Citizens' Climate Lobby: The heart of climate justice - HollandSentinel.com

Citizens' Climate Lobby: The heart of climate justice

Our world’s changing climate is delivering unwelcome events; witness the rising temperatures, more frequent storm surges, and diminished water and air quality.

Holland and the Midwest are not exempt. Recent local air quality index readings of 150-192 recorded dangerously unhealthy air quality. Smoke plumes from a multi-million-acre Canadian forest fire was the source. Drought and heat attributable to changing climate are driving what is now the worst wildfire season in Canadian history.

The impacts of climate change, however, are not distributed equally and those who are most affected are often the least responsible. This imbalance is giving rise to a climate justice movement.

The movement advocates for the rights of marginalized communities — rural and urban — so that indigenous peoples, people of color, low-income communities, and those in developing countries might be given the means for a more sustainable and equitable societal solution.

I consider myself a person of privilege. I live in Holland. I am an educated person, having attended private schools and achieved three educational degrees. I am a homeowner and a retired professional with options socially and economically. I have resources that others do not. I see it as my moral duty to fight for climate equity so that the effects of changing climate do not weigh more heavily on those less apt to cope with extreme conditions.

Being a woman, I am especially moved by the impact of our changing climate on women across the globe. According to the 2023 United Nations Conference on Climate Change women, due to a variety of factors, are particularly affected.

Climate change only increases the vulnerability of women as they struggle to feed, clothe, and care for their family and loved ones. In developing countries, they are now more susceptible to food insecurity, water scarcity, and cultural disruption.

For these women, the climate-driven increase in natural disasters and severe weather leads to displacement, scrambling for resources, and the need to relocate. Along the way, they face increased risk of violence, loss of social safety networks, and limited access to healthcare services.

Women are also at risk as a direct result of their having only limited access to climate decision-making power. Even in our own local communities, women may often be too overwhelmed with home management and child care to empower themselves

I recently attended a Michigan Climate Action Network conference. Climate and water justice were among the serious issues discussed. It was heart-wrenching to hear women from Detroit’s urban communities talk about their fears of being unable to access clean water. One panel member talked about the racial inequality of water payment policies and how she had to knock on several neighbors’ doors to collect enough water to make baby formula for her young son.

None of us are disconnected from these problems. We all need to act if we are to successfully tackle the problem. While climate change affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally. Vulnerability is worsened by the inequity and marginalization linked to gender, ethnicity, low income, and other social and economic factors.

Half of the world’s population is comprised of women. We need women, in all their diversity, to be part of the climate discussion and negotiations. When we as a whole group, both men and women, address solutions to the changing climate those solutions will be more effective.

One such organization attempting to include this concept of climate justice and inclusion is Moms Clean Air Force. This community of over one million moms and dads, in order to protect their children’s health, is united against air pollution and climate change. They believe, as one of their tenants, that “Motherhood is Powerful.” Mothers will do everything to keep their children safe and sound. They are fighting for climate justice and a clean, safe, future.

Empowering women, supporting women, and investing in women is the key to building climate resilience and equity in all communities — locally and worldwide. It is this idea that is at the heart of climate justice.

— Nancy Berg is a member of the Holland-Area Citizens’ Climate Lobby and lives in Holland.