Justice and Equity in Climate Change Education: Exploring Social and Ethical Dimensions of Environmental Education
Abstract This book examines how climate change education intersects with justice, equity, and social transformation, advocating for urgent reform in climate education. It highlights how climate change deepens existing societal inequities and explores ethical and social dimensions such as identity, agency, and power structures. Through theoretical framing, empirical studies, and case examples, the chapters offer […]
“We’re fighting for our lives”: Centering affective, collective and systemic approaches to climate justice education as a youth mental health imperative
Abstract The paper highlights the importance of supporting youth to act thoughtfully and impactfully in transforming cultural, economic, and political structures and systems that reproduce harm. The study participants’ commitment to climate action was most supported outside of school, and that their engagement in social movements was positively associated with their well-being. Participants’ understanding of […]
Multispecies justice: Climate-just futures with, for and beyond humans
Abstract This article critiques dominant climate justice frameworks for their anthropocentric limitations and proposes multispecies justice as a necessary expansion. Current approaches, while growing in prominence, often exclude marginalized voices and fail to challenge human exceptionalism, thereby limiting their effectiveness in confronting the climate crisis. A multispecies justice lens acknowledges intersecting social, environmental, and more-than-human harms, offering a relational […]
Racializing the Climate Justice movement in education
Abstract This essay argues for racializing approaches to climate change education as essential to understanding and addressing climate injustices. Using the 2022 Buffalo Blizzard, which disproportionately impacted Black communities, as a case study, the authors demonstrate how extreme weather events intersect with racial inequities. They call on educators across disciplines to adopt a climate justice education framework and propose a transformative […]
Justice in climate change education: a systematic review
Abstract This systematic review examines how justice frameworks are being applied in climate change education (CCE) across diverse settings. Analyzing 55 peer-reviewed studies from 57 countries (2007–2020), the review finds growing attention to justice in CCE, spanning formal, community, and activist learning. Justice-driven CCE was more often oriented toward equity and social transformation than environmental protection […]
Climate Justice: Contested Discourse and Social Transformation
Abstract This paper argues that climate justice is a contested discourse shaped by the material interests of social groups. Grounded in Marxian theory and supported by case data from Scotland, it emphasizes that meaningful climate justice must align with the struggles of those resisting the hydrocarbon economy. The study highlights the transformative potential of local […]
Teaching and learning in uncertain times: thinking with multiple crises
Abstract The paper highlights the importance of recognizing the knowledge and agency of young people in creating climate justice public pedagogies and drawing connection to teacher education. Young people are co-creating climate justice public pedagogies by enacting ‘justice oriented pedagogical processes’ which involve complex, everyday modes of intergenerational learning, variously converging with and diverging from […]
Critical climate justice
Abstract This paper explores climate justice as a framework for understanding and redressing the unequal impacts of climate change across places, peoples, and scales. Emphasizing the differentiated responsibilities and burdens of the climate crisis, it argues that climate justice requires attention to both disproportionate harm and equitable solutions. The paper calls for a critical climate justice praxis grounded in […]
Youth and climate justice: Representations of young people in action for sustainable futures
Abstract This commentary examines the structural barriers youth face in climate justice efforts, despite their growing awareness and vital contributions. It critiques the co-optation of youth through corporate sponsorship and tokenistic representation while exposing how colonialism, capitalism, and systemic violence sustain climate injustice, particularly in settler colonial contexts like Canada. Drawing on environmental justice literature […]
Reimagining non-formal science education: A case of ecojustice-oriented citizenship education
Abstract This article presents an ethnographic study of youth participating in a community-based ecojustice education program centered on a culturally grounded, food-based curriculum. Through the intersection of science and citizenship education, youth explored localized social and environmental inequities. Findings suggest that participants developed activist orientations and new identities through embodied, place-based learning. The study contributes to scholarship […]
Understanding Climate Justice
Abstract In Understanding Climate Justice, Mary Robinson positions climate change as a global human rights issue, shaped by inequality and historical injustice. Through stories of grassroots leadership, often led by women, she illustrates how ordinary people are catalysing extraordinary change. Through sharing their stories, Robinson explores one of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our time and […]
Climate Justice is Social Justice in the Global South
Abstract The article explores how climate justice is often invoked without a clear definition of the concept, and how the problem of climate (in)justice in the Global South arises from a broader story of social injustices. The author argues that climate justice is inherently linked to social justice. Focusing on Prakash Kashwan’s framework of three-dimensions of climate justice […]
Climate Justice Education: From Social Movement Learning to Schooling
Abstract This article explores climate justice education through the lenses of cognitive justice and translation, arguing for a move from a Eurocentric “monoculture” of knowledge to an ecology of diverse knowledge practices. Drawing on social movement learning and empirical work with activists and teachers, it examines how climate justice discourses challenge post-political framings of climate […]
A Climate Justice Compass for Transforming Self and World
Abstract This article explores how metropolitan regional climate justice coalitions foster individual and collective transformation in response to climate change. Using the Breakthrough Compass as a conceptual tool, it illustrates how reconnecting with place can support ecological wholeness and systemic change. Stories and case studies show how local action in metropolitan regions can contribute meaningfully to global […]
Learning to Teach about Climate Justice and Social Justice in Science Methods
Abstract This paper highlights the need to develop teachers who can provide young people with science instruction that encourages and empowers them to be leaders in their communities, and to help them understand the importance of social action, civic engagement, and advocating for their communities. Keywords: Teacher development Science education Youth empowerment […]
Bridging Worlds, Healing Scars: A Student-Teacher Journey toward Climate-Just Education
Abstract This paper is a collaborative autoethnography and examines how environmental crises, systemic inequities, and poor preparedness intensify impacts on marginalized communities and disrupt education. The article proposes climate-just education as a holistic, trauma-informed, and climate-responsive framework that emphasizes preparedness, mutual support, and embodied healing practices. Keywords: Climate-just education; trauma-informed teaching; collaborative autoethnography; healing-centered pedagogy; disaster […]
Triangle of Justice
Abstract This article discusses Climate Justice Theories (TCJ). With the development of a “triangle concept of justice”, it offers a plausible normative framework for climate and development policy to provide a further incentive for discussing the still highly disputed ethical aspects. Two critical themes of learning about power and learning about place are used as examples to illustrate […]
Conceptualizing Learning in the Climate Justice Movement
Abstract This article focuses on Climate Justice Movement and draws on radical pluralist theoretical approaches to social movement learning, learning in the climate justice movement is conceptualized at the micro, meso, and macro levels, along two continuation of (a) unorganized and organized learning and (b) individual and collective learning. Keywords: Climate justice movement; social movement learning; radical pluralism; […]
Towards a climate change justice theory?
Abstract The paper takes a closer look at the theories of climate justice (TCJ) to see how different TCJs may be from theories about global justice (TGJ) and environmental justice (TEJ), with a focus on the distinctions and differences between them. Although TEJs remain tethered to domestic and regional social orderings, they generally come closer to TCJs […]
Climate Justice Must Be Anti-Patriarchal, Or It Will Not Be Systemic
Abstract The chapter positions the discussion of climate justice within the context of the call for “system change not climate change.” It highlights that as the global effects of climate change become clearer and more tangible, those in dominant positions of power are seeking to escape the consequences of what we are doing, without changing what we are doing. The […]