GreenLatinos Statement On The IPCC Working Group II Report

Washington D.C. – Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Working Group II report of its Sixth Assessment, which highlights the widespread damage caused by our changing climate. The report underscores how climate change exposes existing injustices, hitting frontline communities and communities of colors the hardest. 

In response to this report Irene Burga, GreenLatinos Climate and Clean Air Program Director released the following statement.:

“This report confirms what Latinos know to be true in our communities: our changing climate presents a clear and disproportionate danger to our communities and communities of color that have endured a legacy of discriminatory planning practices and environmental racism. This is not only an existential threat but a very real problem for frontline communities that are experiencing greater risk of poor health outcomes and high mortality rates caused by the extreme weather events resulting for climate change and the accompanying toxic air pollution choking our lungs.

The report makes clear the next decade is the window for effectively preparing for the coming changes in terms of more frequent and severe weather impacts and increased vulnerabilities and impacts for our communities. It is time to stop fueling our carbon-based economy and hold our leaders accountable. We must take a whole-systems approach and demand policies at every level of government that work to transition power grids to 100% clean energy, build new modes of transportation that remove cars from the road while investing in zero emission technology and ensure there is clean water for everyone to drink and healthy air to breathe for all.

The latest report simply shows that we haven't done enough to protect our communities and ecosystems from climate-driven destruction. We must act now to fix outdated infrastructure, implement nature-based solutions, and follow the leadership of Indigenous and other frontline communities. We must invest in our hardest hit communities first and foremost to weather the storm. Nobody should be left behind.”

GreenLatinos is an active comunidad of Latino/a/x leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.

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