In reality there is no excuse for delaying action: we have the technology, means and solutions to reduce emissions now. Within the UK, thousands of new good green jobs could promote democratic and decentralised climate action today – action that would go some way to repairing persistent class, race and other social and economic inequities.
This means harnessing energy from the sun, sea and wind through community wealth-building schemes that help to undo years of harmful austerity measures. It means regulating construction so that all new buildings meet ambitious energy efficiency standards that improve health, reduce energy poverty or insecurity, and reduce emissions, while providing financial support for retrofitting existing sites. It means supporting public electric transport and investing in already low-carbon industries, especially supporting COVID-19-hit jobs. And it means protecting our remaining oceans, forests, and biodiversity while reforesting and transitioning to agroecological farming. As things stand, the UK’s plan falls far short.
Climate change is a class issue
A credible plan for tackling climate change must start by recognising that its impact is not felt equally. Coastal flood risks are highest among ex-industrial ports and declining resort towns, with disproportionately large numbers of communities struggling with poverty wages, underemployment or unemployment. If you live in the most deprived areas of England, you are five times more likely to be exposed to greater emissions, hazards and offensive pollution. If you live within 600 metres of a river (particularly in the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside and London), and you are in a deprived area, it is much more likely that the river will have poor chemical or biological qualities. Waste recycling and transfer sites, and particularly incinerators, are more likely to be in areas of higher social deprivation. Research shows that particulate air pollution in the UK is concentrated in the 20% of poorest neighbourhoods in England, often in urban areas with a greater proportion of people racialised as Black. Individuals living in high-rise residences will experience heat stress more severely in contrast to those with green spaces. People racialised as Black are four times more likely than white people to have no access to outdoor space at home (e.g. a balcony or a garden). In other words: climate change is a class issue.
Without bold action, climate change will exacerbate the inequities and injustices experienced by communities and regions that are already marginalised. A reparative approach to climate action would see this addressed within the UK – but again the UK’s current plan falls short.
Global reparations
Climate change is a global problem, and climate leadership means delivering justice at home and abroad. For the UK, this means taking responsibility for its historic emissions, stopping extracting labour and space in the Global South, and reconciling its historic role in slavery and colonialism. While Britain extracted trillions from its colonies in the past, exposure to colonial practices continue to act as indicators of poverty today.
In 1825 Britain accounted for 80% of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Between 1850 and 2002, countries in the Global North emitted at least three times as many greenhouse gas emissions as countries in the Global South, where approximately 85% of the global population resides. Every year, the average person in the US, Canada, and Australia emits roughly 50 times more CO2 than someone in Mozambique. The average person in Britain emits more carbon in the first two weeks of a year than the average per capita annual emissions of Rwanda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Madagascar, Guinea and Burkina Faso combined.
Print
Harpreet Kaur Paul | Radio Free (2021-04-22T09:44:58+00:00) The UK claims to be a world leader in fighting climate change. It’s wrong. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/04/22/the-uk-claims-to-be-a-world-leader-in-fighting-climate-change-its-wrong/
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