Category: ClimateJustice_MN Politics_International_MN

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Wednesday he thinks rich countries can finally meet their pledge to provide $100 billion annually to help poor nations cope with climate change beginning this year — and will definitely reach that amount in 2023.

Urban neighborhoods that were redlined by federal officials in the 1930s tended to have higher levels of harmful air pollution eight decades later, a new study has found, adding to a body of evidence that reveals how racist policies in the past have contributed to inequalities across the United States today.

Meeting climate targets requires emissions reductions. If we consider the carbon footprint of individuals, the current global per capita value of 3.2 tCO2 exceeds the calculated 1.6–2.8 tCO2 required to limit warming to 1.5–2 °C. Individuals in high-income countries tend to have the highest average carbon footprint. Analysis recently published in Nature Sustainability provides a detailed breakdown of country and expenditure per capita emissions1. Of the 116 countries studied, Luxembourg had the highest average carbon footprint, at over 30 tCO2 per person. However, when the top 10% of the population was considered, this jumped to 76.9 tCO2. Wealth and associated spending tend to result in higher emissions.

When winter storm Uri hit Houston last February, widespread power outages resulted in residents going days without heat and electricity. Almost half of Texans lost access to clean drinking water.

Indigenous nations have been an afterthought in U.S. water policy for over a century. That was all part of the plan.

The county in California most at risk from sea level rise is San Mateo, with nearly 100,000 people — half residents of color — living just three feet above the high-tide line. If climate models prove correct, rising seas threaten billions of dollars of homes and businesses, and hundreds of contaminated sites could harm residents if flooded.

As landfill operators plan for a future with stricter regulations, more environmental justice considerations and uncertainties about PFAS and other contaminants, speakers at the Global Waste Management Symposium (GWMS) offered new guidance for adjusting to changing times.

No, those photos you saw from past Climate Week NYC events and similar gatherings over the years weren’t washed out: They were just overall very white.
Despite the data confirming that communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and environmental degradation, the wider environmental movement has long been criticized for often excluding people of color from discussions over public policy.

The Biden administration on Friday released a screening tool to help identify disadvantaged communities long plagued by environmental hazards, but it won’t include race as a factor in deciding where to devote resources.

Natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires – all made worse by the climate crisis – have something in common: they disproportionately cripple poor, Black and minority communities. Dozens of studies demonstrate how climate-aggravated natural disasters and pollution hurt minority communities in ways that barely touch wealthy white communities. There’s a very clear divide between those who are causing climate change, and those who are bearing the brunt of it. Ultimately, the floods, storms and fires will come for all of us, but it’s going to hit some of us sooner and faster, while doing more damage. If we really believe we are all in this fight against the climate crisis together, then we are going to have to fold climate justice into our efforts.