Climate Justice
Justice: The value that members should pursue—fairness and righteousness—in order to maintain social stability
Today, climate change has emerged as a serious global issue. Notably, marginalized communities, such as low-income groups, indigenous peoples, and people of color, are bearing the brunt of its effects. For example, most African countries, despite emitting relatively small amounts of greenhouse gases, are always among the most severely impacted regions on maps illustrating the consequences of climate change.
It is already well known that major developed countries account for an overwhelming share of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, due to disparities in wealth and resources, an ironic situation arises where countries with the least responsibility for climate change suffer the most severe consequences. The concept of “climate justice” emerged to address this inequality.
The principle of justice—that members of society must pursue fairness and righteousness—should also apply to the climate. This approach focuses on addressing the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized or vulnerable populations. It involves efforts to equitably distribute the burdens of climate change, secure funding to adapt to climate challenges, and support developing countries that lack the financial and technological resources to mitigate its effects.
If climate justice is properly implemented, it will reduce the growing burden of climate change domestically and internationally while maintaining accountability and fairness. Above all, it can help prevent various situations where the worsening climate crisis directly connects to human rights issues.
The Impact of Climate Change on Human Rights
Today, climate change is having a severe impact on human rights, which must be fundamentally respected for all humans. Climate change is no longer a singular issue, it now impacts various sectors in distinct ways.
Right to Life: Food Crisis
In 2022, Nature Climate Change warned that the earth’s food supply would decrease by more than 4% by 2050. Additionally, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projected that without effective measures to reduce greenhouse gases, wheat production could decline by 20–30% by the end of the century.
These projections are becoming a reality. In March 2023, Argentina experienced its worst heatwave and drought in 53 years, significantly reducing food production and causing global corn supply to drop by approximately 14%, compared with the previous year. In India, heatwaves and heavy rains led to a surge in rice prices, resulting in export bans on some items. Meanwhile, Thailand, impacted by El Niño, faced insufficient rainfall, reducing rice production and increasing export prices by 24%, compared with the previous year. Vietnam, one of the world’s top three rice exporters, also saw rice prices hit a 10-year high due to drought.
As seen above, the combination of reduced food production caused by climate change and a rapidly growing population is driving the global food crisis to its worst levels. Experts warn that multiple climate-induced factors, such as rising temperatures, water scarcity, droughts, and floods, are causing disruptions to food supply chains and driving up food prices, posing a severe threat to the right to survival for vulnerable populations.
Right to Health: Disease
Climate change is emerging as a serious threat to human health. According to a joint study conducted by research teams in the United States and Sweden, 58% (218 out of 375) of the currently well-known infectious diseases have worsened due to climate change.
The major causes of this worsening include global warming, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, extreme rainfall, floods, storms, rising sea levels, and changes in land cover. These climate-related phenomena intensify existing conditions and increase the risk of infections by bringing humans closer to infectious pathogens.
Notably, warming temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns have expanded the range of activity for mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, birds, viruses, and bacteria. This has heightened the potential spread of diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya, the plague, and Lyme disease. Climate change is also altering human migration and movement patterns, increasing exposure to new pathogens. Natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, and rising sea levels exacerbate the risks of diseases like leptospirosis, cryptosporidiosis, Lassa fever, cholera, salmonellosis, and pneumonia, making populations more vulnerable to these health threats.
Right to Housing: Climate Refugees
Climate change deprives people of their living environments. People who are forced to leave their homes due to environmental degradation are defined as “ecological refugees.” Among them, individuals displaced specifically due to climate change are referred to as “climate refugees.” This includes refugees affected by El Niño-La Niña phenomena, desertification, and rising sea levels.
In 2009, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that “by 2050, up to 1 billion climate refugees may emerge.” If this projection becomes reality, approximately 1/8 of the global population will be classified as climate refugees.
The patterns of climate refugees are diverse. About 60% of climate refugees lost their homes due to flooding caused by global warming, while a significant number are also displaced by desertification. According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), since 2008, approximately 21.5 million climate refugees have emerged annually. Most of these refugees come from island nations, but people from various other countries are also continually losing their homes due to extreme weather conditions. In certain countries, over 50% of the population becomes climate refugees every year.
Global Efforts for Climate Justice and ASEZ’s Contributions
The core of climate justice lies in fairly distributing the responsibility for climate change between developed and developing countries. Confronting this fundamental question, nations convened the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, where the draft of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) was formulated. As the term “environment and development” suggests, the fundamental goal of this convention was to coordinate climate change actions and sustainable development. Even before the term climate justice was formally established, the issue profoundly influenced climate negotiations.
Finally, in 2000, during the 6th Conference of the Parties (COP6) to the UNFCCC, the first Climate Justice Summit was held in The Hague, the Netherlands. Here, a declaration was made to recognize climate change as a human rights issue and to build alliances across nations and borders. Subsequently, at the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) in 2007, the global coalition “Climate Justice Now!” was established. In 2008, the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) held its assembly in Geneva, focusing on climate justice. The following year, in 2009, the Copenhagen Summit saw the formation of the Climate Justice Action Network, demonstrating continued efforts by various stakeholders to achieve true climate justice.
Aligned with this global movement, ASEZ is also carrying out diverse activities to achieve climate justice. ASEZ is actively promoting the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems through the “ASEZ Green Carbon” (AGC) initiative and marine ecosystems through the “ASEZ Blue Carbon” (ABC) initiative. These efforts not only preserve ecosystems that absorb large amounts of carbon but also contribute to reducing carbon emissions, ultimately working toward carbon neutrality. In addition, ASEZ signs MOUs and conducts discussions with government agencies, local governments, and international organizations to explore practical solutions for supporting local communities and climate-vulnerable regions, thereby building a global network.
Many are emphasizing shared responsibility and fairness in addressing the climate crisis. What is now essential is not merely defining justice but actively realizing it. A happy world, free from the impacts of climate change, relies on these efforts. It is hoped that humanity’s collective efforts will ultimately achieve climate justice.
