Climate change is a transcontinental phenomenon caused by anthropogenic activity, which operates as an augmenting agent for existing disparities within societies and between nations. The impacts of climate change are unequally distributed. The weight of these impacts falls on disadvantaged groups, exacerbating their plight. Economically vulnerable nations and marginalized populations already face challenges arising from geographical location, economic inequality, ethnicity, age, gender and social status.
A cruel paradox of our age lies in the fact that those who industrialised early polluted most, while those who lived sustainably now bear the heaviest burden. The UNFCCC identifies Small Island Developed Nations (SIDS) and Least Developed Nations (LDC’S) as the most
precarious to climate change.As these nations possess fewer resources to adapt or mitigate climate risks and are more vulnerable due to their geographic location,facing rising sea levels and extreme weather even though they have contributed minimally. Maldives, for instance, is said to lose 80% of its territory by 2100 due to rise in sea levels, albeit it contributed minimally to emissions.
Climate change is also known as a threat multiplier, worsening the socio-economic, political and gender disparities. It has reversed the humanitarian efforts to reduce poverty, thereby deepening economic disparities. Climate-induced displacement has pushed people into poverty, stripping them of their assets, income and home. While this displacement has caused a huge refugee crisis around the world, nations have become increasingly hostile towards refugees and immigrants, worsening the situation. Economically weaker countries lack the ability to cope with and recover from climate shocks resulting in developmental asymmetry. Climate induced weather alterations such as floods and droughts also disrupt the food supply, thereby leading to rising food prices imposing additional economic hardships on the
disadvantaged groups. This disruption in food production also leads to widespread food insecurity and poverty.
Exposure to climate hazards is also shaped by geography and occupation.The marginalized communities are compelled to live in low elevation coastal zones, and century-old flood plains which are exposed to climate hazards making them more predisposed to the damages. This geographical placement is also due to their occupation which is mostly agriculture and fishing. Climatic anomalies such as erratic rainfall patterns, salination, desertification, lesser availability of fishes due to heating of the ocean further undermine these subsistence practices,intensifying their economic distress. These climate anomalies have also reduced the freshwater availability for human consumption and use. This scarcity of freshwater compels large sections of the population to consume unsafe water, leading to an increase in
water-borne diseases. This phenomenon further increases the exposure of the disadvantaged groups to climate-induced diseases such as dengue, malaria, and heat-related illness. As the disadvantaged group’s place of work is usually outdoors they are forced to work in elevated thermal conditions, rendering them vulnerable to heatstroke, dehydration, and respiratory distress. While developed nations with stronger health infrastructure are better equipped to deal with these issues, they have to spend substantial amounts of resources on health, often at the cost of spending on education and infrastructure. For developing nations though, with their insufficient healthcare infrastructure and unequal access to it, the situation is far more dire.
Furthermore, very often in the formulations of policies to act against climate change, the voices and viewpoints of disadvantaged groups are excluded, hence such policies are not inclusive. Wealthier communities command influence and access to shape favorable policies
that legitimize resource use to protect themselves, leaving the marginalized with fewer resources. Consequently, SDG 13, or Climate Action, is inextricably linked with the success of the other Sustainable Development Goals. Climate change is not only an environmental disaster but
also an economic, social, and moral one: it crosses borders and time. Its ripples work against the reduction of poverty, SDG 1; access to food, SDG 2; health, SDG 3; and gender equality, SDG 5. Therefore, the fight against climate change cannot remain peripheral; it has to be at
the core of the global development agenda. Equitable and inclusive climate adaptation and mitigation policies will protect developing nations from disproportionate damage. Authentic climate justice requires the emitter to contribute to mitigation financing in proportion to the degree of their emissions, while the nation in peril is adequately resourced with technology, capacity-building, and institutional support. Thus, the trajectory towards sustainability does not lie in atomized efforts but in shared custodianship-where empathy meets economics and development aligns with environmental morality. It is only such a comprehensive and humane approach that can enable SDG 13 to break through grandiloquence and emerge as an incentive for planetary resilience and human dignity.
Tejaswini Ranganathan
