How racial and gender equality are critical for building climate resilience

By Tatum Lau

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Last year’s events provided a stark reminder of the inextricable link between the climate crisis and racial injustice. It is clear that Women and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) bear every crisis’s largest burdens.

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Redlining practices instituted by the federal and local governments in the early to mid-twentieth century prevented Black homeowners from accessing mortgages, which led to decades of community disinvestment.

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A study by the Yale Program on climate change communication found that Black Americans and Latinos are more concerned about climate change than whites.

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Women across every race and ethnicity and particularly those in the global south, bear greater burdens when a crisis strikes.

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Another trend has also become evident this year: A study of 194 countries showed that “COVID-19 outcomes are systematically and significantly better in countries led by women.”