As we’ve discussed in previous years, climate justice is a huge issue that affects each and every one of us and is inextricably linked to business. Companies are embedded within our government and have significant influence over public policy and regulations, so they have a unique opportunity to make a positive impact on the environment and promote climate justice. But they also have a responsibility to address their own environmental impact and work towards sustainability.
In this year’s post, we’re highlighting some of our favorite powerful videos that explain the importance of how climate change disproportionately impacts the BIPOC community, women, and low income communities, and offers some solutions as well.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Environmental Racism (21:50)
Local activists (including Justin Pearson!) are highlighted in John Oliver’s critical message on environmental racism, how both government and industry are failing people of color. He takes an incredibly heavy and serious topic, makes excellent points, and still manages a few laughs.
ProPublica: A Brief History of Environmental Justice (3:35)
Landfills, chemical waste facilities and power plants are more often built in poor and minority communities, which don’t have the power or money to advocate for themselves. For decades, these communities have called for environmental justice: the idea that people shouldn’t be forced to deal with more pollution because they belong to a certain race, national origin or income bracket. It’s a simple notion, but America has struggled for decades to implement any policies that actually protect poor and minority communities from environmental toxins.
Earthrise: Climate Justice is Social Justice (9:15)
This video looks at the intersection between racism and climate change, highlighting how climate change is a social justice issue. The episode explores the role of the Green New Deal as part of a just and fair transition. This video features Co-Executive Director of The Green New Deal Uk, Fatima Ibrahim; Author of ‘The Uninhabitable Earth’, David Wallace-Wells, and Podcast Host and Writer Mary Heglar.
Project Drawdown: Trust a Weather Geek: Climate Justice is the Only Way | Marshall Shepherd (23:52)
Marshall Shepherd, former NASA scientist and leading weather and climate expert, discusses equitable climate action across all levels of agency, explores climate solutions in Georgia, urban planning, and the importance of storytelling for the road ahead.
Earthrise: Can Capitalism Solve The Climate Crisis? (9:15)
This episode dives into the current system failing our planet and explores alternative ideas that could form an entirely new economic system. Guests include; George Monbiot, author, journalist, and environmental campaigner, Rebecca Henderson, author and professor at Harvard Business School, and Fatima Ibrahim, co-executive director of Green New Deal UK.
Amanpour and Company: “Pollution is Segregated” Says the Father of Environmental Justice (17:43)
The United States of America is segregated, and so is pollution. These words come from the so-called “father of environmental justice,” Robert Bullard. As a sociologist in the 1970s, he shone a light on the fact that minority communities in Houston suffered most from pollution. Since then, he’s written more than a dozen books on sustainable development, environmental racism, and climate justice. As part of “Chasing the Dream” — their ongoing initiative about poverty, jobs, and economic opportunity in America — Bullard spoke with Walter Isaacson in Texas.
Time: Generation Now: The Fight for Climate Justice (14:06)
Today’s young people are coming of age just as the stable climate that has allowed previous generations to thrive on our planet begins to visibly break down—and just before our last chance to stop it falls out of reach.
Image credit: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. A homemade poster used at a 2012 Occupy DC march. The movement aimed to shift power to the underrepresented 99% and away from the wealthiest 1%.