 5 percent of the world’s population but safeguard over 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Even so, BIPOC face environmental racismBoth in the extractive industry and in Policies and solutionsTo combat the climate crises.
The following guidelines are required to ensure that stakeholders are included and consent to new solutions and initiatives. FAIR CARE It is possible to adapt principles to engage BIPOC.
These principles can be used effectively to improve co-governance Good governance. One example of co-governance is the conservation of the Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls), at the border of Zimbabwe, Zambia. The National Heritage Conservation CommissionConsulted with Indigenous peoples, participated in cultural mapping exercises, and incorporated traditional knowledge into management strategies.
A good example of governance is, in turn, Māori representation and governance on Te Awa Tupua and Te Urewera boards. Here, each board has equal representation of Māori and non-Māori, with Māori representation set to increase over time.
BIPOC have lived their entire lives in harmony with the environment since infancy and don’t want to lose that connection. We are all part of nature as humans. Those who can best understand this need to be included in a meaningful effort to fight climate change.
What are you doing to make a difference?
Important problems require system-led, transformative change. Climate action policy-makers and policy-creators are looking for predictable, controllable ways to address the unpredictable, changing systems.
This tension can be illustrated by the analogy of the clock vs. the cloud (or complex versus simple) distinction. While policy solutions and strategies are often presented in quantifiable, controllable units (such time in a clock), the reality is constantly changing, changing and inter-related (such the cloud).
Systems change is fundamentally a “cloud problem” within a world that is built for “clock solutions.” These two types require two fundamentally different approaches.
Instead of viewing systems-shifting strategies as binary, there is a range of issues and interventions to be considered, from the spectrum between clock to cloud.
It is important to understand the climate change appetite and the short- and long-term interventions that are required before you engage in climate work. Shift the system.
Is there an underlying inequality that is causing the problem?
Climate justice requires that we understand that adverse effects of climate change do not affect everyone equally. Historical inequalities make the impacts worse. Two perspectives are offered to help you understand rooted inequalities.
First, recognize and acknowledge the intersectional history of your problem. Intersectionality recognizes the unique experiences of each individual with discrimination and oppression. Climate solutions should address all aspects of discrimination and oppression, including race, gender, sexuality, ability, and class.
Research has shown that cities can be decarbonized with green technology. Social equity, gender, and disability issues can be automatically addressed. Cities must actively work towards equity and accessibility in city planning.
Second, to address inequality, we must transform our human relationship with the planet. We must realize that improving sustainability performance is not enough. Emerge Institute’s Iceberg Model of ChangeIt combines both elements for system change and internal transformational improvement. It says that we must:
- Learn the signs and consequences of a disconnected and extractive world, including the negative impacts of climate change.
- See the paradigms that allow the system to work; and
- Uncover the hidden traumas of intergenerational, personal, and collective generations.
We can understand the history and underlying inequalities in communities to produce contextually relevant and community-sensitive analyses on root causes. This allows us to take deeper and more regenerative climate actions for the benefit of all.
We have to understand people within the multiplicity of frames that shape their lives — everyday frames of experience that they choose, that they inherit, that are imposed on them and that may be transformed, disintegrated, forgotten or ritualized.
—Audra Simpson, Mohawk scholar
Innovation is essential, but what are its limits.
Experts at forefront of climate crisis advocacy are in favor Innovative technology in clean energy and low carbon technologies is a breakthrough. These inventions must be evaluated on their practicality, risks, and usefulness before we pursue them. Two important considerations will help us to determine where we should focus our efforts.
First, while new solutions may be manageable by resilient and well-resourced communities, they can also pose risks that could devastate vulnerable people. These risks need to be anticipated and carefully considered. “Principles for ethical humanitarian innovation“The World Humanitarian Summit highlights how innovation must be balanced with risk-taking,” said a spokesperson. This is all reflected in the principle “do no harm”.
Secondly, the simplest and most effective solutions may be overlooked and underfunded in favor of what’s new and tech-centric. Although technologies such as circular economy services and plant-based plastics have been commercially available for decades now, their adoption has been slow. Innovation is not always the solution. The constant focus on innovation leads to a blindness to the root problems and a fall into the trap of technological innovation. solutionism.
Tech-centric innovation could lead to a more sustainable future, according to the EIT Climate KIC Model for system innovationWe must learn to weave technological advances into society’s fabric, while not forgetting cultural innovations.
Moving forward
Google’s 2021 Year in Search dataResearch shows that searches for “impacts on climate change” or “missing Indigenous women”, have risen sharply. The world needs to be guided and offered solutions. We must create a future that is not only for certain communities but for all.
