Jumana Abdelgadir L&S Math & Physical Sciences
Climate Change and Climate Justice in Brazil
Climate change is a great existential threat, yet vulnerability is higher among people who have historically contributed the least to it. Climate justice, which addresses this disparity, is severely lacking within climate research. Brazil, both a developing nation within the Global South and a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, has historically neglected its vulnerable citizens and continued harmful policies of deforestation and industrialization. However, it also has a uniquely great potential for climate justice initiatives. My research will seek to answer the following question: How is Brazil uniquely responsible for and vulnerable to climate change, and how can incorporating climate justice initiatives alleviate the disproportionate vulnerability within the country? I will identify: the unique risks Brazil faces as it both suffers the consequences of the developed world’s emissions but also contributes to them; the socio-political/economic factors contributing to the unique vulnerability of marginalized Brazilians to climate change; and how climate mitigation and adaptation efforts can incorporate climate justice initiatives that seek to remedy this disparity.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you so much for funding my work this summer and believing in both my field's relevance and in my ability to conduct this research. Climate change and climate justice research in academia will only become more relevant as political inaction as well as fossil fuel emissions continue, so I genuinely celebrate you and thank you for being a part of the solution of climate education and helping highlight the increasingly silenced experiences of the most vulnerable in our fight for a decarbonized world. Your support has amplified my voice in this crucial field and reaffirmed my own sense of self-belonging— I genuinely cannot thank you enough, and I hope my research speaks to my gratitude.