The NAACP’s Climate Justice Initiative advocates climate justice as a civil rights issue

October 22, 2015 By Shanna Edberg

Noting that “global climate change has a disproportionate impact on communities of color in the United States and around the world”, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Climate Justice Initiative educates and mobilizes to address climate change and climate resilience as civil rights issues. Their advocacy agenda includes clean energy, transportation equity, food justice, equity in urban and rural development, economic empowerment in a green economy, health justice, education justice, disaster planning, housing justice, and more.

Climate Protection: Clean energy reduces greenhouse gases that cause climate change
Health, Well-being, & Safety: Using renewable energy in place of fossil fuels reduces toxic pollution emissions and losses from sea level rise
Connection: The NAACP encourages and suggests avenues for communal cooperation and advocacy on climate change issues
Food and Water: Advocating for local food gardens increases healthy food availability in urban food deserts
Jobs & Assets: Promoting the use of home solar panels creates opportunities for local workers and businesses, and mitigating the impact of climate change maintains the livelihood of farmers

 

This post is part of a series on organizations and leaders who engage in ​multisolving, or climate-smart policies that simultaneously work to mitigate climate change while providing co-benefits such as the ones described above.