This is the text of a talk presented at the General Synod Environmental Group Fringe, which was held during the Church of England General Synod in July 2024.
The devastating impacts of last year’s extreme weather have starkly revealed how climate change affects people worldwide.
However, we cannot ignore the reality that those on the frontlines of climate-related disasters have disproportionately been people of colour.
Statistically, people of colour are far more likely to experience the catastrophic effects of climate breakdown, such as flooding, heatwaves, drought, wildfires, and rising sea levels. This disparity has existed for some time and will only worsen as the climate crisis intensifies.
Recent research from the Yale School of Environment, titled “Equal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change,” has explored these deep-rooted connections.
As co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance, Elizabeth Yeampierre leads a coalition of over 70 organizations focused on addressing racial, economic, and environmental inequalities in tandem.
Yeampieere sees the fights against climate change and racial injustice as deeply intertwined.
She argues that the transition to a low-carbon future is connected to workers’ rights and how people are treated. Yeampieere also criticizes the mainstream environmental movement, claiming it was built by people who cared about conservation, wildlife, and nature, but not about Black people.
She asserts that climate change and racial injustice share the same roots and must be addressed together, as there can be no meaningful climate action without also addressing racial justice.
Global and Local Impact
Early in my career, as a young priest in my 20s serving at a parish in Northwest London, I fought against police brutality and advocated for racial justice in my community. A few years later, at my first incumbency parish in West London near Heathrow, I recognized that the fight for racial justice was inextricably linked to environmental justice. If we couldn’t breathe clean air, we couldn’t effectively fight for racial equity. This realization led me to become involved in the campaign against a proposed third runway at Heathrow.
As Elizabeth Yeampieere has noted, there is no distinction between racial justice and environmental justice – the legacies of colonialism continue to manifest in both realms. The struggles for racial equity and environmental protection are inherently intertwined.
For instance, the global economic system is structured to benefit Western nations, allowing multinational corporations to exploit people and the environment in the developing world through industries like mining and fast fashion. This exploitation renders countries in the Global South less equipped to withstand and recover from climate-related disasters, as they lack robust infrastructure, economic resources, and access to necessary financing.
The devastating impacts of the climate crisis are not confined to distant lands but are also being felt acutely by marginalized communities and people of colour within the UK.
The disparity in how climate change impacts people of colour is well documented and multifaceted, involving various socioeconomic, geographic, and political factors. Some key points that illustrate this:
- Geographic vulnerability: People of colour are more likely to live in areas that are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as coastal regions prone to flooding, urban areas with higher heat island effects, and communities near polluting industries.
- Economic disparities: Economic inequality means that people of colour often have fewer resources to prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate-related disasters. This includes limited access to insurance, lower incomes, and less savings, which can exacerbate the impact of events like hurricanes, floods, and heatwaves.
- Health impacts: Environmental racism leads to higher exposure to pollution and toxic waste, resulting in poorer health outcomes for people of colour. Climate change exacerbates these issues, increasing the prevalence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, heat-related illnesses, and vector-borne diseases.
- Political and social marginalization: People of colour frequently have less political power and representation, which can result in inadequate response and recovery efforts, insufficient infrastructure investments, and less influence over policies that address climate change and its impacts.
- Displacement and migration: Climate change-induced displacement disproportionately affects people of colour. Whether due to sea level rise, extreme weather events, or drought, these communities often face greater challenges in finding safe, stable, and affordable housing after being displaced.
Extensive research by the UN, WHO, and environmental groups consistently demonstrates that climate change amplifies existing social and economic inequalities. Effectively addressing these disparities necessitates targeted policies that account for the unique vulnerabilities and needs of marginalized communities, ensuring equitable and inclusive climate action.
In my Northwest London and West London parishes, I witnessed that black African and Caribbean residents face disproportionately high exposure to illegal levels of air pollution compared to other ethnic groups in the UK.
The country’s most polluted neighbourhoods are predominantly home to people of colour, creating a public health crisis. Air pollution is a significant contributing factor to the alarmingly high rates of underlying health conditions that afflict black women.
People of colour in the UK are also more likely to live in poor quality housing that is vulnerable to flooding unless equipped to deal with extreme heat. Just as those in the Global South are less able to adapt to climate change, their diasporas in the Global North are disproportionately faced by the same problems.
Structural racism is the root cause behind the disproportionate rates at which people of colour in Europe and North America live in substandard housing, crowded urban areas, and industries with higher pollution exposure.
In agreement with Greenpeace, fundamentally though, we can’t win the fight against climate chaos without dealing with racism.
In other words, to effectively address the climate crisis, we must confront the racial injustices at its roots. And therefore we must call on governments and corporations to tackle the climate emergency urgently.
Climate action cannot be divorced from the pursuit of racial equity – the two are fundamentally intertwined, and progress on one necessitates progress on the other.
