Impact of Climate Change on Vulnerable Populations
Climate change is a global phenomenon that is impacting the environment adversely at a compounding rate. The global efforts to finalize commitments to sustainability and agree on emission targets reveal that climate change affects everybody. However, it can be argued that the degree of impact is different for populations based on social, political, and economic vulnerabilities. Vulnerable populations consist of groups and communities that are at a greater risk of having ailments, and generally, of having a lower quality of health due to limited access to resources and other social constraints. Vulnerabilities can vary across regions and are based on multiple criteria, some of which are highlighted below:
On the basis of age: Children are more at risk of climate effects given their low immunity, slower development of organs, and lack of hygiene practices. Air quality, for instance, can adversely affect the respiratory systems of children much quicker than adults. Similarly, older individuals have weaker bones, lesser immunities and various comorbidities — and are highly susceptible to climate disasters.
On the basis of gender: Climate change impacts women in a much more vicious manner than it impacts the male gender. Studies by the UN have revealed that social discriminations faced by women often translate to limited access to resources, including preventive and curative care. 80 percent of individuals displaced by global warming and its climate disturbances are, in fact, women.
On the basis of social status: Often, communities that face social discrimination face a structural paucity of resources. For instance, lower caste women in India face water shortages every year and are more likely to be restricted from accessing community water sources. In the US, black, latinos, hispanic individuals, and indegenous groups such as tribes have faced centuries of extraction and disproportionate restrictions, leading to limited food, bad food and water quality, and direct impact of changing weather patterns.
On the basis of income: In India, while the rich restricted outside movement during the strong heat waves that captured the country’s terrains, the low-income majority of India had nowhere else to be, but outside. Low income communities in India have limited access to infrastructure, housing facilities, air conditioning, and other basic amenities. They tend to be the most vulnerable to high temperatures, and climate-led food and water insecurity.
Other vulnerabilities: Disabilities — visible and invisible, health status at birth, indegenous communities, etc also make up the primary vulnerable population of the world. They face intersections of disadvantages driven by either social or economic disparities.
Disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable populations has led to the popularization of the term called “climate justice”. It is widely understood that as much as climate change is an environmental issue, it has social ramifications — unequal burden of climate change is faced by vulnerable populations who require representation and additional support to fight climate disasters.
Sources:
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/climate-justice/
