Climate change and racial and socioeconomic justice are intertwined. Climate change disproportionately affects communities of color and developing markets (impoverished countries). According to a 2015 study by Oxfam called Extreme Carbon Inequality, the poorest half of the population (about 3.5 billion people) are responsible for 10% of emissions, while the top 10% of people emit about 50% of the world's greenhouse gases. It is estimated that the top 1% could have carbon footprints as big as 175 times that of the lower 10%.

Climate change is linked to extreme temperatures, extreme weather, famines and droughts, worse air quality, and higher health risks. The communities who will be most affected by this are the poor communities made up mostly of Black and Latine populations. BIPOC communities are more likely to have flooded homes, no drinking water, disrupted local economies, lost electricity and heat, and a harder time recovering financially afterward (globalcitizen.org). Because of colonialism there is a large wealth divide between races, and as long as we perpetuate systemic racism climate change will harm POC communities at a much larger scale compared to white communities.

Environmental disasters are also more likely to displace people of color. For example after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, the underfunded city levee system broke and flooded up to 80% of the city. Black people were 4 times more likely to die in some places, and they also accounted for 80% of home losses. They were also much less likely to return to their homes in the years afterward (globalcitizen.org). Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017 also harmed communities of color and poor communities an inordinate amount more that white and rich communities. One report shows that the hurricane harmed 73% of black residents and 79% of hispanic residents, but only 55% of white residents. It also affected 79% of people living at 100% of the Federal Property Level (FPL). 37% of Hispanic people reported that a family member lost their job or had their hours cut back in the aftermath (gizmodo, globalcitizen.org).

Climate change is also more likely to harm impoverished countries and countries that were colonized within the past 200 years. For example, in 2019, Hurricane Idai hit Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi, destroying over 100,000 homes, schools, and hospitals (globalcitizen.org), killing at least 1,000 people in Mozambique alone (UN.org), and flooded 70,000 hectares of farmland causing a food shortage (globalcitizen.org). It is estimated that over 3 million people were directly impacted by the cyclone (UN.org). In comparison, about 2 hurricanes hit the US coastline every year, but in total only have between 4 and 10 casualties in total. It is estimated that by the end of the century, 140 million people will be displaced by climate related disasters (World Bank).

Native people have been the most impacted by colonialism, but their practices might be the key to saving our planet. Indigenous populations make up 5% of the world's population, but their traditional land encompasses 22% of land mass and 80% of biodiversity (FAO.org). Their farming and preservation tactics are designed to their specific land and they have a large hand in preservation of forests and biodiversity today. Forests in Indigenous land in Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia had a 2-3 times lower deforestation rate rom 2000-2012 (UNEP.org). Native-run biodiversity gardens house between 300 and 500 different species, while millions of species are considered endangered and expected to go extinct soon (scientificamerican.com). Meanwhile, 185 Natives in 16 countries were killed defending their land in 2015 alone (UNEP.org).

By not addressing racial and socioeconomic inequalities we will never truly achieve climate justice. In order to save our Earth, we must first dismantle systemic racism and the longterm effects of colonialism and capitalism.