What is climate justice ?
Climate change is not a problem that may happen at some point somewhere. It’s already happening
on this planet and causing great damage.
And some people are impacted by climate change more than others due to geographic or socioeconomic factors. It is the systemic inequality and injustice of our society that make certain people
more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
As climate change accelerates, social inequality and injustice are reinforced and become even morewidespread, stripping these vulnerable people of their ability to protect themselves from climate
impacts and weakening their resilience to adversities, leaving them even more vulnerable.
Because historically accumulated emissions of greenhouse gasses

accelerate climate change,

young people and future generations still to come will be impacted by the effects of climate change
for longer and more severely, even though they have not contributed to the cause of climate change
as much as older generations.
As you can see, there is systemic injustice in our society that puts many vulnerable people in greater
harm from climate change even though they are historically much less responsible for causing it.

Climate justice is a perspective that sees climate change as an issue ofhuman society as a whole with focus on human rights in particular, andadvocates for an equitable and just way of sharing the burden of its impacts,
responsibility to take actions and the benefits of climate countermeasures.
We at the Climate Reality Project (hereinafter CRP) call not only for advancing climate change
mitigations but also for achieving climate justice.

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This brochure has two parts:
In this Part 1, we take a global point of view and explain the concepts of environmental justiceand climate justice, which are not yet widely known or understood in Japan.
This part is based on Climate Justice 101 from CPR’s global website, withediting and additional texts by CRP Japan. For the full version,please visit the webpage: https://bit.ly/4bQGb7j

In Part 2, we look at the current situation concerning climate justice in Japan, highlighting somespecific examples.
The examples covered include: women and gender inequality; people in poverty sufferingfrom economic disparity: workers in primary industries vulnerable to climate change; andIndigenous People living in harmony with nature whose cultural identity is threatened byclimate change. These sections have been written by four CRP Japan interns, based on
their research on identities that are vulnerable in today’s Japanese society.
Here we are using two terms: “environmental justice” and “climate justice.” Environmental
justice is a broader concept of justice relating to a wide range of environmental issues.
Climate change is one of these environmental issues, and climate justice focuses specificallyon the issue of justice in the face of climate change.

By reading Part 1 and Part 2 together, you can see why we need environmental and climate
justice and what the cause and context of the issues are, both in terms of the global historicalcontext and the current situation, including that of Japan.

Generally, climate justice tends to be discussed in the context of inequality between nations. A
common way of looking at this is to treat it as an issue between the Global North (developedcountries), which is historically most responsible for causing climate change, and the Global South(developing countries), which has little responsibility but is taking the brunt of the damage done byclimate change. Japan bears a major responsibility regarding this global issue as the world’s fifthlargest country in greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate justice is not only about inequality between countries; it is also closely related to various
social issues within a country. We hope that, when we tackle huge systemic problems, looking atsimilar issues on the local, domestic scale will help people understand the issues and encouragethem to get together to take action.
In Part 1, let’s look at the unfairness of environmental impacts and measures for different groups ofpeople and communities worldwide.

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Environmental justice is widely understood as the principle that “all people and communities havethe right to equal protection and equal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.”
This principle may seem obvious at first glance, but history shows that it has not always been
accepted.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the primary factor making people
more vulnerable to hazardous environments is race.
The movement for environmental justice opposes the ways in which environmental
racism is embedded in social structures, centering on those most affected.

〇The Roots and History of Environmental JusticeCommunities have been fighting for environmental justice for centuries.

The modern environmental justice movement began with protests in 1982 by residents of Warren
County, North Carolina – a predominantly Black community – organize protests to oppose thedumping of toxic material that would leak into their water supply.

The need for the environmental justice movement is a direct response to centuriesof institutionalized and systemic racism. In other words, achieving environmental
justice in the long term means dismantling these forms of oppression.
To achieve climate justice, it’s necessary to understand and address how social inequities intersectwith climate change, and how the increase in temperature and expansion of injustice are closelyintertwined.
Here, we introduce terms that help understand climate justice from a global perspective.

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〇Frontline Communities

Frontline communities experience the impacts of climate change “first andworst.”
Overwhelmingly and disproportionately, people of color, individuals in thesecommunities have endured the incredible physical, economic, and mental burdensof climate change.
People of color breathe 37 percent more nitrogen dioxide1 – a pollutant generated by cars, trucks,〇Fenceline Communities

and buses as well as power plants, heavy equipment, and industrial boilers – than white people.

A fenceline community lives immediately adjacent to highly polluting facilities –think fossil fuel infrastructure, industrial parks, or large manufacturing facilities– and is directly affected by the traffic, noise, operations, and most-concerningly,
chemical and fossil fuel emissions of the operation.
In the United States, the predominantly majority Black communities along the Mississippi Riverrunning from Baton Rouge to New Orleans include seven of the 10 US census tracts with the highest
cancer risks in the nation.2 Dubbed “Cancer Alley,” this about 140-kilometer stretch is home to〇Sacrifice Zones

more than 150 chemical plants and refineries.3

Sacrifice zones are often defined as populated areas with high levels ofpollution and environmental hazards, thanks to nearby toxic or polluting
industrial facilities.
These areas are called “sacrifice zones” because the health and safety of people
in these communities is being effectively sacrificed for the economic gains andprosperity of others.
How do places become sacrifice zones?
1
2
3

The Guardian（2017）US people of color still more likely to be exposed to pollution than white people
Rolling Stone（2019）Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ Is Getting Even More Toxic — But Residents Are Fighting Back
The Guardian（2019）’Almost every household has someone that has died from cancer’

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One factor is the absence of proper government regulation. Another is that many times, people
living in these areas lack either access to the information to know about the pollution poisoning theircommunity or the power to make policymakers do something about it. These people are often “thewrong complexion for protection” under the law.
No surprise, individuals who live constantly exposed to high levels of pollution often end up facing
worse health outcomes and long-term ailments.
One resident reports that “Out of every 10 houses, there’s a prospect of one or two people thathave died of cancer,” due to the existence of “Cancer Alley” in the city where two-thirds of thepopulation is Black.4
Nearly half of those living in fenceline areas close to industrial pollution are people of color. This isbecause many of these factories are built near towns where the poor and Black people, who lackthe political power to stop their construction, reside.

There cannot be environmental justice as long as there are sacrifice zones that
trade the health of communities of color for someone else’s bottom line.
If there are reasons to hope here, they come from the fact that activists are organizing campaigns
to eradicate sacrifice zone by restoring power to affected communities and holding Big Polluters
accountable.
No community should have to trade its health to fuel the prosperity of another.

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The Times-Picayune（2019）Welcome to “Cancer Alley,” Where Toxic Air Is About to Get Worse

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〇Environmental Racism

Environmental racism refers to the disproportionate burden placed on
people of color, who are more likely to be exposed to environmental hazards.
As we have seen, this oppression is often achieved systemically, through policies and practices that
effectively place low-income and communities of color in close proximity to polluting facilities like
power stations, plastics plants, and methane gas pipelines

78% of African Americans live within about 50 kilometers of a coal-fired power
plant.5
Living close to pollution, people of color are exposed to a variety of harmful pollutants at a higher
rate than white and higher-wealth communities. This leads to far greater rates of serious healthproblems in communities of color, from cancer to lung conditions to heart attacks, as well as ahigher prevalence and severity of asthma, lower birth weights, and greater incidence of high bloodpressure.

Black children are twice as likely to develop asthma as white children – and are
10 times more likely to die from complications from the disease.6

The issues we have discussed are all closely related to racial issues,especially in the United States.

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The Goldman Environmental prize（2015）Environmental Racism in America: An Overview of the Environmental
Justice Movement and the Role of Race in Environmental Policies
National Association for The Advancement of Colored People and Clean Air Task Force（2017）Fumes Across theFence-Line

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〇Environmental Justice Movement

The environmental justice movement challenges injustice and unequal treatment of people of color.
In the US, the movement was born in the 1970s, when Black activists in Warren County, North
Carolina organized to fight toxic dumping in their community. Right around the same time, inHouston, Texas, activists like Dr. Robert Bullard began researching and challenging racist policies
that lead to 82% of the city’s trash being dumped in Black communities – despite the fact that Blackresidents made up only 25% of the population.
Tragically, the list goes on.

Environmental justice is achieved when all people are “equallyprotected from environmental and health hazards and have equal
access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment
in which to live, learn, and work.”
To achieve this, we must fight against the structural racism embedded in society,such as conveniently locating power plants near Black and Latino communities orignoring the flooding of impoverished areas during hurricanes and floods.

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〇Let’s Fight Together

To tackle these issues together, there are things we can do. Here are three steps to get started:

1. Look Inside
To move forward in the fight against racist environmental policies, we must drop
our defenses and open ourselves to change. That means listening – really listening– to the people of color demanding to be heard after decades of being ignored.
2. Start Small – But Start Now
Commit today to a single action you can take to start fighting racial injustice. Keep
it small and local. Everyone starts somewhere – you just need to start. Now.
3. Find Allies
National organizations like the Poor People’s Campaign are mobilizing for systemicchange. And many Climate Reality chapters across the country are also working
on climate and environmental justice issues in their backyards.
Specifically…
ƪ Fight for a just transition from fossil fuels that pollute frontline communities toclean, renewable energy.
ƪ Work on policies that bring desirable green jobs and true opportunities to often
overlooked communities.
ƪ Invest in the infrastructure and disaster resilience of neglected areas to help
residents safely navigate climate events such as hurricanes.
ƪ Ensure equitable support for the recovery of all communities, not just white oraffluent areas.
8The Climate Reality Project Japan〇Climate Migrants

We know that heatwaves, extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and droughts caused by climatechange are bringing about climate crisis worldwide.
Next in line are health issues, with outdoor workers and those with existing health challenges
suffering the most. Additionally, homes and lives lost to floodwaters and storm surge. Crops
and farms failing and the nutritional value in much of what does grow declining. Deadly diseases
spreading to places that have never known them.
Is it any wonder people in many parts of the world are fleeing this environmental devastation en masse?

〇Climate Migration

When a person or groups of people are forced or choose to leave their homes, temporarily or
permanently, largely because of sudden- or slow-onset (more below) changes in their regional
environment due to the climate crisis, it is considered climate migration. This movement can happen
within a country or across an international border.

In other words, climate migrants refer to individuals who leave their homes
specifically due to climate stressors like changing rainfall patterns and heavy
flooding, sea-level rise, and more frequent and powerful floods and hurricanes.
In 2019 alone, 23.9 million people were internally displaced by weather disasters.
Though climate migration receives the most media attention when it crosses borders, the majorityof climate migrants actually do so within their own countries.

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〇Migrants or Refugees?

Under international law, climate migrants are not considered refugees
because the environment is not considered a persecuting agent under the1951 UN Refugee Convention.
It is, however, worth noting that this definition is 70 years old.
As the climate crisis worsens and climate migration increases, the definition may
be in dire need of revision if climate migrants are to get the help and support they
so desperately need from the international community.
If we act now, we could reduce the number of people forced to move becauseof the climate crisis by as much as 80 percent.
ƪ If we cut greenhouse gas emissions now and significantly, a far lower numberof people will need to migrate. This is the most impactful and obvious solution.
ƪ We need more investment to better understand where and how climate impacts
might lead to migration.
ƪ National governments need to not only integrate climate migration into all facetsof development planning but also implement policies that address migration andprotect climate migrants.

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The Climate Reality Project JapanIn this Part 1, we have looked at global issues such as “environmental racism” and“climate migration.” Next, let’s move on to Part 2!
https://bit.ly/4cWGz55

The Climate Reality Project is a global initiative working to tackle climate change.
This booklet is based on “Climate Justice 101” available on the CRP headquarters website,translated, edited, and supplemented by CRP Japan as “Basic Knowledge of Climate Justice.”
The full text can be viewed here.
https://bit.ly/4bQGb7j
Sources can be viewed from the CRP
Japan website. https://bit.ly/3VKiM23

Published on April 1, 2024
Publisher : The Climate Reality Project Japan
Editors : Yuiko Mitani and Yuki Watanabe
Production Assistance  :  Nguyen Kieu An, Chheang Polity, Marimo Higa		and CRP Japan Community Members
Translation  : Eco Networks, Chheang Polity and Yuiko Mitani
Design : Mihoko Araki
Printed using natural energy (biomass power generation) on recycled paper.