The Climate Crisis is a Human Rights Crisis. We are campaigning for the Labour Party to act at home and overseas to reverse structural inequalities and safeguard future generations.
Climate Change and Human Rights
Our Campaign seeks to centre Human Rights and Distributive Justice in Labour Party policy on Climate Change. Although no country can escape the consequences of rising global temperatures, extreme weather and pollution, there is clear evidence that the crisis is not impacting nations and communities equally.In the Global South, land rights are precarious, meaning land long protected by indigenous communities is being lost to deforestation and industrial expansion. Developing nations are saddled with unprecedented levels of debt, whilst governments continue to uphold GDP as the only measure of economic success, pursuing growth at the expense of our climate. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimated that slow-onset climate change is increasing the number of people internally displaced, up to 24 million people in 2019. And in the UK, areas with higher proportions of Black and Ethnic Minority communities suffer from higher rates of air pollution and are overrepresented in the neighbourhoods where polluting incinerators are sited.
As such, we are focusing our campaign on three interconnected areas, seeking to raise awareness, amplify marginalized voices and ensure Labour Party policy addresses the Human Rights implications of the climate crisis:
Economic Justice – we are campaigning to challenge measures of economic success which prioritize economic growth and output over human life and wellbeing. We want the Labour Party to recognise the international Climate Finance obligations of wealthier nations to support mitigation and adaptation efforts overseas, and reverse decades of neoliberal economic policies which have allowed fossil fuel companies to exploit populations and damage environments.
Racial Justice – we are campaigning to ensure that decision-making on the climate crisis is not a ‘white saviour’ exercise, but one which centres the rights of ethnic minority and indigenous communities. We are campaigning to amplify black and ethnic minority voices at home and overseas, pushing the Labour Party to take action on issues disproportionately affecting these communities including air pollution, industrial expansion and indigenous land rights.
Migrant Justice – we are campaigning to dispel myths and fearmongering over migration patterns, recognising the greatest problem of internal displacement in the Global South. The Labour Party should advocate for proper investment in mitigation and adaptation efforts together with legal protections for those who do migrate to the UK on climate grounds.