Climate change is not just an environmental issue – it’s a matter of social and economic justice too

By Mike Smith

A defining feature of climate change is that it will impact most severely on the poor. It is a cruel irony that those most exposed are those who have contributed least to the problem. This is why during the Copenhagen summit the left needs to champion a robust and fair deal.

Climate change is already exacerbating hardships for the poorest and most vulnerable countries. From food shortages in East Africa, to flooding in Bangladesh, to entire small countries disappearing beneath rising sea-levels, people in the poorest regions of the world are already suffering the effects of climate change. This is why almost every major international development charity has made tacking climate change their priority issue.

Research is increasingly showing that the disproportionate impact of climate change is not just an issue for the less developed world, but is also impacting on some of the poorest communities in richer countries as well. As SERA research has suggested, some of the UK’s poorest immigrant communities are facing exacerbated hardship from sending increased levels of remittances to their families in areas hit by climate-driven natural disasters. A recent study in Los Angeles showed that a poor black person living in the city is nearly twice as likely to die during a heat wave (likely to increase with climate change) compared with the rest of the city.

Of course, there are those who argue that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will harm poorer communities and countries through lost jobs in polluting industries, through higher fuel prices and by denying countries the means to economic development. These are real concerns, and addressing these issues must form the heart of any deal on climate change. But to argue the solution to this problem is to do nothing is a ‘head in the sand’ approach that fails to acknowledge the real issue at stake – that continuing to burn cheap, dirty fossil fuels will ultimately damage not only our environment, but our livelihoods and economies as well.

Social justice has always been at the heart of the Labour movement and is at the heart of the climate change debate. After just the first day, reports from Copenhagen suggest Britain’s Labour government is pushing for a robust deal at Copenhagen. Activists on the left must continue to unite around and lead the climate change debate, not just as an environmental issue, but an issue of social and economic justice too.