Housing justice: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:48, 11 March 2024

Housing justice can be described as "that everyone deserves safe, affordable, and health-promoting housing regardless of race, income, gender, ethnicity, ability, and more. Initiatives like rent control, tenant organizing, public housing, fair housing laws, and inclusionary zoning help ensure housing justice." -Human Rights Careers

An article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the right to adequate housing. It reads:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and 'well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing '(emphasis added) and medical care and necessary social services, and the 'right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, 'old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” -United Nations

Housing justice is a climate justice issue

Private firms and corporations buy up rental units; using $ invested in fueling the climate crisis	For example, Blackstone, a private equity firm worth $153 billion, bought a real estate firm which owns 5000 units in Toronto. The company has a history of abusive tenants with high fees, rent hikes and aggressive eviction practices in mostly black, brown and low-income neighbourhoods. They also lobbied against rent control in California. -Climate Justice Toronto Blackstone has invested in a company building private highways through the Amazon. The firm set up an office in Israel. A previous Israeli minister of defense was hired to run it. -Climate Justice Toronto
The right to air conditioning	As temperatures rise, so does the need for cooling solutions in the home. Several marginalized groups are at greater risk of heat-related death and illness (e.g. people who are houseless, the elderly, disabled people, low-income populations etc). Air conditioning is projected to account for a peak load of energy needs in countries where there is a greater access and need (e.g. India). In communities that have been exploited by the same system that privileges certain groups with access to air conditioning, a lack of such will also lead to heat-related death and illness. E.g. in 2021, citizens of the capital of Niger located on the edge of the Sahara Desert, suffered through 100-degree-F heat for 174 days. In Basra, Iraq, the number of 100-degree-F days was 168. At a temperature of about 90 degrees F, labor becomes unsafe, and if it climbs past 95 degrees F, the body can no longer cool itself, leading to illness and even death. If global temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.5 degrees F), South Asia could experience more than twice as many unsafe-labor and life-threatening temperatures than it does today.
Renters bearing the cost of retrofitting

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-Housing justice is the idea that everyone deserves safe, affordable, and health-promoting housing regardless of race, income, gender, ethnicity, ability, and more. Initiatives like rent control, tenant organizing, public housing, fair housing laws, and inclusionary zoning help ensure housing justice.
+'''Housing justice''' can be described as'' "that everyone deserves safe, affordable, and health-promoting housing regardless of race, income, gender, ethnicity, ability, and more. Initiatives like rent control, tenant organizing, public housing, fair housing laws, and inclusionary zoning help ensure housing justice." -''[https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/housing-justice-101-definitions-examples-learning-opportunities/ Human Rights Careers]
-== Migrant justice is a climate justice issue ==
+<p>An article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the right to adequate housing. It reads:</p><p>''“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and&nbsp;''''well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing&nbsp;&nbsp;''''(emphasis added) and medical care and necessary social services, and the&nbsp;''''right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,&nbsp;&nbsp;''''old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” -''[https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights United Nations]</p>
-{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 14.4px; width: 100%; height: 204px; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"
+== Housing justice is a climate justice issue ==
+{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 14.4px; width: 100%; height: 204px; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"
 |- style="height: 51px;"
 | style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 51px;" |
-<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'''Climate change is increasing the frequency of migration  <ref>Climate and migration. (2015). Exploring climate, disasters and migration. [Online podcast]. https://climatemigration.org.uk/podcast-when-people-move-understanding-how-climate-change-creates-the-movement-of-people/</ref>  '''</span>
+<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >'''Private firms and corporations buy up rental units; using $ invested in fueling the climate crisis'''</span>
 | style="width: 78.2137%; height: 51px;" |
-*Rapid onset disasters have, and continue to, increase in frequency and severity from the climate crisis. Hurricanes, flash floodings and forest fires usually leave little or no time for affected communities to plan their migration to a safer place. They have to leave for their immediate survival; they have no choice.&nbsp;
-*Slow onset disasters made worse from the climate crisis, like desertification, sea level rise, change in rainfall patterns etc. have long-term effects on the livelihoods and life quality of communities. In these cases, people are forced to migrate to find better living conditions elsewhere.
+*For example, Blackstone, a private equity firm worth $153 billion, bought a real estate firm which owns 5000 units in Toronto. The company has a history of abusive tenants with high fees, rent hikes and aggressive eviction practices in mostly black, brown and low-income neighbourhoods. They also lobbied against rent control in California. -[https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Qv6QWvOLc/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Climate Justice Toronto]
+***Blackstone has invested in a company building private highways through the Amazon.
+***The firm set up an office in Israel. A previous Israeli minister of defense was hired to run it. -[https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Qv6QWvOLc/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Climate Justice Toronto]
 |- style="height: 51px;"
-| style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 51px;" | <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'''Further marginalization of oppressed communities upon forced migration'''</span>
+| style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 51px;" | <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >'''The right to air conditioning'''</span>
 | style="width: 78.2137%; height: 51px;" |
-*For example, forest fires in Yellowknife, Canada in 2023 forced over 20,000 people to evacuate. Houseless people were not included in evacuation plans. People were ordered to leave, but many did not have access to vehicles. Thousands of people, with a high proportion being Indigenous, were forced to wait for flights and were not told where they were being evacuated to. The cost of 2-hour flights rose to nearly $5000, when they normally sit at around $300, and should have been free to evacuate residents. People living in poverty and racialized people became further marginalized.<br>
+*As temperatures rise, so does the need for cooling solutions in the home.
+*Several marginalized groups are at greater risk of heat-related death and illness (e.g. people who are houseless, the elderly, disabled people, low-income populations etc).
+*Air conditioning is projected to account for a peak load of energy needs in countries where there is a greater access and need (e.g. India). In communities that have been exploited by the same system that privileges certain groups with access to air conditioning, a lack of such will also lead to heat-related death and illness.
+***E.g. in 2021, citizens of the capital of Niger located on the edge of the Sahara Desert, suffered through 100-degree-F heat for 174 days. In Basra, Iraq, the number of 100-degree-F days was 168.
+***At a temperature of [https://www.osha.gov/otm/section-3-health-hazards/chapter-4 about 90 degrees F, labor becomes unsafe], and if it climbs past 95 degrees F, the body can no longer cool itself, leading to illness and even death.
+***If global temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.5 degrees F), South Asia could experience [https://news.agu.org/press-release/deadly-heat-waves-will-be-common-in-south-asia-even-at-1-5-degrees-of-warming/ more than twice as many] unsafe-labor and life-threatening temperatures than it does today.&nbsp;
 |- style="height: 28px;"
-| style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: rgb(197, 31, 132); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 28px;" | <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'''The right to migrate'''</span>
+| style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: rgb(197, 31, 132); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 28px;" | <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >'''Renters bearing the cost of retrofitting'''</span>
 | style="width: 78.2137%; height: 28px;" |
-*Discriminatory immigration policies based on criteria, such as education, language, work ability and more, must withdrawn from current immigration systems. "Status for all" demands permanent status to all newcomers in any given country, and to all migrants who are waiting for their status or simply not registered in their host country.  <ref>Migrant Rights Network. 2023. About Migrant Rights Network. https://migrantrights.ca/about/</ref>  &nbsp;
-*Migrant justice movements ask for the countries who contributed the most to climate change to welcome climate migrants with inclusive policies. These countries should also support financially the countries most affected by climate change to improve their adaptative capacity, rather than leaving migrants with no safe options.  <ref>Greenfield, N. (2022). Climate migration and equity. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/climate-migration-equity</ref>
 |- style="height: 23px;"
 | style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 23px;" |
-<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'''Access to work and social services'''</span>
 | style="width: 78.2137%; height: 23px;" |
-*Due to a lack of migration strategies in most affected countries and cities, migrants rarely receive proper assistance. Migrants are also at risk of facing social and environmental injustices in their new community.  <ref>Fukuchi, A. n.d. No borders: There is no environmental justice without immigrant justice. https://www.no-burn.org/no-borders-there-is-no-environmental-justice-without-immigrant-justice/</ref>
-*Leaving their way of life behind, climate migrants have less employment options in their new city. Migrants are at high risk of poverty, houselessness and food insecurity.  <ref>Ahsan, R. (2019). Climate-induced migration: Impacts on social structures and justice in Bangladesh. South Asia Research, 39(2), 184-201.</ref>
 |- style="height: 51px;"
-| style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 51px;" | <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'''The right to self-determination'''</span>
+| style="width: 21.7495%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 51px;" |
 | style="width: 78.2137%; height: 51px;" |
-*Many communities affected by climate change want the option to stay in the place they call home or, if they are forced to leave, the option to return eventually. It is mandatory not to exceed the 1.5 °C threshold to limit the impacts of the climate crisis, which force people to leave their homes.  <ref>The Leap. 2019. Migrant justice is climate justice. https://theleap.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Migrant-Justice-is-Climate-Justice-4.12.19.pdf</ref>
 |}
 If you have any suggested revisions or additional resources to share related to the above content, please email them to kenzie@lehub.ca.

Housing justice: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:48, 11 March 2024

Housing justice is a climate justice issue

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