Intersectional Climate Justice: Theory, Praxis, Lived Experience

Abstract

Historically marginalized populations, often living in vulnerable areas due to unequal past urban development and exclusionary land policies, are not only experiencing the unequal impacts of climate change and environmental degradation but also unfair outcomes from policies aimed at addressing these issues. Conventional adaptation approaches have been shown to overlook the compounded vulnerabilities faced by marginalized communities and, as a result, risk reproducing inequalities. Addressing climate injustices requires interventions that confront the climate crisis while dismantling intersecting systems of oppression and considering contextual factors that contribute to vulnerability. In the first part of this study, I propose a framework for intersectional climate justice that addresses underlying racial and gender-based inequalities, reduces differential vulnerabilities, employs ethics and politics of care, adopts place-based and placemaking approaches, and promotes cross-identity forms of activism. I illustrate the framework with examples from Barcelona and other cities around the world which are implementing innovative strategies that integrate intersectional thinking and justice-driven principles into climate action. I then explore how Barcelona is governing and implementing intersectional climate justice in city planning. I find that the tactics employed to translate intersectional justice into climate action include disruptive approaches that challenge existing political structures and planning norms, transversal work across agencies to mainstream climate and gender, care-centered approaches to urban and climate planning, and place-based strategies to promote social empowerment and redistribution. I also identify challenges and limitations to achieving these outcomes and emphasize key lessons learned from the Barcelona case. Last, I zoom in on one type of climate-adaptive intervention – climate shelters – to examine their ability to meet the needs of vulnerable residents. By applying an intersectional climate justice perspective, I find that intersecting vulnerabilities of marginalized populations are not adequately addressed by such projects, resulting in uneven access to coping mechanisms and exacerbating vulnerability to climate risks. I find that housing inadequacy, energy poverty, and gender disparities contribute to these unequal experiences and highlight the need for infrastructures of heat and cold refuge to be more inclusive, accessible, and culturally sensitive in order to address intersecting social and climate needs, particularly for those most affected by climate impacts. Overall, this dissertation offers insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners interested in advancing urban intersectional climate justice, providing a roadmap for cities to adopt intersectional approaches to climate adaptation in ways that tackle multiple crises in a more integrated manner.

Date of Award	28 Jun 2023
Original language	English
Supervisor	Isabelle Anguelovski (Director), James John Timothy Connolly (Director) & Eric K. Chu (Director)