Climate + Dignity Initiative

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A safe, healthy, and just environment serves as a prerequisite for enjoying all human rights, rendering the climate crisis a pervasive threat to the rights of billions of people around the world. Corporations’ contributions to the climate crisis and ongoing environmental harms are exacerbating existing challenges and inequities faced by vulnerable and marginalized communities. As part of the Climate + Dignity initiative, Investor Advocates for Social Justice is using our voice to engage portfolio companies on business impacts to the climate and marginalized communities. 

GOALS OF THE CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGN

1. Advocate for a just transition to a low-carbon economy, by encouraging companies to:

a. Reduce emissions in line with a  1.5˚C warming scenario.

b. Ensure a just transition for workers & communities.

2. Advocate for robust corporate Human Rights Due Diligence around climate change and environmental justice by encouraging companies to:

a. Identify, assess, and address salient human rights impacts to the most vulnerable communities, including for example environmental justice communities or human rights defenders.

b. Prioritize efforts to prevent and mitigate impacts to the communities most affected by climate change, environmental justice, and resource extraction.

Company Focus
  • Chevron
  • Citigroup
  • Dow Inc.
  • General Electric 
  • Honeywell
  • NextEra Energy
  • Southern Company 
  • Wells Fargo
"On the other hand, emerging examples of investor action across often-siloed ESG areas show that bridging these gaps is possible. For example, Investor Advocates for Social Justice, which represents a coalition of faith-based investors, has called on its members’ investee companies to ensure that human rights due diligence is part of the transition to a low-carbon economy."

Resources

Many investors have pioneered early climate work by engaging companies across sectors on developing strategies to measure, monitor, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to position themselves strategically to thrive in a carbon constrained economy. However, as the climate crisis is increasingly and more noticeably impeding on human rights, investors have the opportunity and responsibility to use their voices to address climate change as a human rights issue. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related to global greenhouse gas emission pathways’ contained in the Paris Agreement. 

The findings point to increased extreme weather events, rising sea levels, severe heat, loss of ecosystems, water scarcity, and crop failure as some of the potential impacts that will be exacerbated at even 2°C of warming. Meeting necessary emissions reductions are possible, but require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.” 

In 2019, UN Special Rapporteur David R. Boyd published a report on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The report emphasizes that impacts of the climate crisis hit vulnerable individuals the hardest, and warns that a “climate apartheid,” where the wealthy pay to shield themselves from the worst impacts of climate change while the poor suffer immensely, could be imminent. 

Special Rapporteur Boyd outlines the responsibilities of businesses to adopt human rights policies, conduct human rights due diligence, comply with the UN Guiding Principles as they pertain to climate change, and work to influence other actors to respect human rights. 

The Climate Justice Alliance published a short paper to articulate the shared analysis & principles of Just Transition, recognizing that it will look different in different places. The paper provides history and context, analysis, framework, and strategy, as well as principles to strengthen collective work. 

Delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in October 1991 drafted and adopted 17 principles of Environmental Justice. Since then, The Principles have served a s a defining document for the growing grassroots movement for environmental justice. 

Our Historical Climate Work

Investor Advocates for Social Justice has pioneered early investor work engaging companies across sectors on developing strategies to measure, monitor, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to curtail further negative impacts on the environment and society and to position themselves strategically to thrive in a carbon constrained economy. IASJ has a legacy of leading this climate work since the 1990s, and have more recently joined the Climate Action 100+ investor initiative, a leading campaign to tackle corporate contributions to climate change. 

Caitlin Seznec is the Program Lead for the Climate + Dignity Initiative.

For questions, inquiries, or if you are interested in collaborating with IASJ, please contact cseznec@iasj.org