Climate Change and Racial Inequity
It is well documented that systemic inequities that already exist in society, such as gender, age, and wealth, influence the impacts of climate change. Race is no exception. Predominantly non-white populations experience worse air and water quality and have less influence over public policy to create systemic change.
Environmental Racism is defined as “inequity in access to a clean environment and basic environmental resources based on race.” There are three key determinants of climate vulnerability: exposure to climate change, sensitivity to the effects of climate change, and the ability to adapt to climate change.
In the United States, Black families disproportionately live in urban and industrial areas where there is more exposure to air pollution and a higher risk for childhood asthma. Furthermore, Hispanic people and Latinos are more likely to live in areas that will be adversely impacted by rising temperatures, causing heat exhaustion and loss of livelihood due to infrastructure breakdown, and Pacific Islanders as well as Black and African American people are more likely to live in areas at risk of flooding in island and coastal areas. Ocean acidification disproportionately affects those who are more reliant on the ocean for their diet and economy, such as the Coastal Native American tribes.
Racial disparities – including wealth, education, employment, housing, and health – have all been recognised in the United States. These inequities have also been exhibited to increase climate change sensitivity. Racial inequities ingrained into society have and will continue to create racial disparity in climate vulnerability. For example, successive climate change-related disasters have been shown to worsen underlying racial disparities, and therefore climate change sensitivity, in Houston, Texas. Non-white populations are thus projected to continue being more vulnerable to climate change.
While Black people and Latinos are statistically more likely to support climate change-mitigating policies, evidence suggests that racial inequities also impact the influence that individuals have in policymaking. Therefore, through social inequities – including voter suppression – and increased exposure and susceptibility, the ability for individuals to adapt to climate change reduces, further deepening inequities. Further dedicated research is required regarding racial inequity and climate change. The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner recently called for increased research on climate change and racial justice.
Overall, the evidence suggests that while climate change itself does not racially discriminate, racial disparities in society act alongside other inequities to increase exposure, sensitivity, and the ability to adapt to climate change.
