What is climate justice?
At 350 WA, we center climate justice in all of our advocacy work. Climate justice starts with the recognition that the impacts of the climate crisis disproportionately fall on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and other marginalized groups despite the fact that these groups are the ones that have contributed the least to climate pollution.
These climate impacts exacerbate existing social and economic inequalities. Both the climate crisis and our societal inequities are caused by deeply interconnected systems of oppression that must be changed as we work towards a more sustainable and just future. By making equity a priority, the climate justice movement aims to simultaneously address the social and ecological risks of climate change while altering the fundamental systems at the roots of this crisis.
“As a Black environmentalist, I find it impossible to separate my Blackness from my advocacy for our home planet. I’ve seen how social and environmental justice intersect with my own Black identity, how race plays a significant role in how BIPOC are able to safely experience the world around them. I’ve seen how these barriers—police brutality, environmental injustices, and health injustices—prevent Black people from not just living, but thriving.”
— Leah Thomas (website, Instagram), from The Intersectional Environmentalist
Climate justice stems from the broader environmental justice movement and its focus on environmental racism. Environmental racism comes in many forms, from the siting of highly polluting industries near BIPOC communities to the higher prevalence of public parks and green spaces in white and higher-income communities. Historically, the gains of the environmental movement have benefited already wealthy and privileged communities (think electric vehicles, solar panels, organic foods, etc.). Climate justice focuses the attention of environmental policy onto marginalized groups, making sure that the benefits of new policy and legislation are felt by communities already most impacted by the climate crisis.
Thinking in systems
Climate justice encourages us to examine the underlying systems of exploitation, oppression, disposability, and power that are the roots of the climate crisis. Our goal cannot be creating a ‘green’ version of our current capitalist system because constant growth, consumerism, and economic inequality are unsustainable. We cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet.
As we dig deeper, we find our capitalist system is inextricably connected to colonialism, militarism, and white supremacy. For example, fossil fuel companies extract resources from countries around the world while concentrating the wealth gained for themselves (colonialism), create disproportionate pollution in BIPOC and low-income communities (white supremacy, capitalism), and then rely on police forces to break up demonstrations and arrest protestors (militarism).
Racism, sexism, heteronormativity, ableism, and other forms of systemic oppression were foundational to the creation of our current systems of power/privilege and continue to maintain it.
When we see the connections between these systems, we understand that the fights for racial justice, gender justice, disability justice, economic justice, and climate justice are deeply interconnected. If we only change one, we are putting a bandage on a cancer that needs to be excised before it causes continued harm.
Climate justice means resisting exploitation of both people and the planet.
Diagram source | Developed by Movement Generation with Climate Justice Alliance
Once we recognize the connected roots of so many social justice fights, it becomes clear that the only solution is to change the underlying systems. Just Transition is a framework that helps to highlight the scale of change that we are aiming for.
We are not just opposed to our current extractive economy; we seek to build a new regenerative economy that is sustainable, equitable, and just.
The Just Transition framework reinforces why focusing ‘only on climate’ will never work — if all we do is create a carbon-neutral extractive economy, then the other parts of the system will continue to do harm and lead us right into the next phase of environmental and social disaster. It highlights how practices like mutual aid and the democratization of labor move us closer to our goals.
This isn’t to say that all the parts of the system can and will change at the same rate. Reaching a zero carbon economy will likely happen at a faster rate than demilitarization. However, by seeing the connections between these systems, we can make sure that our solutions don’t reinforce or replicate the harmful ways of being we want to move away from.
It allows for us to interact with other social justice movements in a way that models the larger systems changes we are aiming for (see adrienne maree brown and her discussion on building on the small scale what we want to see on the large scale).
“People are aware that they cannot continue in the same old way but are immobilized because they cannot imagine an alternative. We need a vision that recognizes that we are at one of the great turning points in human history when the survival of our planet and the restoration of our humanity require a great sea change in our ecological, economic, political, and spiritual values.”
Solidarity, not division
“But you’re an environmental advocacy group. Shouldn’t you focus attention on the impending climate crisis instead of splitting limited time and attention across multiple causes?”
This is a question that we sometimes get, and we understand why people ask it. When we consider social justice issues as separate from each other, it sets up a zero-sum mindset where different advocacy groups are pitted against each other to fight for the limited amount of progress. From this frame, it feels like we have to prioritize issues and having a livable planet seems like it should be at the top of that list!
However, as we described earlier, we can’t fix the climate crisis without changing the underlying systems. When we recognize that we are all working to change the same systems of inequality and oppression, we can come together as a larger, more powerful group and achieve far more in solidarity than we could divided.
Thinking of different social justice groups as each engaging in their own fight is not an accident. It is the intentional outcome of the systems that those with power have set up. When groups are fighting each other over funding, privileges, or attention, they have less energy to fight the systems that oppress everyone, thereby further entrenching the status quo.
When we recognize this tactic and build collective power over our shared desire to create new systems, we realize our true strength and can reject the premise that we have to choose between justice and climate goals.
What’s more, people do not lead single-issue lives. People always live at the intersections of race, class, gender, ability, age, and other dimensions of identity. The more privileged identities we hold (white, non-disabled, middle class, cisgender, heterosexual, neurotypical, etc.), the less we are often aware of these intersections and their impacts. To ask someone to prioritize one cause over another is like asking them to prioritize one limb over another; the body functions as multiple systems that work together, and when one system goes down, the others are impacted as well.
By prioritizing social justice in the environmental movement, we are providing recognition and care for people’s full selves.
“How can we expect Black Americans to focus on climate when we are so at risk on our own streets, in our communities, and even within our own homes? How can people of color effectively lead their communities on climate solutions when faced with pervasive and life-shortening racism?”
— Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (website, Instagram), Washington Post: I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save the planet.
This is not to say a single group like 350 WA has to be everything to everyone; besides being an impossible task, there’s no need for it. Existing groups led by the people on the front lines of the climate crisis, such as Front and Centered, are already doing the work. They build on the legacy of cross-racial and cross-class movements that have been at the heart of successful organizing in the past.
Our point here is this: we are stronger together, and the more people that can come to the fight, the more powerful the movement will be.
To “only focus on climate issues” would be to deprive ourselves of the possibility of a just world where everyone can lead expansive, abundant lives. Why would we settle for anything less?
350 WA and climate justice
Given the interconnected nature of climate, justice, and systems of oppression, 350 WA aims to tackle all of these issues simultaneously with the largest coalition of justice-aligned organizations possible.
Sometimes that looks like the ‘Healthy Through Heat and Smoke’ campaign by 350 Seattle that brought together unions, community organizations, and climate groups to push for climate resilience investments in community centers. Sometimes it looks like the coalition of housing developers, affordable housing advocates, and environmentalists that came together to pass the ‘middle housing’ bill in 2023. Sometimes it looks like families impacted by police violence working with transportation advocates and climate justice organizations to restrict when police can engage in car chases.
While the connections to climate solutions might not always be readily apparent when some of these policies are examined in a silo, a climate justice lens helps us to see the interconnections.
We hope that this perspective inspires you to join us in the movement for a more just, equitable, and sustainable future.
Join our people-powered team fighting for climate legislation in Washington state
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