Shadow of Climate Apartheid - Inequality in the Twenty-first Century

Shadow of Climate Apartheid - Inequality in the Twenty-first Century

Climate apartheid" is a term used to describe a phenomenon in which the damage caused by climate change is unfairly distributed according to social and economic disparities. In 2007, Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council, warned that while the wealthy can escape extreme heat and disasters through heating and cooling systems, insurance, and migration, the poor are most affected and have no way to avoid it. Droughts, floods, and sea level rise caused by climate change threaten people's livelihoods, but the effects are not uniform, and vulnerable groups are directly affected, as symbolized by low-income people suffering from urban heat waves and those who lose their land and become climate refugees in rural areas. Developed countries that have historically emitted more greenhouse gases are relatively safe, while less emitting Pacific countries and Bangladesh face the threat of losing their land and homes. Such structural inequities are at the heart of
climate justice, and are an inevitable question in international politics. Although the term "apartheid" has been criticized by some as radical, its intensity has provided an opportunity to reframe climate change as an issue of human rights and social inequality. The world of the 21st century faces the challenge of how to reconcile sustainability and equity.