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4 Duke F. L. & Soc. Change 1 (2012)

handle is hein.journals/dukef4 and id is 1 raw text is: TOWARD EQUITY: PRIORITIZING VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES IN CLIMATE CHANGE BEVERLY WRIGHT, PH.D. & EARTHEA NANCE, PH.D.t I. INTRODUCTION There is now over two decades of science establishing the existence of climate change. Gerald Galloway cites eleven major international studies conducted from 1987 to 2002 that all predict significant climate change induced hazards, including increased flooding, higher mean atmospheric temperatures, higher global mean sea levels, increased precipitation, increased droughts, increased atmospheric moisture-holding capacity, increased heat waves, increased strength of storms, more energetic waves, storm surges that reach further inland, under-capacity of urban sewerage and drainage systems, increased blight, increased vulnerability of port cities, and disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged population segments.' Disadvantaged population groups around the world already bear inequitable environmental burdens.2 However, there is inadequate knowledge of what new disproportionate impacts will emerge under climate change and what mitigation and adaptation options disadvantaged populations should pursue. Much of the climate change discourse recommends transitioning to a greener economy -clean energy, hybrid cars, energy efficient buildings, green jobs, et cetera -as a solution to the dual realities of climate change and economic stagnation.3 However, the consequences of a green transition for disadvantaged people are often left unstated and unclear. The United Nations warns that addressing the inequitable distribution of the costs of climate change and the benefits of a green transition will be the most difficult policy challenge for a global approach to climate change.4 Vandana Shiva argues that current inequities between rich and poor have been exacerbated by a global economy that is also contributing to climate change.s She identifies increasing food insecurity as a t Dr. Beverly Wright is a Professor of Sociology at Dillard University and the founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. Dr. Earthea Nance is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning at the University of New Orleans. 1. Gerald Galloway, Reacting to Climate Change, Floods, and Uncertainty, NAT. HAZARDS OBSERVER, July 2009, at 4, 6-7. 2. GORDON MCGRANAHAN ET AL., THE CITIZENS AT RISK: FROM URBAN SANITATION TO SUSTAINABLE CITIES 14 (2001); UNITED NATIONS DEV. PROGRAM, UN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011 iv (2011) [hereinafter UN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011]. 3. Maywa Montenegro, The Green Collar Solution?, SEED MAG., Apr. 23, 2009, http:// seedmagazine.com/content/article/the-greencollar-solution/. 4. UNITED NATIONS DEV. PROGRAM, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007/2008 5 (2007). 5. Vandana Shiva, Soil Not Oil: Environnental justice in an Age of Climate Crisis, ALTERNATIVES J., Apr. 2009, at 19, 23. 1

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