Copenhagen Climate Summit: Why Black Americans Should Care

Climate justice protester at Copenhagen UN summit, why blacks should care

When you hear news reports about the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is wrapping up this week in Copenhagen, it's tempting to think: "That's nice, but black people have enough problems closer to home that aren't being addressed, such as unemployment and inadequate health care."

It's tempting, until you think about this old adage: When America coughs, black people catch a cold. In the case of climate change, that cold (or heat, depending on how you look at it) may come in the form of job losses when climate shifts force industries to shut down or change locales. It may also come in the form of heat-induced health problems, such as asthma, which already disproportionately affect blacks. To add insult to injury, African American households, on average, emit 20 percent less carbon dioxide than white households. These were among the conclusions of a 2004 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Report (PDF).

They are also among the concerns shaping the agenda of the NAACP's Climate Justice Initiative (CJI) during the U.N. conference. Environmental problems that already existed before all this talk of global warming are also part of the mix. "We think that when we talk about environmental justice that we're talking about sitting and hugging trees, but when we look at the disaster of Katrina, when we look at the tsunamis, we recognize that this [sic] is result of climate change," said Rev. Brendolyn Jenkins, president of the Aiken, S.C., branch of the NAACP, in a video shot by CJI. "We realize also that environmental and climate justice are acts of civil rights." (Hear what else Jenkins had to say, below).

CJI director Jacqui Patterson elaborated in an e-mail exchange with me earlier this week: "We will speak specifically on the elevated risk of exposure to negative impacts of climate change, including health impacts, resulting from disproportionate placement of toxic facilities in African American communities, as well as from the likelihood of residence of African Americans in areas of high vulnerability, such as coastal regions and urban areas."

Why Blacks Around the World Are Also Heated

Right now, much of the media's attention in Copenhagen is focused on disagreements between poorer and wealthier nations, on who should cut greenhouse gas emissions, how much they should cut and how much aid poorer nations will get to address the effects of climate change. On Monday, Dec. 14, an African-led group of developing nations even staged a brief walkout over fears that developed nations will dodge their responsibility to cut carbon emissions. A global climate pact is in serious jeopardy, and Friday, Dec. 18, all eyes will be on President Barack Obama. Despite virtual catcalls from Republican climate change deniers, such as U.S. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Obama will address the summit in order to push nations to reach an agreement.

(Nov. 18 Update: Here's what Obama had to say at the climate change summit).

Also grabbing plenty of attention have been the protests, some colorful, some violent. However, there's another side to the Copenhagen summit that you might have missed if you haven't been reading Patterson's blog. Black people and other folks of color have gathered there to share their concerns over environmental injustice and the fact that many of their nations will bear the brunt of climate change.

"It is clear that we haven't done this, but we are suffering from it," complained Senegalese activist Minielle Tall (in the CJI-shot video above), expressing a widely held view by those representing developing countries.

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Sheryl Huggins Salomon is contributing editor of Black Voices, where she writes about politics and society. She is co-editor of the 'Nia Guide for Black Women' series of self-improvement books and the former publisher of Shade magazine. Follow her on Twitter or contact her at BVCEditor@aol.com.