RACE & CLIMATE JUSTICE READING LIST

Racism and environmental injustice are two symptoms of white supremacy and colonial structures. Climate change is a global problem, but not everyone is impacted equally. Black, Indigenous and People of Colour in Europe and around the world are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. That’s why it’s imperative we centre their voices and experiences and be explicit about how any environmental action is inextricable from social justice.

These book and article recommendations don’t cover all aspects of race and climate but it’s a starting point. It not only shows the inherent importance of addressing racial and economic inequalities but also give insights into the systemic link between the climate crisis and racism, while also offering solutions in how we can create a more fair and just world.

This reading list will be regularly updated and we hope you will help strengthen it. So please do send in any contributions – we'll review and add them to the list.

BOOKS:

• Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices From the Grassroots by Robert D. Bullard (Editor)

• All we can save. Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr Katharine K Wilson (Editors)

• Une écologie décoloniale: penser l'écologie depuis le monde caribéen by Dr Maclom Ferdinand 

• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• From the Ground Up: Environmental racism and the rise of the environmental justice movement.  Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster.

• Conservation Refugees.  Mark Dowie.

• Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney

• Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

• As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Stand Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker

• There's Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities by Ingrid R.G. Waldron

• Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility by Dorceta Taylor

• Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage by Dianne D. Glave

• Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability by Alkon, Agyeman, et al. 

• The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom

• Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger by Julie Sze

• Climate Change From the Streets by Michael Méndez

• Latinx Environmentalisms: Place, Justice, and the Decolonial edited by Sarah D. Wald, David J. Vázquez, Priscilla Solis Ybarra and Sarah Jaquette Ray

• Full Spectrum Resistance by Aric McBay

• One Earth: People of Color Protecting Our Planet by Anuradha Rao

ARTICLES:

• Between Air Pollution and Socioeconomic Characteristics, Ethnicity and Age Profile of Neighbourhoods in England and the Netherlands by Daniela Fecht et al. on PubMed.gov

• To fix the climate crisis, we must face up to our imperial past by Daniel Voskobynik.

• London’s black communities disproportionately exposed to air pollution by Adam Vaughan on theguardian.com

• We need to talk about racism in the climate movement by Tonny Noswhin. Climate Change News.

• Climate change and air pollution are race issues by Friends of the Earth

• The Least Convenient Truth – Part 1, Climate Change and White Supremacy by Bani Amor. Bitch Media.

• Climate change is a racist crisis: that’s why Black Lives Matter closed an airport by Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert on theguardian.com

• Black Lives Matter: the link between climate change and racial justice by Adelle Thomas and Rueanna Haynes. Climate Analytics.

• Colonialism, The Hidden Cause Of Our Environmental Crisis by Séverine Kodjo-Grandvaux on WorldCrunch.com

• We don’t need to halt climate action to fight racism by Mary Annaise Heglar. Huffpost.

• Racism Is Killing the Planet by Hop Hopkins on SierraClub.org

• Three ways to take the environmental movement out of its white middle class ghetto by Shilpa Shah and Jannat Hossain. Open Democracy.

• White Supremacism and the Earth System by Nafeez Ahmed on Medium.com

• Decolonize Conservation series by  Survival International.

• Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate and Anti-Racism by Somini Sengupta on nytimes.com

• I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save the planet by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on washingtonpost.com

Podcasts:

• Mothers of Invention by Thimali Kodikara et al.

• Hot Take podcast by Mary Annaise Heglar and Amy Westervelt.

• The Yikes Podcast  by Mikaela Loach and Jo Becker.

• Intersectionality Matters!  by Kimberley Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum.