Climate justice is a term which symbolizes the meeting point between the science and politics of social change. It legislates the socio –ecological relation which is beyond the prevalent climate society division. The fundamental of climate justice comprehends that urgent action is required to prevent climate change and it must be established on community based solutions and the wellbeing of local communities, poor, biodiversity and intact ecosystems (UTS, 2018).
So, in this essay, the research question related to “How can the direct experience of climate change be transformed into political and social change? Which social and political frameworks will best promote climate justice and how can these frameworks be formulated will be discussed.”
Rise in the global temperature forms the fundamental of the climate metric which is associated with the sea level. The global temperature has now exceeded +1 ? C as compared to the 1880-1920 mean and it was almost 1.3 ?C. in 2016 .According to me, the rise in the global temperature is due to the Holocene range and earth is now more warm as compared to the previous interglacial period and as result at that time the level of the sea was 6-9m higher than the present scenario. The greenhouse gas emissions have also increased as compared to the past decades. Furthermore, the energy balance of earth is imbalanced due to the current atmospheric compositions (Hansen et al., 2017).
The direct experience of climate change can be transformed into social and political change. Since energy and climate change are interconnected with each other as the main causes of climate change are due to political impact, technology, organizing and production of energy. The social processes which form the basis of principal models of capitalism and development and the arrangements of production of energy and its utility are modifying the ecology and society of the world (Global Justice Ecology Project, 2018).
As a result, climate change is amongst the top of the political agenda in the last three years. It has been the focus of the major economic forums like G 20 and G8, the UN meetings, the World Trade Organizations and the new policies of the International Financial Institutions (IIFIs). As per my opinion, the report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the year 2007 and the Stern Report in 2006 reveals that the world has already reached the peak of the crisis (Guerrero,2011) .
So, according to me, out of all the challenges faced by mankind, managing the climate has been one of the most significant challenges which the world has ever faced. So, without any strong action to mitigate the risk of catastrophic changes to the geography of the planet, it would create a severe impact on the lives of the people and wildlife and the prospects of the security for their future generations. As in the case of greenhouse gas emissions, the main reason is the production processes and the consumption patters which encourage the flows of greenhouse gasses. The present level of discharge of gases is more than the absorption capability of the planet which it stabilizes through its carbon cycle. Thus the concentration of the greenhouse gases have increased from 285 parts per million (ppm) CO2 e. to 435 ppm CO2 e (Held, Theros and Hervey, 2013).
In this context, the world has already been committed for implementing the policies to mitigate the effects of climate change. The policy to quote the greenhouse gases and to price them by using tradable quotes (cap –and-trade). It will allow a fixed quantity to be permitted to the firms participating in the program. These permits can be transacted at the secondary market by determining the price with the help of supply and demand. The pricing of tradable quotas in the market such as imposing taxes shall encourage them to diminish the discharges to the point where the marginal costs of reducing the emissions equals to the permit price. If in case, the firm wants to emit more than the permissible limit, it must purchase the market price permits which is equal to the extra emissions.
According to me, another mode of transforming the experience of climate change into social and political change is developing the sources of renewable energy. It contributes in mitigating poverty, increasing the rural development, safeguarding health while promoting environmental quality, sustainability and increasing industrial production and transportation. In the year 2013, renewables accounted for 20% of the overall consumption of energy in the world with the most dominant development in the energy and power sector with their capacity of growth pertaining to more than 8% (Fisher, 2012).
So, the United Nations (UN) has declared the years 2014-2024 as the era for sustainable energy for the world. The technologies comprising of renewable energy forming a portion of the low carbon characteristic of the overall source of energy has been able to note its existence in many parts of earth. The five countries which introduced the inexhaustible resources of energy at the starting of 2014 were US, China, Canada, Germany and Brazil. In the European Union (EU), the renewable resources of energy comprise of 72% of the new electric generating capacity. In the other parts of the world such as the African, Asian and Latin American regions, the companies which produce the renewable resources of energy have been operating on and off grid. Also, the investment patterns in this sector have been transformed from the governmental and foreign companies to the private firms and banks. With the help of global subsidies, the renewable resources of energy will contribute to half of the generation of energy by 2040 along with the triple times use of biofuels (Kochtcheeva, 2016).
I believe that the social and political framework which shall promote the climate justice comprise of The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which is a process of climate negotiations has now reached its third phase. The first stage was covered in the years 1992-1994 in which the basic framework and approval of the framework of UNFCCC came into force. The second stage comprised of Kyoto Protocol which came into force in 2005 which included the target for reducing the emissions for the developed countries and evolution of market based mechanisms which comprised of emission trading to accomplish the targets. The State officers, the corporate representatives, the media, environmental and social movements have been attending the yearly conferences of the parties (COP) of the Convention.
The UNFCC has provided the institutional arrangements for negotiations and frameworks as asset of guiding principles to implement the regulations to mitigate the effect of climate change. Article 3 implements certain principles which guide the accomplishment of the objectives of Convention. It specifically states that the developed countries should act as pioneers in mitigating the effects of climate change .It also focuses on the needs of the developing countries which are prone to the hostile effect of climate change. It also depicts the importance of sustainable development and the need for an international policy which takes into account the importance of economic development which is necessary for addressing the climate change (Bulkeley , Edwards and Fuller ,2014).
In the developed countries, the supply, energy, transport and industry are accountable for 50% of the emissions of the greenhouse gases with forestry practices and deforestation emit 30% of these gasses. These emissions are highly affected by economic development and growing population in the developing countries as well. If proper mitigation strategies are not adopted in these regions, then the emissions are predicted to increase by 40-110% between 2000 and 2030. If the global justice is required to lay heavy burdens on the developed countries, the formulation of an international treaty has to be adopted for moderating the impacts of climate change and restricting the emissions (Moellendorf ,2012).
As per United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(2018) at the United Nations climate change conference which was held at Paris , COP 21, the governments of the member states agreed to mobilize an efficient and ambitious climate change response which is urgently required to accomplish the goals of the Paris Agreement. Action must be initiated from the governments, regions, cities, investors and business communities. The Paris Agreement recognizes the necessity to gauge up the global response to climate change which is assisted by the ambitious actions by the governments of member states.
As per United Nations (n.d.) in the Article 7 of Paris Convention, the parties should establish the goal of enhancing the capability of strengthening the adaptability and decreasing the vulnerability to the climate change with the objective to contribute to sustainable development. It makes sure that appropriate adaptation to the temperature goal shall also be realized by the member states. The states should identify adaptation is challenge faced by all so they must contribute to the long term global response to the change in climate in order to safeguard the interests of the society, ecosystems , livelihood taking into account their immediate needs (Santos,2017) .
In this context, the leaders belonging to various countries met in Johannesburg for the Earth Summit and it released a framework of ideologies which focused on putting a humanoid face on the issue of climate change. Thus the Bali Principles of Climate Change Justice expresses change of climate from the perspective of environmental justice and human rights. These principles were evaluated by coordination of CorpWatch, Oil Watch, Third World Network and the Environmental Network by mutual agreements at the Earth Summit in Bali in June 2002( Shah,2012).
Its preamble includes the concern for climate change and its impacts felt at the international level. It also states that with the increased consumption fossil fuels, ecological disturbances and deforestation, the increase in the temperature will result in the sea level rise, transformations in the patters of agriculture, increased natural disasters and loss of biodiversity (Nightingale, 2017).
It creates awareness amongst the communities regarding the impact of the increase in the usage of fossil fuels. It is basically caused by the developed nations and transnational corporations. It has also highlighted that the development banks, governments and transnational corporations in the US is attempting to acknowledge the issue of climate change and its impacts are severely felt by youth, women, local communities, small island states, indigenous, elderly and poor people residing all over the world.
It also states that the representatives of the member states pledge to work for social and environmental justice which shall form the basis of the following ideologies. It states that all the groups have the right to be free from the impact of climate change and other forms of environmental turbulences. Climate justice denotes that all the governments are accountable for acknowledging the issue of climate change in such a manner which is both responsible to the people and according to the principles of common but differentiated accountabilities (Huntjens and Zhang, 2016).
Climate change requires the need for decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases and related pollutants. It also bestows the right to indigenous and affected communities to speak for their benefits. It raises the issue of affected communities and their role in the national and international processes to acknowledge the question of climate change. It calls for the identification of the principle of ecological debt which the administrations of the industrial nations and transnational corporations owe to the rest of the world resulting in the appropriation of the earth’s capability to engross greenhouse gases.
Additionally , supporting the principle of ecological debt , Climate Justice safeguards the rights of the sufferers affected by change of climate and related prejudices so that they can receive full compensation , reimbursement of the loss done to their land, livelihood and other damages and their re-establishment. It calls for the need to explore new fossil fuels, construction of new nuclear plants and large hydro programs.
Lastly, the concept of Climate Justice supports the necessity for solutions to mitigate the effects of change of climate which do not express the cost to the communities and environment and they are aligned with the principles of equal and just transformations (CorpWatch , 2002).
This essay can be concluded by stating the fact that global climate justice is essential for the common interest of the society and it will protect the rights of future generations so that they can access the natural resources and a unwavering and healthy climate and planet.
References
Bulkeley ,H., Edwards , G.A.S and Fuller , S.(2014) Contesting climate justice in the city: Examining politics and practice in urban climate change experiments. Global Environmental Change .25 (2014) ,pp.31–40.
Climate Justice: Equitable and Inclusive Governance of Climate Action [online] Available from: https://www.thehagueinstituteforglobaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Climate-Justice-April-2016.pdf [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
CorpWatch (2002) Bali Principles of Climate Justice. International Climate Justice Network.
Fisher, S.(2012) The emerging geographies of climate justice[online] Available from: https://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WP83-emerging-geographies-climate-justice.pdf [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
Global Justice Ecology Project (2018) Climate Justice [online] Available from: https://globaljusticeecology.org/climate-justice/ [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
Guerrero, D.(2011) The Global Climate Justice Movement [online] Available from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230303805_10 [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
Hansen,J. , Sato, M. , Kharecha, P. , Schuckmann, K.V., Beerling,D.J. , Cao, J., Marcott , S., Delmotte, V.M., Prather, M.J., Rohling, E.J., Shakun, J., Smith, P., Lacis, A., Russell, G. and Ruedy , R.(2017) Young people’s burden: requirement of negative CO2 emissions. Earth System Dynamics .8(2017),pp. 577–616.
Held, D., Theros, M. and Hervey, N.F.(2013) The Governance of Climate Change. Hoboken : Wiley .
Kochtcheeva, L.V. (2016) Environment, Climate Change and International Relations. England: E-International Relations Publishing.
Moellendorf , D.(2012) Climate change and global justice. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nightingale, A.J. (2017) Power and politics in climate change adaptation e?orts: Struggles over authority and recognition in the context of political instability. Geoforum .84(2017), pp.11-20.
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Santos, M.(2017) Global justice and environmental governance: an analysis of the Paris Agreement. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional .60(1), pp. 1-18.
Shah, A.(2012) Climate Justice and Equity [online] Available from: https://www.globalissues.org/article/231/climate-justice-and-equity [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2018) Introduction to Climate Action [online] Available from: https://unfccc.int/climate-action/introduction-climate-action [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
United Nations (n.d.) Paris Agreement [online] Available from: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/frameworks/parisagreement [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
UTS (2018) What is climate justice? [online] Available from: https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/climate-justice-research-centre/about-cjrc/what-climate-justice [Accessed 7th June, 2018].
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