Equity and Justice: Historical Context
The term “climate vulnerability” refers to how much a person or group is exposed to climate change hazards, how heavily affected they are by these hazards, and how much they are able to cope and respond. While all populations and communities experience climate change impacts, some populations may face disproportionate impacts. For many groups, particularly Indigenous Peoples and members of marginalized racial and ethnic groups, these differences are a result of historical policies, displacement practices, and discrimination, all of which still affect these groups today.
Climate equity is the principle that all residents have a fair and just opportunity to live, learn, work, and play in a safe, healthy, resilient, and sustainable environment, even as the climate changes. Working to help vulnerable groups adapt to climate impacts is a form of climate justice.
Refer to Chapter 1, the Assessment Introduction, to learn more about social and economic factors that contribute to climate vulnerability and equity and justice concerns in New York State.
Refer to the Impacts on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability, and Equity webpages to learn more about impacts on groups that are at a heightened risk from climate change.
Discriminatory Housing Practices
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In New York State and elsewhere in the country, discriminatory housing practices have made some communities more vulnerable to climate change. These practices have caused some people and groups to be more exposed to climate change hazards; be more significantly affected; and have fewer resources to prepare, respond, and adapt. For example:
- Redlining was created by the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation in 1933. To determine where to prioritize investment in the built environment, lenders made loans based on “redlining” maps that were color-coded by community characteristics. Red, or redlined, areas were deemed undesirable for investment. These areas were often inhabited by Black and immigrant communities. The impacts of redlining—along with other discriminatory practices—contribute to continuing segregation patterns, inequities in home ownership, and deteriorating infrastructure in redlined areas. As a result, these areas are also particularly vulnerable to climate impacts.
- Federal urban renewal efforts took place from the 1950s to the 1970s as part of an effort to clear and redevelop what the program referred to as “slums and blighted areas.” These areas were often redlined areas that had been denied investment. Federal urban renewal cleared out urban housing, mostly occupied by Black and immigrant residents, and replaced it with highways, middle-class housing, and commercial buildings and office spaces. The program split up and displaced communities in cities and towns including New York City, Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse, and White Plains. The residents left behind in these communities were exposed to more air pollution and other challenges, making them more vulnerable to climate change impacts.
- Zoning decisions made as much as a century ago can affect how vulnerable people are to climate change today. For example, zoning often placed power plants and industrial facilities in marginalized racial and ethnic communities. As a result, these communities have been more exposed to pollution, increasing their risk of health impacts that are worsened by climate change. Today, zoning decisions can have similar implications. For instance, exclusionary zoning is a practice that restricts multi-family housing developments and apartments from being built in certain neighborhoods. This limits the number of homes being built, resulting in fewer housing options and higher housing costs. These policies have been found to contribute to racial and economic segregation.
Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples
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Indigenous Peoples have lived in what is now known as New York State for at least 13,000 years. However, many of them were displaced from their land by European settlers in the 1600s and were forced to relocate to lower-quality lands. When Indigenous Peoples lost possession of their land, they also lost access to important natural resources and sacred sites. Some of these sacred areas were subsequently polluted by industrial activity, such as Onondaga Lake (referred to by the Haudenosaunee [Iroquois] as “Where the Water Meets the Willows”) and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s water supply.
Currently, most of the Indigenous Peoples native to New York State are citizens of nine federally recognized or state-recognized nations: Cayuga Nation, Oneida Indian Nation, Onondaga Nation, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, Seneca Nation of Indians (Allegany Reservation and Cattaraugus Reservation), Shinnecock Indian Nation, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, Tuscarora Nation, and Unkechaug Indian Nation. There is a total of about 137 square miles of reservation territory in the state, though the borders of these territorial areas change with land claim legal actions and purchases.
New York State’s Indigenous Peoples
According to the 2020 Census, New York State is home to almost 400,000 residents with American Indian or Alaska Native heritage, representing 2% of the state’s population. Of the Indigenous Peoples residing in New York State, about 11,000 people, or less than 3%, live within Tribal reservations.
The colonization and dispossession of Tribal lands, as well as forced migration to lands with higher exposure to climate hazards, have contributed to the social and economic vulnerabilities Indigenous Peoples face. These vulnerabilities, including higher rates of poverty and lower levels of educational attainment, create challenges when preparing for and responding to climate impacts.
Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation Strategies
Learn more about the climate risks Indigenous Peoples face in New York State—and how Indigenous Peoples are at the forefront of climate adaptation.
Rural Populations
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Rural areas cover nearly 90% of the state’s land, while only 12% of New Yorkers reside within them. Many rural communities depend on natural resource–based activities for their economies, such as agriculture, forestry, and tourism. Climate change poses risks to these industries and the residents who depend on them for their livelihoods.
Many of New York’s rural counties have high levels of poverty. Rural communities are also susceptible to other economic and social stresses, such as poor health or drug dependency. All these factors add to their vulnerability. In addition, rural areas tend to have smaller populations and larger percentages of older residents. As a result, their tax base is smaller, meaning these areas have fewer resources to prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate hazards. During extreme weather events, rural residents often have to wait longer for damages to be repaired, which affects their quality of life and the local infrastructure.
Environmental Justice Communities
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New York State defines environmental justice as “the fair and meaningful treatment of all people, regardless of race, income, national origin or color, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.”
Environmental justice recognizes that some communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental pollutants from industry, transportation, sewage treatment, and other similar activities. Environmental justice concerns are especially prominent in densely populated communities of color and are the result of decades of being denied the private and public investment needed for upkeep and improvements.
Environmental justice communities are more likely to have faced discriminatory housing practices than other communities. They also often lack financial resources, such as flood insurance, to recover from extreme weather events. All these factors make these communities more vulnerable to climate change impacts.
Other Vulnerable Populations
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Other populations that face disproportionate risks from climate change include:
- Immigrant populations, who may face vulnerabilities to climate change because of limited English proficiency, undocumented status, anti-immigrant discrimination, and higher-than-average poverty rates.
- Unhoused and housing-insecure populations, whose lack of safe and secure housing worsens their exposure to climate hazards. Many individuals experiencing housing insecurity also have underlying health problems that increase their vulnerability.
- Incarcerated populations, whose living conditions make them vulnerable to climate change. For example, prisons may not have proper temperature control. Incarcerated people also often have a high rate of chronic health conditions.
- People with disabilities, who may face risks from climate change impacts that threaten crucial health services, accessible housing, and accessible employment. For example, after Superstorm Sandy, many New York City residents with disabilities in upper-floor apartments were unable to leave when power outages interrupted elevator service.
- Children, who are physically more at risk from climate hazards like extreme heat, drought, and extreme weather events due to their small size, physiology, behavior, and reliance on caregivers.
- Older adults, who are more sensitive to environmental hazards like air pollution and heat, may have limited mobility, and may depend on medical care for daily life. By 2040, almost a quarter of New York State’s population is expected to be 65 years old or older.
Refer to Explore by Sector to learn more about some of the vulnerable populations specific to each of the assessment’s sectors of focus.
Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability, and Equity
Learn more about climate change impacts on New York’s vulnerable populations and factors contributing to these increased climate risks.
Equity and Justice Considerations and Opportunities
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The Climate Act aims to address equity concerns in climate adaptation and resilience. Centering equity in climate adaptation and resilience includes:
- Considering that the ability to adapt varies across communities and groups, and that communities do not all experience the benefits of adaptation actions or have equal access to the necessary resources for adaptation.
- Ensuring that affected communities and groups are represented in decision-making.
- Understanding underlying factors that contribute to an “uneven playing field” for certain communities, such as social and economic inequality, historical land dispossession, and racial and ethnic discrimination.
Learn more about the Climate Act and equity and justice in the Assessment Introduction.
Fostering Equity and Justice in Local Community Involvement
Involving local communities throughout the planning and decision-making process helps create inclusive climate change responses. Inclusive, sustainable resilience actions also require a just allocation of resources. One key example of this is ensuring data justice. Data justice means that people in a community have a say in what data is collected and how, and that they have ready and easy access to this data.
Another example of community involvement is language justice. Communicating climate and health information to the public in multiple languages is essential, but often overlooked. Multilingual communication, as well as making sure communication efforts are accessible to people with disabilities, can improve awareness of climate change, health risks, and emergencies like extreme weather events.
Learn more in the Assessment Introduction.