Social Justice and Environmental Displacement

Abstract

Abstract

Climate change is a powerful form of structural violence perpetrated against the world's poorest communities. The international community has failed to mitigate fully or prevent human-induced climate change, and millions of people around the world already have begun experiencing some of the consequences of that failure to act. Moreover, the international community is failing to adequately plan for the worst-case scenarios in which those who are least able to adapt to a new climate paradigm increasingly find themselves displaced and compelled to relocate, domestically or internationally, because of environmental changes. Climate-induced environmental displacement is a multifaceted problem requiring a holistic social justice response—one that can transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and affect change across multiple sectors.