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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 12

Publication Date: December 25, 2022

DOI:10.14738/assrj.912.13648. Ikporukpo, C. O., & Ikporukpo, N. N. (2022). Spatial Hierarchy of Climate Injustice. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,

9(12). 354-370.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Spatial Hierarchy of Climate Injustice

Chris O. Ikporukpo

La Villa Academia, 1 Villa Academia Way

Seigha Bina II, Odimodi, Forcados Terminal, Delta State, Nigeria

Department of Geography, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Ninane Nina Ikporukpo

Department of Commercial and Industrial Law

University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Background: Climate justice has emerged as an organising frame in the attempt at

addressing the challenge of climate change. The principle that there should be no

disproportionality in the burden of climate change, which underlies climate justice,

is widely accepted. Be that as it may, climate justice analysis is usually based on an

assumption that the global climate system is the norm. This article, based on facts

and figures, makes the case for a spatial hierarchical organization of climate justice

analysis. Methods: Data from four sources are used. These are published

researches, position papers by climate change related organizations, statistical

bulletins/abstracts of relevant organizations, and field observations/field records.

A descriptive approach is the basic information/data analysis method from which

conclusions are derived. Results and Discussion: Three spatial tiers of climate

change and associated climate injustice (global, regional, and local) are identified,

characterized and analyzed. The global one, which is the usual one discussed by

extant works, though couched in terms of anthropogenic climate change, has a

natural dimension. In contradistinction, the regional and the local ones are purely

anthropogenic. The regional component examined is regional transborder

pollution and the associated challenge of acid precipitation. Gas flaring in the Niger

Delta region of Nigeria and the associated challenges form the basis of the local

dimension. Conclusion: Climate (in)justice cannot be analyzed simply from the

perspective of the global climate system. A spatial hierarchical organization is

possible. Such a framework could be employed in other cases beyond the examples

used here.

Key Words: Climate Injustice, Spatial Climate Injustice Hierarchy, Global Climate Injustice

Hierarchy, Regional Climate Injustice Hierarchy, Local Climate Injustice Hierarchy.

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Ikporukpo, C. O., & Ikporukpo, N. N. (2022). Spatial Hierarchy of Climate Injustice. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(12). 354-370.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.912.13648

INTRODUCTION

Climate justice, an aspect of environmental justice, has its basis in the perspective that there

should be no disproportionality the impact of climate change. It is guided by the need to ensure

an equitable and fair distribution of the burdens and the benefits, if any, of climate change [1-

5]. Its formal origin is the Climate Justice Summit during the COP 6 meeting of 2000 in The

Hague, Netherlands; although, the concept was first used in a 1999 report by Corp Watch, an

American watchdog of multinational corporations. The subsequent Bali Declaration of 2002 [6,

7] and the 12 December 2009 demonstrations for climate justice by groups from all over the

world during COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark [7], fundamentally catalyzed the acceptability

and popularity of climate justice as a paradigm of the struggle against climate change. The

several declarations on climate justice that have emerged are clear indications of its

significance. The most significant of these are those of Durban, 2004 [8], Mary Robinson

Foundation, 2013 [9], St. Julian, 2015 [10], Volmoed, 2015 [11], Suva, 2017 [12], and Girdwood,

2018 [13]. These declarations, in varying degrees, decried the impact of climate change and

advocated determined efforts to address the challenges, taking into consideration the leading

role the developed countries must play, being the main contributors to the challenge. It is

significant that there have emerged several international and national networks pursuing the

goods of climate justice.

The Paris Agreement on climate change [14-17] not only fundamentally promoted the

international prominence of climate justice but also provided a meaningful framework. The

preamble emphasized “the importance ... of the concept of climate justice when taking action

to address climate change”. It recognized the fact that while “the principle of equity was

fundamental, there was the need for “common but diffentiated responsibilities ... in the light of

different national circumstances”. It urged that

... Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote

and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the

rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with

disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well

as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.

The issue of climate justice was addressed in COP 27 of 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in its

loss and damage provisions.

Apart from conceptualisations, the ever-increasing literature on climate justice reflects the

issues raised in the preamble of the Paris Agreement. These issues may be divided into three

broad groups. These are:

(i) Climate injustice across geographical areas;

(ii) Climate injustice among socio-economic groups; and

(iii) Intergeneration climate injustice.

The research on the geographical dimensions of climate justice focuses on the disproportionate

harm suffered by three key areas. These are the global south [18, 19], small islands [20-22] and

coastal areas [23-25]. The socio-economic literature discusses the disproportionate impact of

climate change on women [27-30], some races [31-34], and the poor [35-37]. Indeed, some

researchers conceptualize the disproportionate burden on these disadvantaged groups as an

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 12, December-2022

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issue of human rights [38-40]. The research on intergenerational climate justice focuses on the

disadvantaged position of future generations compared to the present one [41-43].

The extant literature on climate justice is based on the disproportionate burden consequent on

the global climate system. There is little or no appreciation that lower levels of climate (Meso

climate and Microclimate), different from the global macro climate, could generate their own

disproportionate burdens. It is this realisation that is explored in this paper. The paper

analyses the injustice that the different levels of climate throw up. Three levels and scales are

identified and examined. These are the global (macro), the regional (meso) and local (micro).

The global, (macro), is the one typically analysed in the literature. It is included for

completeness.

METHODS: SOURCES OF DATA/INFORMATION

Four basic sources of data were useful. These included: (i) published researches; (ii) position

papers by relevant organizations; (iii) statistical bulletins/abstracts of relevant organizations;

and (iv) field observation/field records. The published researches provided information on the

status of climate change and climate justice, and impact of climate change at different spatial

scales. These scales included the macro (global), meso (regional) and micro (local). The

relevant data at the macro level involved the global climate system while those of the meso

scale included mainly the climatic implications of transborder pollution in regions of Asia,

Europe and North America. The micro level data pertained the microclimate of gas flare sites

in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and related implications. The position papers/publications

of organisations also provided information on the status and impact of climate change. The

publications of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were particularly useful.

The statistical bulletins/handbooks of Nigeria’s national oil company, Nigerian National

Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the associated Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR),

were the sources of data on the quantity of gas flared in the country, the pattern of gas flaring

and the utilization of gas in the country. Publications of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory

Commission and NNPC were the sources of information on the location and operation of gas- powered electricity generating plants in the country.

In addition to the various secondary sources of data, field observation was carried out in a

sample of gas flare sites. This facilitated the choice of communities close to gas flare stacks.

Various characteristics of these communities, such as availability of electricity, supply and

other infrastructural facilities, were also recorded through this approach.

THE GLOBAL (MACRO) SCENE

The global climate justice scenario, as indicated earlier, is currently the norm [e.g. 1-43]. This

perspective is apparently based on the fact that the atmosphere, within which climate

processes manifest, is monolithic and hence climate change processes also operate within a

single sphere. Given this, the need for climate justice is generated within a single sphere. Thus,

even where climate justice at a regional or local level is discussed, the climate reference is

usually the impact of the global on the regional or local.

The manifestations and consequences that are disproportionately distributed globally include

extreme climatic conditions, extreme weather conditions and sea level rise, with their