Geography education to help understand discrimination in climate ... - The Lancet

Geography education to help understand discrimination in climate change and health - The Lancet

Thilagawathi A Deivanayagam and colleagues

have highlighted that the effects of climate change are not equally distributed around the world, creating discrimination related to climate change and health. The authors mentioned briefly that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognises education as one way to address this issue.
1

- Deivanayagam TA
- Selvarajah S
- Hickel J
- et al.

Climate change, health, and discrimination: action towards racial justice.

Lancet. 2023; 401: 5-7

However, the problem is so large and multidimensional that it should be answered with cross-disciplinary solutions. The effects of climate change vary across countries and regions due to differences in geography, history, and economic development. Studying and explaining such spatial differences are the core of geography as a discipline.
2

- Pörtner H-O
- Roberts DC
- Adams H
- et al.

IPCC sixth assessment report. Climate change 2022: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva2022

Many health problems are associated with living in certain geographical areas, being exposed to specific environmental conditions (eg, poor air quality or unfavourable climate), or the history of the region (eg, colonialism); therefore, geography education can be a solution to mitigate discrimination related to climate change. Geography education can increase general understanding and competence about climate change and global health, and how this affects different parts of the world; can develop empathy for others by making us aware of their needs; can support children's and young people's development of critical thinking skills by encouraging them to question received information about local or global issues such as climate change and health; and can develop a sense of responsibility for children's and young people's actions and the environment in which they live. Knowing how the world works can help children and young people make better decisions about their future lives. Furthermore, a dialogue between different disciplines to contribute ideas and find common ground is needed.
3

- Morgan J

Are we thinking geographically?.

in: Jones M Lambert D Debates in geography education. Routledge, Oxfordshire2017: 287-297

PM received funding from the Strategic Research Council, Finland (grant number 335730) and from the Lähiöohjelma 2020–2022, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Finland (grant number VN/10837/2020).

1.Climate change, health, and discrimination: action towards racial justice.Lancet. 2023; 401: 5-7 2.IPCC sixth assessment report. Climate change 2022: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability.Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva2022 3.Are we thinking geographically?.in: Jones M Lambert D Debates in geography education. Routledge, Oxfordshire2017: 287-297

Article info

Publication history

Published: 01 April 2023

Identification
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00325-2

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© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Climate change, health, and discrimination: action towards racial justice
- The health impacts of climate change will affect everyone. But the consequences are unevenly distributed, falling much harder on some communities than others. Although discourse on climate change and health acknowledges principles of equity,1 little attention is given to underlying structural discrimination and the need for racial justice. From vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico coping with the effects of hurricane Fiona, to excessive heat in racially segregated neighbourhoods in the USA, to the tens of millions of people who have been displaced by flooding in Pakistan during 2022, minoritised populations2 bear the brunt of the health impacts of climate change, despite being least responsible for it.
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