A home is the basis of stability and security, the center of most people’s social, emotional, and even economic lives—a place where residents can live in peace, security, and dignity, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to adequate housing. Yet over the past decade, climate-fueled catastrophes have forced some 20 million people a year from their homes, becoming the primary driver of in-country migration. Low-income households are especially vulnerable, with a disproportionate number poorly housed in areas prone to storms, flooding, pollution, heatwaves, and drought. As RECORD goes to press, disastrous floods in South Africa have destroyed or damaged thousands of homes—many in informal settlements built in low-lying river valleys or on steep, unstable slopes—killing some 500 people and displacing thousands more. These calamities increase the burden on those least able to cope, making access to affordable, resilient housing an essential aspect of climate justice.
Fulfilling the human right to decent housing globally will take some innovation. The need for new housing around the world by the end of this century is predicted at 2 billion, but 2 billion times even modest carbon emissions from each home would amount to a giant step in the wrong direction. Tom Woodward, former climate lead in global policy and influence at Reall, an international housing development nonprofit, points to the link between the climate emergency and social justice in housing. “We cannot afford to address only one of these while making the other worse,” he says.
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