Climate change is unfair. Many of the people who are likely to face (and are already confronting) the harshest impacts of climate change are in communities that have endured historical injustices such as colonialism and the slave trade (Táíwò, 2022), as well as local injustices such as inadequate infrastructure investments and unequal exposure to pollution (EPA, 2021). These communities also tend to be predominately people of color and/or people with fewer financial resources. …
Here we report public support for policies in three key areas related to climate justice goals: an economic transition to clean, renewable energy sources; investment in frontline communities (i.e. communities who have been historically marginalized and also face disproportionate risk of harm from climate change); and climate-friendly job creation. These policies align with the climate justice principles of reducing unequal harms from climate change, and producing equitable benefits as part of climate solutions (IPCC, 2022), as well as major components of a just transition. CONTINUED
Jennifer Carman, Danning (Leilani) Lu, Joshua Low, Anthony Leiserowitz, Kristin Barendregt-Ludwig, Jennifer Marlon, Seth Rosenthal, Matthew Goldberg, Edward Maibach, John Kotcher & Gerald Torres, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
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