Everything about Climate Change is Disproportionate: A Call for Spatial Justice in Urban Climate Action

As the future of urban living appears increasingly daunting, many people and communities are already experiencing climate impacts. This paper highlights the disproportionate nature of climate change, from unequal responsibilities for environmental degradation to unequal climate impacts that fall on the most vulnerable and unequal prospects that hinder people and countries from adapting to a changing climate now and in the future. Through a comprehensive literature review, the paper demonstrates that both the effects of climate change and the responses to them often reinforce existing inequalities, systematically pushing people, communities and countries into further vulnerability. Acknowledging that spatial processes play a critical role in creating, shaping, and perpetuating inequalities and oppression, we advocate for spatial justice in climate action and offer eight principles to support spatial scholars and practitioners in adopting a critical perspective on climate change in urban contexts.