Climate Just

Summary

Climate Just is an information tool designed to help with the delivery of equitable responses to climate change at the local level. Its main focus is to assist the development of socially just responses to the impacts of extreme events, such as flooding and heat waves, as well as supporting wider climate change adaptation. It also includes issues related to fuel poverty and carbon emissions.

The goal of the Climate Just platform is to provide information on how to deliver just responses to the impacts of a changing climate and how to design equitable adaptation solutions. The website provides information on identifying vulnerable groups and areas, resources on how policy can affect outcomes and a collection of example case studies on already ongoing or concluded projects. The platform also includes a tool which allows mapping of future projected hazards and their relation to current vulnerabilities in Great Britain.

Host organisation: University of Manchester

Launch date: 2014

Update status: Ongoing – latest updates to the map tool released in 2024. The majority of the current text content is based on materials originally produced in 2013 and 2014 with some updates in 2017. Opportunities to update the text content are currently being explored.

Funding: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Environment Agency, Friends of the Earth, Natural Environment Research Council.

Team: Climate Just was developed by a large team of researchers from the University of Manchester with other contributors from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Environment Agency, JBA Consulting, Centre for Sustainable Energy and Sayers & Partners Consultants.

Main functions

• Introducing information on climate justice
• Resources on creating equitable outcomes to climate challenges
• Recognition of vulnerable areas and populations
• Mapping tool to identify current vulnerabilities, future climate hazards and patterns of disadvantage
• Collection of example case studies
• Tools and resources for decision and policy-making

Intended audiences

The information on the website is for anyone with an interest in addressing the negative impacts of climate or weather-related events, but is especially targeted at public service providers, those working with vulnerable communities such as local authorities and their partners in social care, health, housing and the voluntary and community sectors. During the last decade, there have been a range of users across municipal and national policymakers, local practitioners, communities, charities and citizens.

Why the platform was established

The platform was established to enable better solutions and policies in the face of a changing climate and to ensure that the created solutions are also socially equitable. Further information is available in a blog post from July 2024 Climate Just: Supporting equitable responses to climate change through social vulnerability maps.