A new policy brief from the Center of Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland provides a critical step toward building space for equity and justice in climate policy. The policy brief offers a comprehensive framework that outlines key areas of justice to foster public trust and ensure a just transition. This brief provides state policymakers with recommendations and potential actions to realize justice in its decarbonization and climate action policies and programs.
Environmental justice communities, advocates, researchers, and policymakers are increasingly driving states to adopt comprehensive programs and policies that elevate EJ alongside mitigation efforts. As states transition rapidly towards a clean economy, the integration of justice—drawing from energy justice and just transition literature—remains crucial for fostering trust and maintaining public support.
“Our holistic framework helps states seize a crucial moment to mobilize and operationalize elements of justice into their climate strategies, fostering trust and transformative policies that promote statewide decarbonization and resilience over the long term," said Bradley Phelps, CGS Research Associate and lead author. “By addressing restorative, recognitional, procedural, and distributive justice, we can ensure everyone is included and move beyond surface-level mentions of equity to richer conceptions of justice for action-oriented policy making.”
While states' vigorous climate initiatives and historic provisions with national policies such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act have set the stage for robust, nationwide climate action in the United States, centering equity and justice is vital to ensure localized and durable solutions. Positioning a holistic justice framework at the forefront of the climate agenda empowers states to cultivate resilient communities to tackle climate impacts and addresses specific needs to ensure inclusivity at all societal levels.
"The integration of justice into decarbonization pathways is not just about reducing emissions, but also about rectifying historical injustices and empowering communities disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and degradation," said Kathleen Kennedy, CGS Assistant Research Professor and the brief’s co-author. “A 'just transition' is a way for state and local governments to rebuild trust by embedding principles of justice and equity across resource allocation, engagement with environmental justice communities, inclusive communication, and implementation of participatory processes.”
This comprehensive framework utilizes a theory of change that considers past injustices (restorative and recognitional justice), engages in deliberative democracy in planning (procedural justice), and looks to future effects (distributive justice), which are essential ways for states to build public trust and overall support for their climate agendas.
While a more detailed analysis is necessary to explore this new theory of change fully, the CGS policy brief offers key recommendations for local governments to operationalize principles of justice and equity:
Restorative Justice:
- Establish the local context and create a shared understanding of the particular inequities and historical injustices of impacted communities. Local leaders are uniquely positioned to give context and understanding to this area.
- Leverage federal tools for information gathering on environmental justice (EJ). For example, states can leverage EJ map tools such as the White House’s Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool, the EPA’s EJ Screen, or DOE’s Energy Justice Dashboard to generate their own priorities and initiatives. These tools give geographic resolution to disadvantaged and overburdened communities, providing state and local governments with information needed to make programs and policies in response to historical environmental injustice.
Recognitional justice:
- Talk to leaders of various marginalized communities about what historical injustices ought to be brought to light and how disparate economic and political power leads to marginalized communities having little voice in the policy process.
- Publicly discuss the distribution of adaptation and resilience needs as climate change impacts worsen. Underserved communities are at greater risk from the impacts of climate change.
Procedural Justice:
- Operationalize equal access by informing all residents about policies and tax credit/rebate opportunities through multiple modes of communication.
- Practice participatory budgeting to include residents in the planning and prioritization of decarbonization measures.
- Consult with the public as an essential stakeholder during program design and grant application processes for distributed energy resources siting.
Distributive Justice:
- Inform counties and local governments of the Justice40 initiative and how communities qualify as EJ communities to best leverage funds.
- Ensure there are mechanisms for low and moderate-income (LMI) residents and disadvantaged communities to benefit from various buildings, transportation, electricity, lands, and industry sector programs and tax credits, including translating government documents and program information into multiple languages.
- Prioritize leveraging tax credits and funding associated with labor standards including prevailing wage and registered apprenticeships.
Explore the policy brief here for a comprehensive list of measures.
