SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social justice refers to the concept of fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and
privileges in society. It aims to address and rectify systemic inequalities and injustices based on
factors such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, disability, and other forms of
discrimination. The goal of social justice is to create a society that promotes equal rights, access to
resources, and opportunities for all individuals, regardless of their background or identity. It work
towards creating a more inclusive and just society by challenging systemic barriers and advocating
for policies and practices that promote equality and fairness.
PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
The principles of social justice encompass a broad set of values and beliefs aimed at promoting
equality, fairness, and the well-being of all individuals within a society. While different perspectives
and theories exist regarding social justice, the following principles are commonly recognized:
Equality: Social justice emphasizes the equal worth and dignity of all individuals, regardless of their
race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, or any other
characteristic. It advocates for equal rights, opportunities, and treatment for everyone.
Equity: Equity acknowledges that people have different needs and circumstances, and it seeks to
ensure fairness by addressing these differences. It involves allocating resources and opportunities in
a way that accounts for historical disadvantages and promotes equal outcomes.
Human Rights: Social justice upholds the fundamental human rights of all individuals, as articulated
in international declarations and conventions. These rights include civil, political, economic, social,
and cultural rights, such as the right to life, liberty, education, healthcare, housing, and a fair trial.
Solidarity: Social justice emphasizes the importance of collective action and mutual support. It
recognizes that individuals and communities must stand together to address systemic inequalities
and injustices. Solidarity involves advocating for the rights and well-being of marginalized and
oppressed groups.
Diversity and Inclusion: Social justice embraces diversity and strives for inclusive societies. It
recognizes the value of diverse perspectives, experiences, and identities, and aims to dismantle
discriminatory practices and barriers that exclude individuals or perpetuate inequality.
Access to Basic Needs: Social justice focuses on ensuring that all individuals have access to essential
resources and services required for a dignified life. This includes access to food, clean water, shelter,
healthcare, education, employment, and social protection.
Empowerment: Social justice seeks to empower individuals and communities to participate actively
in decision-making processes that affect their lives. It promotes the development of skills,
knowledge, and opportunities that enable people to exercise their rights and achieve their full
potential.
Social and Economic Justice: Social justice advocates for fair distribution of resources and wealth
within society. It challenges systemic inequalities and economic disparities, aiming to create a just
and sustainable economic system that benefits all members of society.
Environmental Sustainability: Social justice recognizes the interdependence of human well-being
and the health of the natural environment. It promotes sustainable development practices that
ensure the rights and needs of current and future generations are met while preserving ecological
balance.These principles are interconnected and provide a foundation for addressing social
inequalities and promoting a more just and inclusive society.
RELATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Climate justice refers to the concept of addressing the unequal burden of climate change impacts on
marginalized communities and advocating for equitable solutions. It recognizes that the impacts of
climate change, such as rising temperatures, extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and ecosystem
disruption, disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, including low-income communities,
Indigenous peoples, and marginalized groups.Climate justice emphasizes the intersectionality of
social, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to climate change vulnerabilities. It
recognizes that disadvantaged communities often have limited resources, political power, and access
to decision-making processes, making them more susceptible to the adverse effects of climate
change.
Key principles of climate justice include:
Equity and fairness: Climate justice aims to ensure fairness in the distribution of both the impacts of
climate change and the benefits of mitigation and adaptation efforts. It seeks to address historical
and current inequalities and prevent further marginalization of vulnerable communities.

Participation and inclusion: Climate justice emphasizes the meaningful engagement and inclusion of
affected communities in decision-making processes related to climate policies and actions. It
recognizes the importance of local knowledge and perspectives in finding sustainable and just
solutions.
Human rights and social justice: Climate justice links environmental challenges with human rights,
recognizing that everyone has the right to live in a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment. It
seeks to protect the rights of marginalized communities and ensure access to essential resources,
including clean air, water, and land.
Global responsibility: Climate justice acknowledges that the responsibility for addressing climate
change lies not only with individual communities but also with nations, governments, and global
institutions. It calls for global cooperation, solidarity, and shared responsibility to tackle climate
change in a just and equitable manner.
In summary, climate justice seeks to address the unequal distribution of climate change impacts and
promote fairness, inclusion, and sustainability in climate action. It aims to empower marginalized
communities, protect human rights, and create a more equitable and sustainable future for
all.Climate justice and social justice are closely interconnected and often overlapping concepts.
Climate justice refers to the recognition that the impacts of climate change are not equally
distributed and that marginalized communities, particularly those in low-income areas and
developing countries, bear a disproportionate burden of climate change effects.Social justice, on the
other hand, is a broader concept that encompasses fairness, equality, and the protection of human
rights in all aspects of society. It involves addressing systemic inequalities, discrimination, and
disparities in access to resources and opportunities.
The relationship between climate justice and social justice arises from the understanding that
climate change exacerbates existing social inequalities and injustices. The impacts of climate change,
such as extreme weather events, sea-level rise, water scarcity, and food insecurity,
disproportionately affect vulnerable communities, including marginalized racial and ethnic groups,
low-income populations, women, indigenous peoples, and future generations.For example,
marginalized communities often lack the resources and infrastructure necessary to adapt to and
recover from climate-related disasters. They may also experience limited access to clean air, clean
water, and healthy food due to environmental degradation and pollution resulting from climate
change.
Addressing climate justice requires taking into account the underlying social, economic, and political
factors that contribute to vulnerability and inequality. It involves recognizing and rectifying historical
and ongoing injustices, empowering affected communities, and ensuring their meaningful
participation in decision-making processes related to climate change mitigation and
adaptation.Moreover, climate justice acknowledges the need to transition to a sustainable and low-
carbon economy in a just and equitable manner. This includes creating green jobs, supporting
renewable energy solutions, and ensuring a just transition for workers in industries that may be
negatively affected by the shift away from fossil fuels.climate justice and social justice are
interconnected because climate change impacts are not felt equally, and addressing climate change
requires addressing the underlying social injustices and inequalities that contribute to vulnerability
and inequitable outcomes. By integrating climate justice and social justice, efforts can be made to
achieve a more equitable and sustainable future for all.
DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
Procedural justice and distributive justice are two concepts within the broader framework of social
justice. They both relate to the fair distribution of resources, opportunities, and benefits in
society, but they focus on different aspects of justice.
Procedural justice: Procedural justice refers to the fairness and transparency of the processes and
procedures used to make decisions and allocate resources. It emphasizes the importance of fair
procedures in ensuring equitable outcomes. In the context of social justice, procedural justice
means that the methods and rules used in distributing resources or making decisions should be
impartial, inclusive, and accountable.
For example, in a procedural justice framework, it is crucial that decision-making processes allow
for meaningful participation and representation from diverse groups, ensuring that all voices are
heard and considered. Additionally, transparent and unbiased procedures help build trust in
institutions and ensure that decisions are made in an equitable manner.
Distributive justice: Distributive justice focuses on the fair distribution of resources and benefits in
society. It concerns how goods, services, opportunities, and burdens are allocated among
individuals and groups. Distributive justice aims to address inequalities and ensure that resources
are distributed in a manner that is considered fair and just.
There are various principles of distributive justice, including:
Equality: This principle advocates for an equal distribution of resources, where everyone receives
an equal share.
Need: The need-based principle emphasizes allocating resources based on individuals’ needs,
providing more to those who require it the most.
Merit: The merit-based principle suggests distributing resources based on individual effort,
contribution, or achievements.
Contribution: This principle focuses on distributing resources based on the level of contribution or
work put in by individuals.
Capability: The capability approach considers individuals’ capabilities and functioning,
emphasizing equal opportunities and resources to enable individuals to achieve their potential.It’s
important to note that different theories and perspectives may prioritize different principles of
distributive justice, and the concept of distributive justice can be subject to debate and
interpretation. Ultimately, the goal of distributive justice is to ensure a more equitable
distribution of resources and opportunities within society.Both procedural justice and distributive
justice are key considerations within social justice frameworks, working together to address
inequalities and promote fairness and equity in society.
*DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE*
Social justice and equity can be categorized based on different ethical perspectives. The first
category is “moral” or “rights-based,” which emphasizes human rights, duties, obligations, and
fairness of procedures. This approach prioritizes principles over outcomes. The second category is
“consequentialist,” which focuses on goals, outcomes, and the interests of society as a whole. In
this approach, actions and policies are evaluated based on their contribution to societal goals,
such as maximizing welfare. Utilitarianism is an example of a consequentialist approach, which
can either focus on individual welfare or the distribution of welfare among individuals. The two
main forms of social justice discussed in the literature are distributive justice and procedural
justice.
*Distributive justice*
Distributive justice is about how resources, benefits, and burdens are divided among countries,
generations, or within a society. It can be based on factors like responsibilities, rights, needs,
ability, and efficiency. There are different types of distributive justice. Horizontal equity means fair
distribution based on the severity of injustice or equal distribution among all. Vertical equity
means allocating resources according to need or ability to pay. Different approaches include total
equality (everyone gets the same share), minimum standard (ensuring a certain level of income for
the poor), and meritocracy (allowing inequalities based on effort and hard work). Some
approaches focus on outcomes (consequentialist), while others focus on rights (once the initial
distribution is made, future differences are not seen as unfair).
*Procedural Justice*
Procedural justice is about making fair decisions by using transparent processes. It focuses on who
gets to decide and participate in decision-making. It includes principles like the right to be heard,
treated with respect, given enough information, and seeking remedies if decisions have negative
effects. Hobbes and Rawls emphasize social contracts to ensure fairness in resource allocation
through negotiations between different actors, institutions, and nations. Sen’s capabilities
approach, which emphasizes human agency, also plays a role, recognizing that not all actors have
equal negotiation abilities and may need extra support. Some argue that distributive and
procedural justice are interconnected and shouldn’t be considered as separate concepts.

*Main questions*
1.Who has responsibility for and benefits from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? •
2.What is the distribution of the welfare impacts of climate change? •
3.What is the distribution of the costs and burdens of mitigation policies? •
4.What is the distribution of the costs and burdens of adaptation policies? •
5.Who has voice and power in the formation of responses to climate change? •
6.Are decision-making processes designed to distribute power in proportion to stakes?

UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF IMPACTS

*What causes unjust distribution of impacts*
Unjust distributions of climate change impacts are influenced by various factors. These factors can
be categorized as individual/internal factors and physical/social structural factors.
Individual/internal factors include personal physical and mental abilities, household composition
and size, income, age, ethnicity, gender, health, education, awareness, sense of responsibility,
agency to act, attitudes, and personal values.
Physical/social structural factors encompass physical location, geography, housing tenure, access
to services and resources, technological systems, infrastructures, markets, social structures, power
relations, societal norms, and political and institutional structures.
Different vulnerability factors can determine whether climate change hazards and opportunities
have negative or positive impacts on people’s welfare. This can lead to an unequal distribution of
climate change hazards, creating conditions for inequitable outcomes (Lindley et al., 2011).In
terms of climate change mitigation, climate injustices primarily arise from factors that contribute
to the unequal distribution of mitigation policy costs and unequal access to the benefits of
mitigation. Examples include the creation of green jobs and the consequences of changing energy
infrastructure locations. Climate injustice can manifest through procedural and distributional
inequities.
SOCIAL JUSTICE,CLIMATE CHANGE AND VULNERABILITY
Injustice related to climate change arises from differential social impacts and unequal patterns of
social vulnerability.Vulnerability to climate change is influenced by personal, environmental, and
social factors.
Personal factors include individual characteristics like disability or age.
Environmental factors encompass physical features such as housing elevation and the ability of the
natural environment to mitigate or exacerbate exposure.
Social factors involve elements like the strength of social networks and income levels.
These factors determine the extent to which events like flooding affect individual well-
being.Vulnerability is not inherent to specific groups but is shaped by economic circumstances, social
and cultural practices, and institutional service provision.Therefore Policy responses to climate
change should be cross-sectoral and consider localized assessments of vulnerability.
Climate injustice also arises from the unequal distribution of costs and benefits of climate change
policies.
-Lower-income groups often bear a higher proportion of costs while receiving fewer benefits,
despite contributing less to the problem that cause climate change.
-sensitivity, or personal biophysical characteristics such as age and health, which affect the likelihood
that a heatwave or flood event will have negative welfare impacts (older people, babies/young
children and those with ill health being more vulnerable).
-enhanced exposure, or the aspects of the physical environment, such as the availability of green
space or housing characteristics, which tend to accentuate or mitigate the severity of heatwave or
flood events (for example, green spaces may reduce heat or flood impacts due to their ability to
absorb water and provide shade).
-Inability to prepare , the factors that enable an individual or community to prepare for climate
change impacts (such as insurance, income and knowledge) are very low especially in marginalized
groups .
-ability to respond ,the factors that enable individuals and communities to immediately respond to
extreme weather events, such as income, insurance, personal mobility, fear of crime, community
networks, availability of public spaces, local knowledge and personal autonomy; and ability to
recover – the factors that enable individuals and communities to recover from climate related
events, such as income, insurance, housing mobility, social networks, knowledge, availability of
hospital are scarce in vulnerable communities.