The poor most affected by effects of climate change, says activist

Regina Strong, an environmental justice public advocate at Michigan’s department of environment, US, says the poorest in the society are most affected by the impact of climate change.

She called for urgent efforts in finding a way to address how climate change affects communities, given that it is the biggest threat to the environment.

Speaking during a briefing of the US Foreign Press Centers’ virtual reporting tour on the climate crisis, Strong said solutions geared towards helping communities must be intentional.

“We have to be very intentional about how we connect dots across. And so one of the things we talked about and have been working toward is making sure as we move forward with a look at climate and how we address climate and our energy transition, that we do it with an equitable lens, that we are looking at who should be at the table as we have those conversations,” Strong said.

“So from the vantage point of the work that we’re doing in the state, we have created a climate solutions council really looking at some of the planning, and as part of that, the brain trust will help connect the dots on incorporating climate justice and environmental justice and ensuring that that’s part of the mix, which is a big part of why we do the work that we do from my office’s standpoint to really incorporate that.

“So we need to be able to make sure that we look at impact and we’re not just looking at impact on earth, but impact on people. And it’s so inextricably linked, and we know the poorest among us and those who are at a real disadvantage are also the ones who suffer the most the extreme events that climate change has brought about.

“I think the biggest threat overall is climate change. I think the challenge is finding a way to address that with the urgency and speed that we need, again, to the point of timing, planning, and action. We need to be able to really address what impacts communities in a very substantive way, which impacts people wherever they are in a substantive way, and oftentimes planning slows that down.”

Earlier, Gina McCarthy, the White House national climate adviser, said the administration of President Joe Biden is committed to tackling climate crisis in order to grow the US economy.