Justice in a changing climate

 

The climate crisis, how governments respond to it and how this response impacts on the most marginalized are among the most pressing international issues going forward, and yet leadership on this issue is lacking. All these responses – or the failure to respond – will bring with them transitions at multiple scales that hold the possibility to create or exacerbate inequalities and injustices. They also hold the potential to transform society to a more resilient, just and equitable future.

This project will bring together three complementary initiatives designed to explore the intersections of justice and climate change by connecting and mobilizing the leadership and voice of groups that face critical threats from climate change or climate action. The first component will generate lessons about how to connect Indigenous knowledge and worldviews about justice to national adaptation plans in Chile and Peru, with links to Bolivia and Paraguay. The second component leverages a major window of opportunity to integrate questions of inclusion and rights into Bangladesh’s national strategy on planned relocation from climate change, and therefore to support transformational outcomes for vulnerable populations experiencing climate-induced relocation. The third component will capitalize on the global reach of the climate and development knowledge network to empower local groups and communities to effectively advocate for just and inclusive climate action in Africa, South Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, and will broker these voices at the global level. This initiative will explore local perspectives of justice and refine our understanding of feminist climate justice.

Members of the three initiatives will be convened at key moments during the project to share perspectives and co-develop lessons, with a view to informing a larger research agenda on justice in a changing climate in the Global South. This project will increase the capacities of key actors across three continents to identify more equitable, inclusive and rights-based climate action. The project will connect active networks of key actors capable of linking efforts to scale inclusion, equality and rights through climate action from the community to the global level. As an exploratory project, it will also result in tested approaches to protect rights and resolve competing priorities of climate action that ensure equality and inclusion for marginalized groups.