Part of the ‘Finding Balance’ Series by Lily Bower
Over the past few years, as I’ve learnt more about the climate crisis (I don’t know about you, but I feel dread whenever I hear those words), I have felt the need to use whatever power I have to act. I’ve always known that my future career will be something to do with ‘helping people’, but I had no idea what that would actually look like. I haven’t always been interested in climate change either. I don’t know whether that was due a lack of knowledge, but I only really began to care about the climate crisis when I learnt how closely linked people and society are to the climate. It may sound obvious that people and the planet are tightly interwoven, but we’re not always taught that, especially in Western cultures where individualism is paramount. So, discovering that climate justice is a thing was amazing!
The UN describe climate justice as “the moral and ethical principle that seeks to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable communities and future generations”. It is about finding “equitable solutions” to the problems that acknowledge “historical and systemic inequalities”. One of my favorite quotes to explain climate justice was written in Mikeala Loach’s book ‘It’s Not That Radical’: “We might all be facing the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat”.
Climate justice means fairly solving the climate crisis, and the perpetrators paying for the harm they have caused. This includes ideas of reparations from rich countries (usually in the Global North) to countries that are suffering the most and are the most vulnerable to climate disasters (typically in the Global South) – countries that have the lowest carbon emissions and that have used the least of their ‘carbon budget’.
I have learnt a lot about social and environmental inequalities from educators and activists on Instagram and I feel grateful that social media can provide us with knowledge and perspectives that we wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
Something I love about climate justice is that it’s all about striving towards a better future. I think if climate action was only about preventing disasters then we would get de-motivated and burnt-out easily (the whole focus of the action is about disaster!). But if the motivation and passion for climate action comes from the desire to create a better and more beautiful world, then I at least, find it a lot easier to stay sane and keep going. Obviously, we do need to educate ourselves and come to terms with the terrifying consequences of climate breakdown (easier said than done) but framing your climate action as ‘creating a positive’ rather than ‘preventing a negative’ can be very powerful.
Taking time to imagine my ideal future has been very important for reframing the way I view climate action. I do this by writing my thoughts, talking to others, or simply closing my eyes and immersing myself in what it feels like to be in my ideal future. I’ll write a future blog on this topic and share what has inspired me to think idealistically.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and some of it resonated with you.
Have a lovely week,
Lily
Here are some resources for learning more about climate justice:
Young Friends of The Earth Scotland (YFoES) created a booklet about climate justice:
https://foe.scot/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/YFoES-Booklet-%E2%80%94-A5_Spreads-For-Digital-View.pdf
As well as a reading list with loads of great suggestions! https://foe.scot/yfoes-climate-justice-reading-list/