Climate Justice in Higher Education: How Can Colleges and Universities Promote Societal Transformation?

Keywords: climate justice, higher education, fossil fuel free, divestment
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 36

Abstract

Colleges and universities are powerful anchor institutions with the capacity to catalyze social change through research, teaching, campus operations and engaging with external communities. In addition to providing educational opportunities to prepare students for the future, as major employers and resource users, innovative actions within institutions of higher education have unique potential to accelerate societal transformation. As the inequities of climate vulnerabilities are becoming more clear with worsening climate disruptions, climate justice is an approach to climate adaptation and mitigation that redresses the legacy of exploitation and injustice that has resulted in differential local and global vulnerabilities to climate change. Climate justice action requires transformative systemic changes that integrate technological and social innovation while prioritizing social, racial, and economic justice. This paper reviews challenges, opportunities and some specific innovative actions in higher education that are advancing climate justice. The inadequacy of how most universities are responding to the climate crisis provides one tangible example of how all-too-often higher education reinforces rather than disrupts the concentration of wealth and power that is resisting transformation away from fossil fuels. While fossil fuel divestment has been adopted in some colleges and universities, most of higher education continues to perpetuate reliance on fossil fuels.