Justice and health in sustainable development

Key Concepts

• Climate Change Impacts: Projected increase in deaths (250,000 annually by 2030-2050) due to malnutrition, disease, and heat stress.
• Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Systems: A goal of UN climate change conferences.
• Environmental Justice: The principle that everyone deserves conditions conducive to their wellness, regardless of social identity or location.
• Sustainable Development: Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, with a focus on equity and justice.
• Community Benefit Planning: Integrating tangible benefits for local communities into the development of infrastructure projects.
• Redlining: Historical discriminatory housing policies that created systematic disadvantages in certain communities.
• Zip Code Determinism: The concept that one's place of birth significantly influences health and life outcomes, often more than genetics.
• Health as a Societal Production: The idea that health is shaped by societal factors and environmental conditions.
• Sacrifice Zones: Areas disproportionately burdened by environmental harms and neglect for the benefit of others.

Climate Change and Health System Resilience

The transcript highlights the severe global health consequences of climate change, projecting an additional 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050 due to malnutrition, disease, and heat stress. A key objective at the UN climate change conference is the development of climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable health systems.

Yinka Bodie George's Journey and Foundation

Yinka Bodie George, founder, president, and CEO of Sustain Our Future Foundation, discusses her journey from an environmental public health scientist to a leader in sustainability. Her work is driven by observing how environmental conditions shape health and economic outcomes. She emphasizes that public policies significantly influence community development, which in turn impacts health and life outcomes.

George transitioned to the sustainability field recognizing the opportunity to shape it positively. Her foundation, Sustain Our Future, focuses on environmental justice and sustainable development through infrastructure expansion. The name "Sustain Our Future" reflects the core mission of ensuring sustainability benefits future generations.

Rethinking Sustainability and Development

George challenges the notion of sustainability as inherently neutral or universally positive. She argues that historical development practices have often involved sacrificing certain groups for the benefit of others. There's a risk of perpetuating this dynamic within sustainability initiatives if not approached carefully. Sustain Our Future aims to disrupt "business as usual" in sustainability to prevent the creation of new "sacrifice zones" and instead foster enriched communities. The goal is to position communities historically harmed by corporate progress as leaders and beneficiaries of the sustainability industry, emphasizing community partnerships and an equity-driven, justice-oriented society.

Challenges in Bridging Corporate and Community Interests

Sustain Our Future acts as a bridge between corporate sustainability teams and communities living near large infrastructure sites, such as solar farms. A significant challenge is the historical lack of meaningful conversation and existing power hierarchies between these groups, leading to distrust. The foundation facilitates translation and communication, highlighting opportunities for positive partnerships.

To build trust, George emphasizes the importance of trustworthiness through honesty and tangible community benefits. It's insufficient to merely listen to opinions; communities must feel the positive impact of projects in their daily lives and finances. This is achieved through community benefit strategies that direct funds towards livelihoods and climate resilience, making the broader sustainability goals meaningful to them.

Working with Lawmakers and the Public Health Connection

George also has experience working with lawmakers. She notes that engaging with legislators requires focusing on their constituents' values, framing environmental opportunities in terms of family safety and well-being. The public health aspect is a powerful argument in this context.

The Impact of Zip Code and Societal Factors on Health

The transcript underscores the profound impact of one's "zip code" (place of residence) on health and life outcomes, often more so than genetic code. This aligns with the UN's identification of climate change as a significant threat to human health, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations and poorer nations. Health is presented as a "production of society," influenced by where one lives, sleeps, and eats, and how these necessities are accessed.

Equity and Historical Disadvantage

The concept of equity, despite being framed negatively in some circles, is crucial. Historically, policies like redlining have created systematic disadvantages. Redlining prevented certain communities, often Black and brown populations, from benefiting from property value increases and mortgage lending. The remnants of these policies persist, leading to ongoing issues like food insecurity in formerly redlined areas. This compounding effect hinders generational wealth creation and impacts access to essential services like grocery stores.

Environmental Justice and Climate Crisis Solutions

Environmental justice is defined as the right to conditions conducive to wellness, irrespective of social identity or location. It is critical in addressing the climate crisis, which stems from the disregard of communities and environments for corporate and societal progress. Environmental justice seeks to address the root causes of carbon emissions by centering community and environmental wellness, preventing the creation of harmful sites that exacerbate the climate crisis.

An example of climate action is provided: after tropical cyclone Idai destroyed homes in Mozambique, the UN, through UN Habitat, supported local communities in constructing low-cost, climate-proof shelters and implemented local climate change strategies in over 25 cities globally.

Defining Victory and Community-Centric Solutions

Victory, for Sustain Our Future, involves centering community benefit planning. This begins with partnering companies and community stakeholders for meaningful conversations about infrastructure projects. For a solar farm, success means community voices shaping project siting and planning, avoiding culturally sensitive lands, and directing funding towards local resilience. The goal is to redefine sustainable infrastructure so that community benefits are integral, not an add-on, ensuring communities near projects are not sacrificed but receive tangible benefits.

The feeling of achieving such solutions is relief for communities, who often are unaware they can request project benefits. Sustain Our Future's background in community organizing fosters trust, allowing them to effectively advocate for justice-oriented work and benefit outcomes. For companies, this approach provides relief as they often lack the capacity to navigate the nuanced complexities of community engagement.