Green ‘Brown’ justice?
On the eve of the publication of the Energy White Paper, TMP environment columnist, Hugh Goulbourne, argues that it is the poorest who will suffer from environmental degredatiom if we do not face up to climate change issues.
Gordon Brown launched his bid for the leadership of the Labour Party and the country last week. One of his key campaign announcements was the promise to invest in building sustainable and affordable eco homes.
This promise, which is embedded with the principles of social justice, should come as welcome news to all progressives. Not only will it provide the poorest in our society with much needed housing, but it will also contribute to the fight against climate change and environmental injustice.
Environmental injustice is endemic in our society, where disadvantaged communities suffer the most from poor environmental policies. Climate change is an important example of this. Its effects are likely to damage developing countries much more than industrialised nations. Yet it is those of us in the richer industrialised countries who are using far more than our fair share of resources – about three quarters of the emissions which cause climate change come from the developed countries.
This dynamic is replicated in the UK itself, where statistics show that poor communities bear a disproportionate burden of environmental risk. For example, higher levels of pollution from factories are found in areas of poverty. Similarly, despite low levels of car ownership, pollution from motorised traffic is much more concentrated in deprived inner-city areas than in the leafy suburbs.
In rich and poor countries alike, therefore, it is the poorest people who suffer most from environmental pollution. They also have least access to environmental resources and face shortages of vital resources such as fuel (nearly 5 million households are estimated to live in fuel poverty in the UK).
Notably, for all ages, family types and family work statuses, people from minority ethnic groups are, on average, much more likely to be in income poverty in the UK than white British people. For example, 70% of those in income poverty in inner London are from minority ethnic groups, as are 50% in outer London.
As progressives we must tackle this social injustice. We should join those in the Labour Party and organizations like Friends of the Earth, in their campaign to reverse such environmental injustice.
The Labour Government has taken substantial steps towards challenging these issues. Policies such as warm front and decent homes have meant that millions of poorer families are now less affected by fuel poverty because of the insulation of their homes. A Labour Mayor of London has ensured better and cheaper public transport and supported cycling and walking by providing the necessary infrastructure. Internationally, the Government has pushed the case for strong targets to reduce emissions of green house gases, the main cause of climate change.
However, there still much to do. Over the coming months the Government will continue to develop its Climate Change Bill, which will provide a framework for the reduction of harmful greenhouse gases being put out into the environment. But it is the publication of the long-awaited Energy and Planning Bills this week that will have the power to really affect the lives of our local communities.
To date, the concern has been that the Energy Bill will focus on nuclear energy, an expensive and outdated form of energy generation which places the greatest health risk on the poorest communities – power stations are located in remote and underprivileged communities and mining operations for uranium take place outside of the UK largely in Eastern Europe, Southern Africa and the Russian Republics. As progressives, we must help build a consensus in our communities that will force politicians and business leaders to invest instead in community based and environmentally clean technologies (for example, combined heat and power boilers or renewables).
Internationally and locally it is the poorest communities that will least be able to afford to insulate themselves against the consequences of climate change. Building solutions that are community led and focused will ensure that the values of efficiency and sustainability are embedded into our economy.
Admittedly, a sustainable lifestyle will mean that all of us have to make changes in our lifestyle. However, the benefits of such changes will be most evident and equally distributed where the projects are local and community focused.
As progressives of any denomination we must support the campaign for environmental sustainability and justice. We must ensure that we build a society in which everyone has equal access to necessary resources, such as fuel or food, and a world in which richer communities or countries do not use more than their fair share of the Earth’s resources.
Hugh Goulbourne is Chair of left pressure group Compass’ Environment and Sustainability Group. For further background information relating to this article see:
http://www.gordonbrownforbritain.com/2007/05/14/the-roof-over-your-head/
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/environmental_justice.pdf.
