Climate Justice: A Four-Session Study Guide

Primary Text 

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, by Naomi Klein

Introduction

Climate change is clearly the most challenging issue of our times. It will impact nearly every dimension of our lives in the coming years – but it will not affect all people equally. Its manifestations in recent years have included devastating rains and floods, increasingly harsh droughts, and massive hurricanes. People living in the areas most vulnerable to these weather events are nearly always those who are poorest, who have the least access to channels of power and who are often left behind during recovery efforts.

As people of faith committed to human rights, it is essential that we understand the current and future consequences of climate change, and that we do all that we can to ensure that our nation drastically cuts carbon emissions. But at the same time we must find ways to work in solidarity with frontline communities, where structural injustices make entire populations acutely vulnerable to climate change and often further disempowered during recovery efforts.

Beginning in 2015, UUCSJ created two experiential learning programs connected to climate justice: Hurricane Sandy Recovery in Brooklyn, NY, and Solidarity with First Nations in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. Our climate justice resources have been developed for two purposes: to assist those returning from one of these UUCSJ programs in sharing what they’ve learned with their communities; and to help those who are not connected to our programs (yet!) but who want to explore with others the complex issues of climate justice.

We will continue to develop these resources in the coming months and welcome suggestions for how they may be improved.