Today is World Day of Social Justice. Other than the obvious fairness, human rights and reparations of the past, social justice work is directly related to our environment. True environmentalism must address inequality, justice, gender equity and democracy. Without doing so we exclude large portions of our population from crafting ideas and implementing solutions, we do not give people the resources and opportunities to protect and conserve communities, cultures, lands and animals, and all the while we force many to face the consequences of our own actions and suffer irreparable harm.
This year the theme is focussed on closing the inequalities gap. As per the UN, inequalities between and among countries are weakening social cohesion, preventing people from achieving their full potential and burdening economies.
We need to talk about poaching and what we can do that provides an income so that this isn’t necessary. We need to talk about a just transition for workers in fossil fuels (Spain and Germany are providing some good examples for this).
Whilst protecting our lands should not be burdened only to the people that least impact them, there are vast regions of the world that are saved from our dedication to deforestation for agriculture due to Indigenous peoples that defend their land and rights. We must grant them all these rights.
In countries where many communities face poverty, there is often a reliance on natural resources and with accumulating factors of climate change and increased demand for our growing population along with agricultural activity, poverty often results in more environmental issues such as land clearing, overfishing and the large reduction of species. Something that isn’t fixed without first solving the inequities (which we should be doing regardless).
The only way we reconcile with our Earth and protect our ecosystems is to work on all the issues that influence these outcomes which is why we are vocal on this and support organizations that are specifically focussed on them. They are all related and entwined. Good for humans, good for the environment. #socialjustice #environmentaljustice #climatejustice
