Climate justice and vulnerability in the UK

We tend to think about climate change as a global issue – the 'double injustice' of the industrialised West burning carbon and the global South suffering the consequences. But do similar climate injustices occur within countries such as the UK? Are we equally responsible for and equally affected by climate change? Not according to our two reports published today, which highlight that the people who emit the least carbon in the UK are most likely to suffer from the consequences of climate change.

Our interim findings from The distribution of UK household CO2 emissions provides the first integrated dataset of household emissions. It confirms the direct relationship between household income and carbon emissions – the top 10 per cent earners emit more than twice as much carbon as the lowest 10 per cent. The second stage of the research, to be published next year, will test the social impact of initiatives, such as the Green Deal, geared towards reducing emissions and supporting the design of fairer policies.

Should we be concerned about extreme weather events such as flooding and heatwaves in the UK? Is it really going to get that bad? Well, those affected by recent floods in Hull, Sheffield, Cumbria and Glasgow would testify things are already bad. It is also worth remembering that over 1,500 people died prematurely in the UK (upwards of 30,000 across Europe) during the 2003 heatwave.

Climate change, justice and vulnerability explores who is most vulnerable and worst affected by these events. The starting point is to have a fuller understanding of the impacts – not only the financial costs or the risks of physical injury, but also less tangible social impacts such as stress and the disruption to family, school and work. The same event can have very different impacts depending on a person’s ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from climate events. Yes, resources are important, but so too are a wide range of other factors such as knowledge and support networks. Some people can rely on support from family and friends and have the time and resources to cope with the inconvenience of flood damage. In contrast, a more vulnerable household may takes years to get over the disruption caused by being forced to move out of the family home and the stress of piecing their lives back together.

Our research supports a broader approach to climate risk management with a greater emphasis on the distributional and wider social impacts. It provides a new map of disadvantage, climate disadvantage, which occurs in areas where the population is socially vulnerable and the risk of extreme weather is high.

Our overarching message is that climate change impacts on a wide range of social policy areas not traditionally associated with environmental issues. Policies aimed at building our capacity to adapt to and cope with climate events need to be mainstreamed. This means local service providers need to be more aware of the social impacts of climate change and who is most vulnerable to them.

Today JRF launches a new microsite focusing on the social impacts of climate change and social justice in the UK. As well as including the new reports and our existing research on the direct impacts of climate change in the UK, the microsite features:

• graphics showing who emits the most CO2 and who is the most vulnerable to floods and heatwaves in the UK;
• a series of blogs looking at different aspects of climate change and social justice.