News / Just Transition
Climate, race and disability podcast seeks to unpick jargon and bust myths
Climate justice. Just Transition. Co-created community climate action.
There’s a lot of this talk in Bristol but what do the words actually mean? And exactly what communities are we referring to?
Ruth Nortey is attempting to answer just these questions.
is needed now More than ever
Her podcast series seeks to demystify climate change jargon and bust myths about who is doing what in the world of environmentalism.
“We have a really strong movement in Bristol and there’s a recognition here that the sector does need to be more diverse and inclusive,” she says, “but there’s still a way to go. When we talk about the mainstream movement, there are a lot of traditional ways things have been done, and Disabled people or People of Colour might operate better in other ways.”
Senior lecturer in climate justice at University of Bristol Dr Alix Dietzel – shown with Ed Miliband at COP 28 – appears on the podcast to try to help define the concept of a Just Transition – photo: Alix Dietzel
The four pod episodes unpick ideas around a Just Transition and explore work being undertaken around climate action and Disabled people and by people from Global Majority backgrounds.
They include interviews with University academics, climate justice advocates, community organisers and campaigners such as Bristol-based bird lover Mya-Rose Craig.
“One thing that came across was that for many years people from diverse backgrounds have tried to be included in the mainstream environmental movement but have found it hasn’t been maybe as supportive or welcoming for them so they’ve started to do their own thing, working alongside the existing movement,” says Nortey, reflecting on what she discovered in making the podcasts.
Nortey was part of the Black & Green Ambassador initiative, a leadership programme designed to increase diversity within the environmental movement.
She found the programme useful in opening up ways she could get involved in the movement, and aims to do the same for others with her podcast:
“This isn’t a whole picture of what’s going on in Bristol, it’s the highlights and showcases some of the great work that’s been happening across the city.
“Before I became a Black & Green Ambassador I didn’t know how to engage in this movement or what I could do. So I hope to direct people to what’s happening online, or with events and on social media, to give abit of an avenue of where to go and how to get involved.”
Gnisha Bevan and Elsie Harp (third and fourth from right) from Nature Rising discuss the issue that in the West we tend to look at how other Western countries have responded to climate issues, ignoring the wealth of knowledge and expertise in non-western and indigenous communities – photo: Nature Rising
The pod episodes demonstrate that the work to make the move towards a green future more fair and inclusive has ramped up in recent years, but there’s more to be done.
For example, “Dr Alice Venn and Dr Alix Dietzel have observed a change in people thinking about, in order to move toward a greener future we need to make it fairer for people and involve communities in decision making processes,” says Nortey.
“Conversations with Eastside Community Trust indicated sometimes language used in the environmental sector can be exclusionary – migrant communities do have practices that are sustainable but maybe they use different terms for it.
“Climate justice and Disability campaigner Dr Emma Geen said when they started there weren’t many doing work in this area but they’ve seen an increase and there’s a growing body of research, and Mya-Rose Craig spoke about the perception that people from Global Majority backgrounds aren’t interested in climate or nature issues because we aren’t often seen in those spaces, but actually there is a lot of work going by people from those backgrounds.
“I think there’s still a way to go in getting that representation from grassroots or community level – from people not already involved in the sector.”
Nortey will be presenting the podcast at the Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership’s Climate and Disability showcase on October 2, alongside an accompanying e-zine created by Eleanor Shipman, and also plans to produce a BSL summary of the podcast.
The event, at Triodos Bank near College Green, will be a bumper celebration of all the work that has taken place over the last year as part of the Climate and Disability community climate action project.
It will launch the Crip Up Climate Conversation guides and an Inclusive Transport toolkit, and provide opportunities to learn about the Centre for Sustainable Energy’s climate and disability research and Redcatch Community Garden’s growing and cookery project with Disabled people.
Find out more at events.humanitix.com/climate-and-disability-programme-showcase
Main image: Ruth Hannell
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