Environmental & Social Justice

Despite a collective promise made by wealthy to developing countries of $100 billion annually by 2020, there is a Grand Canyon sized gap before us in reaching that goal. Adaptation costs alone in developing countries may rise to $150 billion or more by 2025, so $100 billion should be viewed as a basement, not a ceiling, to be scaled up over time. Vulnerable countries didn’t create this problem, but they are suffering most.

In theory, local urban leadership on climate adaptation could significantly reduce the vulnerability of those who need the greatest protection. More people live in cities than ever, providing an opportunity to concentrate climate investments. In reality, most adaptation proposals try to protect existing development in coastal and low-lying urban areas in ways that perpetuate continued growth in these exposed areas. The fact is, there are winners and losers in urban climate adaptation projects, and it is the poorest and most marginalized who (as always) tend to lose.

From The MIT Press: After nearly a quarter century of international negotiations on climate change, we stand at a crossroads. A new set of agreements is likely to fail to prevent the global climate’s destabilization. Islands and coastlines face inundation, and widespread drought, flooding, and famine are expected to worsen in the poorest and most vulnerable countries. How did we arrive at an entirely inequitable and scientifically inadequate international response to climate change?

Heather Coleman spoke at the the NASA Climate Policy Speaker Series on Oxfam's global work and COP21. Visit the NASA website

Clinton’s plan calls for $30 billion towards infrastructure improvements, mine land remediation, training and education programs, and incentives for business investment in Appalachia, the Illinois Basin, and the Western coal areas. “What I like about this plan is that it’s multi-faceted,” Evan Hansen, president of Downstream Strategies, a West Virginia-based environmental consulting firm, told ThinkProgress. “There is no one solution.”

It’s no secret that urban farms and gardens are core to Portland’s identity as one of the most sustainable cities in the world. What’s maybe lesser known is that those young patches of kale and cabbage are often entangled in processes of gentrification and displacement.

“Essentially, urban agriculture arises where there’s vacant land, cheap land, a low market rate or wherever food justice activity pops up,” McClintock says. “So many of these projects produce food to address the so-called food desert.” Read more

This project launched at the end of September with a live story-based performance during the two-hour train ride to Sacramento, and discussion sessions on the return trip to Oakland. These stories will be made available as podcasts that can be accessed via smart phone app or computer by travelers and others interested in the past, present, and future of California and regional history. Read more

Climate change could initially benefit rich countries while damaging the economies of poor nations. That’s the conclusion of a new way of modelling its impact, which challenges earlier forecasts. Previous methods of estimating the economic effects of climate change usually looked at how individual sectors like agriculture or tourism would be affected, then added them all up to give the net effect on each country’s economy.