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Advance environmental and climate justice

A robust and growing body of research draws a connection between environment- and climate-related issues (E.G., climate change disasters, pollution, ecosystem disruption, degradation, etc.) and increased experiences of traumatic stress and adversity. Scholars posit that climate and environmental trauma and related stress impact individual and collective wellness in alignment with other discoveries related to trauma exposure of various types.

 

Troublingly, certain groups already vulnerable by our systems and institutions can disproportionately experience acts of environmental injustice. Thus, they tend to be more susceptible to the compounding and cascading negative impacts on individual and collective emotional, spiritual, physical, economic, social, and mental health and wellness.

 

CTIPP believes building resilience related to climate- and environment-related impacts on health, safety, and holistic wellness should be prioritized and addressed through a trauma-informed, equity-centered, and justice-oriented lens.

​CTIPP SUPPORTS:

  • Provide technical assistance and support to address the traumatic stress associated with environmental adversity, including identifying needs and providing accessible resources to help address traumatic stress related to environmental conditions

  • Support and fund efforts to train community members and service providers in communities that are particularly susceptible to environmental and climate-related harm in skills, tools, and practices that promote trauma recovery (e.g., Mental Health First Aid)

  • Require those who work within emergency preparedness, mitigation, management, and recovery to be trained in trauma-informed and trauma-responsive approaches

  • Work in partnership with tribal communities to invest in Indigenous efforts to address trauma and build resilience related to climate and environmental disasters and events

  • Implement trauma-informed initiatives to attend to holistic well-being and engage community members and stakeholders in building resilience before, during, and after climate/environmental disasters, events, and emergencies

  • Support the organization of ongoing opportunities within impacted communities to learn skills to understand and build resilience/adaptive capacities to navigate climate change

  • Fund projects and initiatives to address the harm related to climate and environmental injustice inflicted on communities (e.g., legacy pollution, dumping, orphaned oil/gas wells)

  • Address the disproportionate impact of environmental adversity on communities that are already disproportionately impacted by trauma and prioritize building infrastructure in communities that historically have been underserved and thus are more vulnerable to experiencing lasting harm following a climate or environmental emergency/disaster/event

  • Enact policies that make communities safer and more resilient to withstand the impacts of climate change, such as droughts, heat waves, floods, wildfires, and other traumatic events

  • Enact policies that support equitable access to clean air, safe drinking water, green spaces, sufficient food, and secure, sustainable shelter

  • Strengthen the enforcement of environmental and related civil and human rights laws

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