Climate Change Is a Human Rights Issue
Photo by Lorie Shaull is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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The increased frequency and severity of natural disasters. The rise in conflict and wars over resources. The loss of thousands of species. Food insecurity. Disappearing islands. Death. The cause…climate change. Climate change is the most pressing issue of the 21st century as it contributes to rising sea-levels, threatens food and water security in regions around the world, and exacerbates existing inequalities between those that have the resources to adapt and those that do not. There are many dimensions to inequality that operate across race, gender, socio-economic status, and location. Climate change is emerging as another dimension. Some people do not have the privilege of ignoring the effects of climate change because many of them will be the most affected. Studies show that minority communities, the poor, developing countries, and women will be disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change. Climate change is not only an environmental issue, but also a human rights issue.
Climate change is an existential threat to human civilization right now. It has the capacity to radically alter all life on Earth and threaten the well-being of both current and future generations. Because the impacts of climate change will affect all people around the world, it is likely to become a global crisis in the near future. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), average global temperatures are expected to rise as much as 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 at its present rate. Although 1.5°C of warming is unprecedented for human civilization, a world with 2°C warming would be significantly worse. A 1.5°C world means that hundreds of millions of people, particularly in poor countries, would be less at risk of climate-related poverty and food insecurity. Additionally, it means we are able to preserve key species such as insects and corals. Thus, it is imperative that we act now to significantly reduce the rate of warming and avoid a global crisis. While there are natural causes of climate change, the current rate of warming and the rise in sea-levels are unprecedented. There has been a significant increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses because of industrialization, deforestation, and subsistence farming. These greenhouse gasses have significantly contributed to the acceleration of climate change. The effects include a lack of safe drinking water, large changes in the conditions for growing food, increases in heat waves, and an upsurge in the rate of mortality due to floods, tornadoes, and droughts. Because the current rate of climate change is caused by human activities, it is essential that we address and mitigate the threat immediately.
Although climate change affects everyone around the world, some people—like minority communities, the poor, and women—are affected more than others. Marginalized communities contribute the least to climate change, which can largely be attributed to their lower carbon emissions. However, the effects of climate change will have a larger impact on their lives. On average, low income families produce less CO2 emissions per household. Such families will be impacted more by climate change as they lack the resources to adapt to its effects, such as higher temperatures or more flooding events. Additionally, because women worldwide generally drive less often, they emit fewer greenhouse gases associated with cars. Furthermore, men generally consume a larger quantity of red meat. This has a large environmental impact because the production of beef requires significantly more land and releases large amounts of methane. Americans must examine the United States as it offers a unique example of a developed country with significant racial and economic disparities. For this very reason, minority communities and the poor within the United States are disproportionately affected by issues pertaining to the environment and the rise in temperatures.
In regards to low-income and minority communities in the United States, many are forced to breathe toxic air as a result of their proximity to dangerous energy factories, toxic waste sites, and other hazardous facilities. Their environment is another way in which such communities are marginalized. Therefore, climate change will exacerbate the health problems in communities that are already vulnerable. As a result, such communities have a larger risk of dying from diseases and ailments associated with high levels of contaminants in the atmosphere.
Additionally, the legacy of redlining policies of the 20th century endures. Bankers restricted potential homeowners access to financial services based on race or ethnicity. This policy “has persisted through entrenched segregation; economic inequality; lack of public services to redlined communities; and air quality deterioration from urban highways, industrial plants and landfills.” Such factors created a more extreme temperature burden on residents of these communities compared to predominantly white (non-redlined) neighborhoods. Climate change and rising temperatures contribute to the urban heat island effect in which urban areas, where low-income and minorities tend to live are warmer than nearby rural and suburban areas. As a result, historically redlined regions are 5°F warmer than non-redlined regions. This temperature difference between the two areas can reach 20°F in the summer. Due to this difference, low-income and minority communities face a higher risk of developing heat-related illnesses that can cause death. The impacts of the urban heat island effect can impact the health of such communities by exacerbating health inequalities and causing discomfort, difficulties breathing, heat exhaustion and stroke, and heat-related mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1979 and 2003, there were 8,000 premature deaths because of excessive heat exposure in the United States.
Oftentimes, black and poor families are priced out of safe, secure housing. Generally, the homes of low-income communities are more vulnerable to disasters as a result of the quality of construction and type of homes occupied. This susceptibility to disasters threatens the safety of such communities as it increases their vulnerability to flooding and other natural disasters. Climate change will increase the rate of floods and other natural disasters. This elevates the mortality rate associated with such disasters. In the case of the United States, climate change will exacerbate the inequalities between communities and will result in greater vulnerability of some communities to climate change’s harmful effects. It is important to note that climate change not only affects minority and low-income communities in the United States--it is even a significant contributor to famine and conflict on a global scale.
People living in poverty and in developing countries will be disproportionately affected by climate change, particularly in the Global South. Given that the poor in developing economies usually rely on subsistence farming for survival, climate change will negatively affect their lives. The increase in droughts and changes in precipitation have affected the harvests of regions in these countries and now threaten global food supplies. For example, in the case of Honduras, 30% of their farmers had poor harvests. This will only get worse as climate change increases the frequency of droughts and natural disasters. Therefore, there will be a heightened risk of hunger, poverty, and conflict as a result of food shortages caused by these poor harvests.
According to Mercy Corps, climate change is a significant cause of conflict. It brings about food deprivation, endangers the lives of millions, and displaces entire communities. For example, between 1972-1974, Western and North-Central African countries experienced a famine as a result of poor rainfall followed by a drought. This led to a famine in the region. Because climate change causes precipitation patterns to change, famines caused by such changing patterns will escalate. In these cases, climate change intensifies competition and conflict over resources and exacerbates existing conflict and tension. Additionally, instability within countries and societies will worsen if governments are unable to handle the disasters associated with a changing climate. Furthermore, because of the growing number of natural disasters, those living in poverty or in developing countries run the risk of losing their homes. Both climate change-induced droughts and the homelessness as a result of natural disasters will create a serious refugee crisis. Given that existing climate refugees are not offered protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the world is currently unable to cope with the existing number of refugees, this crisis would only get worse. Because the poor and those living in developing countries don’t have the resources to face rapid changes, they will suffer the worst consequences.
Finally, climate change has a larger impact on women. In many countries, it is more common for women and girls to suffer from poverty and marginalization. This limits their access to necessary resources that might protect them against the effects of climate change. Because 70% of those living in poverty are women, they face many of the same challenges as the poor. Additionally, in some parts of the world, women are responsible for gathering essential resources such as food, water, and fuel for heating and cooking. These jobs will become increasingly difficult due to greater droughts and changes in precipitation. For example, the indigenous groups of central Africa who rely on Lake Chad are at risk. Because 90% of the lake has disappeared, women must walk a greater distance to collect water. This threatens their livelihood and makes their jobs harder. While the risk of no water due to climate change is the larger problem, one must acknowledge the ways that its effects will place an additional burden on women. Women are often expected to maintain the well-being of their families. This presents additional challenges in the face of climate change. Such work is not easy and can put the lives of these women in danger. For these reasons, women are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change.
Framing climate change as a human rights issue has several tangible effects. For one, it highlights its severity while enabling governments to reclassify climate change and how it relates to socio-economic challenges so that those most at-risk are protected. People, especially in the Global North, often do not think about marginalized communities and how climate change affects them. It simply is not fair that the people that have contributed the least to climate change are the ones that are most afflicted. In the words of Kumi Naidoo, climate change is “a human rights issue not only because its devastating impacts affect the enjoyment of human rights, but also because it is a man-made phenomenon which can be mitigated by governments.” Climate change exists and it is a threat to our daily lives. Therefore, it is a human rights issue. As stated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all people have unalienable rights such as the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without discrimination. Therefore, we must ensure that governments act to mitigate climate change in order to reduce its threats to the inalienable rights of all persons.
Citizens of the Global North must recognize the ways climate change exacerbates existing inequalities and disproportionately affect certain groups. Adopting a climate justice framework that links “human rights and development to achieve a human-centred approach, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable people and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its impacts equitably and fairly” is the first step in thinking about climate change as a policy issue. Additionally, it is important to expand the Refugee Convention so that those fleeing climate-related events are offered the same protections as other asylees and refugees. For marginalized communities, for future generations, to help each other and our fellow citizens, we need to act now to mitigate climate change. We are all citizens of the Earth. We have a responsibility to protect lives and prevent permanent destruction and hardship for those most at-risk from climate change. In order to do so, we must approach the issue of climate change through a different lens that recognizes the unequal effects of climate change.