Climate justice advocates for a shift in the focus of dialogue on climate change away from economic imperatives and technical solutions, to protecting the human rights of those most vulnerable to its effects, both globally and locally.
Climate change causes disproportionate impacts on people. Youth, in particular, see the climate crisis as one of the defining challenges of their age, noting that continued fossil fuel expansion will lock in decades of greenhouse gas emissions, jeopardizing their human rights and future prospects.
In response to the focus on climate justice as part of UBC’s Declaration of a Climate Emergency and recommendations from its Climate Emergency Task Force (CETF) Report the UBC Sustainability Initiative is launching the Climate Justice Series, featuring sessions that examine climate justice from various perspectives, locally and globally.
In addition, the student-driven UBC Climate Hub is organizing a year-long event series on the theme of climate change, race and intersectionality. These examine in detail the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis on Black and Indigenous communities, and what it means to build respectful relationships and equity in the future.
Together, our events are presented in partnership with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions.
Envisioning a Just City: Climate and Racial Justice in Urban Planning
Thursday, February 25 at 6:00pm-7:30pm
An evening presenting the issues of racial and climate justice in urban planning. We will be addressing the anti-Black and anti-Indigenous planning practices that have marked Vancouver and have been worsened by the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis. Our discussion will unpack what it means to build and strengthen respectful relationships with Black and Indigenous communities, to reimagine inclusive urban spaces, to share valuable expertise and build more equitable cities in the face of climate change.
Panel:
- Maggie Low (Status member of Wikwemikoong Unceded Territory; Co-Chair Indigenous Community Planning, School of Community and Regional Planning, UBC)
- Jahmira Lovemore White (Co-founder of Black Mutual Aid BC, member of Black Lives Matter Vancouver and the Hogan’s Alley Society)
- Salia Joseph, St’axí7alut (she/her) (Executive Director of Kwi Awt Stelmexw, a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh non-profit focused on language revitalization. Graduate of the First Nations and Indigenous studies program, UBC)
Organized by the UBC Climate Hub.
Register
“Just Is”≠ Justice
Friday, March 5 at 11:00am-12:30pm
Countries and peoples that are least responsible for causing climate change are the ones suffering most from its effects. Learn about climate justice in Africa, climate justice as a threat to Indigenous sovereignty, BC’s oil tanker and pipeline projects and climate justice, and the global policy framework for acting on climate.
Panel:
- Eugene Kung (West Coast Environmental Law)
- Kathryn Harrison (Professor of Political Science, UBC)
- Temitope Onifade (Lawyer; International Doctoral Fellow and a Vanier Scholar at Allard Law School, UBC)
- Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson (Artist; Counsel to the Haida Nation; Masters student, Allard Law School, UBC)
Moderator: Linda Nowlan (Senior Director of the UBC Sustainability Initiative; Adjunct Professor in the Allard School of Law, UBC).
Organized by the UBC Sustainability Initiative.
Register
UBC Reads Sustainability with Amitav Ghosh
Thursday, March 11 at 12:00pm-2:00pm
Are we deranged? The acclaimed Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh argues that future generations may well think so. Join Ghosh for an examination of The Great Derangement and our inability—at the level of literature, history, and politics—to grasp the scale and violence of climate change.
Organized by the UBC Sustainability Initiative.
Register
Draining Latin America: Extractivism and Mining
Thursday, March 11 at 3:00pm-4:30pm
It is not a secret that Latin America is one of the richest geo regions in terms of natural resources. Many extraction companies based in North America have taken advantage of Latin America’s great reserves often to the detriment of the land and its peoples, especially Indigenous communities. Join us as we explore the damage that mining companies and resource extraction has caused in Latin America and more pressingly how these companies have been linked to violence and criminalization of peaceful activism.
Organized by the UBC Climate Hub.
Register
From Grassroots to Government
Friday, March 19 at 11:00am-12.00pm
The discussion will include reflections on what climate justice means to the panelists, and how they are building it into their work; the process of translating climate justice activism and advocacy into government action; and the role of citizens and social movements in bringing about climate justice focused government action.
Panel:
- Andrea Reimer (Former City Councillor and Deputy Mayor, City of Vancouver; Adjunct Professor of Practice at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC)
- Bowinn Ma (B.C. Minister of State for Infrastructure; MLA North Vancouver-Lonsdale)
- Christine Boyle (City of Vancouver Councillor; United Church Minister)
- Khelsilem (Council Member & Spokesperson for the Squamish Nation Council)
Moderator: Sara Muir Owen (Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions).
Organized by the UBC Sustainability Initiative.
Register
What is UBC’s Responsibility in Relation to Climate Justice?
Thursday, April 8 (TBC)
Time (TBC)
More details coming soon.
Panel:
- Adriana Laurent (Project Administrator, UBC Climate Hub)
- Jessica Dempsey (Associate Professor, Department of Geography, UBC)
- Sharon Stein (Assistant Professor, Department of Education Studies, UBC)
Moderator: Tara Ivanochko (Academic Director, UBC Sustainability Initiative; Associate Professor of Teaching, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences).
Organized by the UBC Sustainability Initiative.
