Description
Climate change, while unsparing in its impact on all life on earth, affects people unequally. Disadvantaged groups are often worst affected by climate challenges due to their social and geographic location in poor communities and reduced capacity to manage the costs of adaptation. For example, people living in poorly built housing and facing high energy bills may struggle to cool their homes during heatwaves. People working in poorly regulated industries may face harsher working conditions as the climate warms. Access to healthcare, education and social security, as well as to local services such as transport and childcare, already impacted by climate change, will need to be improved and adapted to these new conditions. Many of these problems reflect unequal access to resources, income, and wealth, exacerbated by growing economic inequality in society. We know these inequalities intersect with other forms of disadvantage based on race, gender, disability, age, migrant status and so on.Can discrimination law, which is criticised for its inability to address structural inequality, and its limited acceptance of class as a ground of discrimination, play a role in responding to class-based inequality that is worsened by climate change. What examples of class-based discrimination in the context of climate change have already been documented? Are there any examples of policy, legislation or litigation that tackle this challenge?
We warmly invite you to join us for a roundtable discussion on the issues surrounding climate change and class discrimination law.
We see this roundtable as a preliminary scoping activity towards further engagement by the two working groups and a contribution towards the development of a research agenda on this topic.
| Period | 8 May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Seminar |
| Degree of Recognition | International |