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Climate Injustice: Why We Need to Fight Global Inequality to Combat Climate Change
From the “scientist finding climate change’s smoking gun” (WIRED) and a Times 100 Most Influential Person comes a bracing investigation into extreme weather’s impact on the world’s most vulnerable. For fans of Naomi Klein and Greta Thunberg.
Climate change does not affect everyone equally. While many scientists focus on studying climate change as a physics problem, Friederike Otto, one of the world’s most renowned climate scientists, sees it as a symptom of the global crisis of inequality, not its cause. In this ambitious, fast-paced book, she offers concrete examples of how extreme weather events caused by climate change reveal uncomfortable truths about the failures of political and social infrastructures around the world.
Comparing eight extreme weather events—including heat waves in North America, floods in Pakistan, droughts in Madagascar, and wildfires in Australia—Otto reveals how climate change is affecting the world’s most vulnerable, whether they are women working on farms in Ghana during heat waves, or elderly people who died during floods in Germany. In particular, Otto examines the Global North’s extractionist view of the Global South, a view that ensures elites are protected while others bear the brunt of the climate disaster.
Climate Injustice shares the stories of real people, shining a light on the real damage inflicted on real lives. Above all, it shows how racism, colonialism, sexism, and climate change are interconnected, and how positive changes on one level can lead to positive effects on another. Authored by the co-founder of World Weather Attribution, a cutting-edge scientific method that pinpointed the role of climate change in extreme weather events for the first time, Climate Injustice offers a groundbreaking view on the fires, floods, heatwaves, and storms that are wreaking havoc at an alarming pace.
Inequality and injustice are at the core of what makes climate change a problem for humanity. Fairness and global justice must therefore be at the core of the solution. Climate justice concerns everyone.
- GenresNonfictionClimate Change
272 pages, Hardcover
Published March 25, 2025
14 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 12, 2025
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book to review.
Overall a well researched and detailed book about climate disasters around the world and the impact the fossil industry has had on making these disasters more likely. At times this was difficult to read as I live in the PNW and was directly impacted by the heat dome as well as yearly wildfires in our area. I think one of the benefits of this book is all climate matters discussed happened within the last five years making this a currently relevant reading.
The author rightly attributes fossil-driven climate change to colonialism, patriarchy, the fossil industry, and the global north’s capitalist lifestyles.
I will say, however, this is also a great example of a western climate person seeming to understand colonialism and the harm of the domination of the West while also approaching things with a still heavily westernized lens. There were a few things that made me pause in the book and that were especially frustrating because the information and context is good.
Overall a good book if you like academic scientific based writing.
Overall a well researched and detailed book about climate disasters around the world and the impact the fossil industry has had on making these disasters more likely. At times this was difficult to read as I live in the PNW and was directly impacted by the heat dome as well as yearly wildfires in our area. I think one of the benefits of this book is all climate matters discussed happened within the last five years making this a currently relevant reading.
The author rightly attributes fossil-driven climate change to colonialism, patriarchy, the fossil industry, and the global north’s capitalist lifestyles.
I will say, however, this is also a great example of a western climate person seeming to understand colonialism and the harm of the domination of the West while also approaching things with a still heavily westernized lens. There were a few things that made me pause in the book and that were especially frustrating because the information and context is good.
Overall a good book if you like academic scientific based writing.
August 28, 2025
This book contains both great and, unfortunately, a lot of really bad parts. One of the main messages is that while climate change will lead to many new and also much worse extreme weather events, what makes these events so deadly is our "system" of inequality: global poverty, inequal access to basic necessities, inequal political responses, etc. As with many crises, climate change is unfortunately felt most strongly by the disadvantaged. But importantly, we should not use climate change as a scapegoat for all coming crises but rather take responsibility for our system of inequality which allows climate shocks to become crises in the first place.
So far the argument. The author makes these points pretty clear throughout the book by detailing evidence on heat waves, droughts, fires and floods. The book is also an interesting introduction to attribution science. Alas, the book then often veers into obviously wrong generalizations and polemic rants against all sorts of evils such as our capitalist system (which the author calls "colonial fossil system"), corporations and evil politicians.
I am an academic development economist, my bread and butter is to think about how we can solve global inequality and I wholeheartedly agree that poverty itself increases the human costs of climate change tremendously. It also pains me to see that climate change will likely worsen across and within country inequalities. But I think these polemic rants and generalizations are unhelpful and in some cases simply outright harmful.
To me, the book is particularly weak on six fronts:
1) It often completely fails to describe basic trade-offs and misaligned incentives of the actors involved.
For example, when discussing Cape Town's water scarcity problem, the author entirely blames "bad politicians" who didn't make the investments to insure against future disasters. No mentioning of a rich social science literature on how political incentives often lead to underinvestment in disaster preparation. Instead of simplistic summaries, I would have loved to get a clearer sense of the quantitative tradeoffs involved: how much more should we spend on disaster prevention and how should countries at different levels of development decide on this, given that opportunity costs of public funds differ widely.
2) The book often fails to give context for quantitative numbers.
For example, I found it very hard to get a sense of how estimated excess deaths from climate change in developing countries compare to excess deaths from baseline problems developing countries face such as poverty, health issues, etc. That's critical to the entire message of the book. It often seemed the author argues that any death is too much, which is obviously true at a philosophical level but ignores trade-offs and seems completely unhelpful for public policy.
3) The implicit theory of economic development in the book is completely unsatisfying, leading to wrong policy conclusions. The author believes in some version of Marxist dependency theory, all underdevelopment is caused by colonialism, all behavior of the Global North is post-colonial, exports are supposedly very bad (no evidence given as to why). The role of development aid is greatly exaggerated, as if this was the main lever through which countries develop (sorry but aid just plays a small part in the big picture).
4) The book reads often as if a natural scientists veers for the first time into social science questions. Everything becomes an engineering problem that has relatively simple fixes. This is worse in the first part of the book.
5) I repeat myself but the book is full of obviously wrong generalizations, even sentences that the author refutes herself just a few paragraphs later. Just two examples: "nobody is pushing for alternative income opportunities outside of agriculture" (p. 117), "Infrastructure projects (of any size) are no solution to improve the situation in the long term; ..." (p. 125)
6) The book is at times almost a caricature of what conservatives decry as wokeness. For example, in the chapter on floods, the author first describes the terrible Ahr River flooding in Germany and then just one page later when discussing political lessons and political causes for the death toll, lists as number one issue (!) that Germany is a colonial, racist society. Really?? That's what you find is the main issue here? I think lots of important lessons can be drawn from this terrible event, including how shameful it hit vulnerable groups (the old and disabled), but to start out with Germany's colonial past seems like a big stretch.
So far the argument. The author makes these points pretty clear throughout the book by detailing evidence on heat waves, droughts, fires and floods. The book is also an interesting introduction to attribution science. Alas, the book then often veers into obviously wrong generalizations and polemic rants against all sorts of evils such as our capitalist system (which the author calls "colonial fossil system"), corporations and evil politicians.
I am an academic development economist, my bread and butter is to think about how we can solve global inequality and I wholeheartedly agree that poverty itself increases the human costs of climate change tremendously. It also pains me to see that climate change will likely worsen across and within country inequalities. But I think these polemic rants and generalizations are unhelpful and in some cases simply outright harmful.
To me, the book is particularly weak on six fronts:
1) It often completely fails to describe basic trade-offs and misaligned incentives of the actors involved.
For example, when discussing Cape Town's water scarcity problem, the author entirely blames "bad politicians" who didn't make the investments to insure against future disasters. No mentioning of a rich social science literature on how political incentives often lead to underinvestment in disaster preparation. Instead of simplistic summaries, I would have loved to get a clearer sense of the quantitative tradeoffs involved: how much more should we spend on disaster prevention and how should countries at different levels of development decide on this, given that opportunity costs of public funds differ widely.
2) The book often fails to give context for quantitative numbers.
For example, I found it very hard to get a sense of how estimated excess deaths from climate change in developing countries compare to excess deaths from baseline problems developing countries face such as poverty, health issues, etc. That's critical to the entire message of the book. It often seemed the author argues that any death is too much, which is obviously true at a philosophical level but ignores trade-offs and seems completely unhelpful for public policy.
3) The implicit theory of economic development in the book is completely unsatisfying, leading to wrong policy conclusions. The author believes in some version of Marxist dependency theory, all underdevelopment is caused by colonialism, all behavior of the Global North is post-colonial, exports are supposedly very bad (no evidence given as to why). The role of development aid is greatly exaggerated, as if this was the main lever through which countries develop (sorry but aid just plays a small part in the big picture).
4) The book reads often as if a natural scientists veers for the first time into social science questions. Everything becomes an engineering problem that has relatively simple fixes. This is worse in the first part of the book.
5) I repeat myself but the book is full of obviously wrong generalizations, even sentences that the author refutes herself just a few paragraphs later. Just two examples: "nobody is pushing for alternative income opportunities outside of agriculture" (p. 117), "Infrastructure projects (of any size) are no solution to improve the situation in the long term; ..." (p. 125)
6) The book is at times almost a caricature of what conservatives decry as wokeness. For example, in the chapter on floods, the author first describes the terrible Ahr River flooding in Germany and then just one page later when discussing political lessons and political causes for the death toll, lists as number one issue (!) that Germany is a colonial, racist society. Really?? That's what you find is the main issue here? I think lots of important lessons can be drawn from this terrible event, including how shameful it hit vulnerable groups (the old and disabled), but to start out with Germany's colonial past seems like a big stretch.
February 12, 2025
‘Climate Injustice’ by Dr Otto is an uncomfortable read for an audience in the Global North and reminds us of the truth- that if your neighbour’s house is on fire, you don’t argue about the price of your garden hose. You put out the fire.
This is not simply a book about more frequent extreme weather. Instead, ‘This book is about the weather and climate, but it’s also about poverty, sexism, racism, arrogance, ignorance and power.’
By titling the book ‘Climate Injustice’, Dr Otto logical starts by defining what climate justice is and then highlights examples from around the world where the disparity in power and the disparity in responsibility occur. ‘Climate justice means protecting the rights of those most at risk by sharing the burdens of climate change and its effects fairly and across all sections of society.’
When we have powerful Global North leaders who try to tell us that actually there is no fire, that the impacts we witness are ‘fake news’ and reduce their countries’ ability to act in positive directions, it is at this point that we must come to realise that it is their system which is under threat. It is their voices and their narratives that need to be minimised and a new story and a new ideology needs to emerge- one which listens to those who are impacted now by the climate crisis and one which amplifies their experiences. ‘We need constructive, powerful narratives that help us to dismantle traditional, institutionalized, structural inequality, rather than reinforcing it through the consequences of climate change’
Dr Otto leads us on a global tour and explores how climate change is killing the disadvantaged across the world and how existing political, cultural and social constructs are factoring into the impact. She challenges her readers to understand that colonialism and racism are hiding behind climate change. As a white male in the Global North, I questioned whether we needed yet another voice from my demographic to talk about the Global South and its problems through a review- the last thing the Global South needs is yet another ‘white saviour’. However, silence is even more dangerous.
As a result, we do need to talk and we do need to listen. We need to be a ‘we’. Social action can be a powerful tool to challenge and overcome a dominant narrative of injustice. And Otto emphasises that this has happened frequently in the past and therefore the capacity for this to happen again is within our choice. ‘Extremely powerful narratives have been changed throughout history.’
As Otto notes, ‘Similarly, climate change is no asteroid. It is a human-caused reality that escalates the inequality and injustice in our society. An injustice we consider so normal that often we don’t even talk about it. But we need to start talking. And we need to focus the debate on improving peoples’ lives here and now. To talk about climate change is, then, to talk about inequality and injustice- and about the system in which we live.’
Dismantling ‘colonial fossil narratives’
There is an early challenge in ‘Climate Injustice’, which asks the simplest of questions- How many deaths are we happy to live with? Identifying who they ‘we’ are in this question and understanding that it’s largely the Global North who are standing idly by while the death rate continues to grow elsewhere, aided and abetted by a ‘Colonial fossil narrative’, which serves a rich, powerful few, who are rarely, if ever, challenged over their role.
The inequality quickly becomes apparent, or as Otto frames the issue, ‘We aren’t all in the same boat, especially when it’s on fire.’
Why do extreme weather events in Pakistan receive less media attention and less ‘on the ground’ disaster management, than extreme weather events in Western Europe. In part, owing to the perception that it isn’t ‘us’ yet. Otto argues that this is owing to the ‘Colonialism Meets Capitalism’ embedded conflict. ‘While extreme weather in Europe makes headlines for weeks on end- not always the right ones- reports on weather extremes in Africa are practically nonexistent.’
As Dr Otto reminds us, ‘The formula is frighteningly simple: the richer we are and the more privileged our lives, the less susceptible we are to the physical consequences of global warming. To put it another way, those with the least suffer the most from the consequences of climate change.’
Climate justice concerns everyone.
It is this injustice, this well established and created imbalance of power and visibility, that Dr Otto explores in her book and argues that this structure is also one which needs to be addressed. ‘[W]e won’t be able to manage climate change unless we eliminate the historic dynamic of injustice, of domination and dependence, between the countries of the Global North and the Global South.’ She further makes the point that we can ‘unlearn’ the injustice and see it for what is- a strut to prop up an elite way of life. ‘Injustice is learned, and that means it can be unlearned.’
This focus on managing the hidden causes of climate change echoes strongly in the text, as Otto makes the point forcefully that we have all entered a new world. A world which could have been avoided and therefore untold suffering could have been avoided. ‘With warming of 1.2℃ (2.16℉), the Earth is warmer today than ever before in the history of human civilization- warmer than any world humanity has ever known.’
What are we doing here?
As I read this book, the parable of the drowning man resounded powerfully. The man who chooses not to heed repeated warnings that his house and his town is going to flood, because he believes God will save him. Various versions of this story exist, updated to reflect a more modern world, with radio messages, boats and helicopters coming to save the man. The end of the story remains the same- facing God in Heaven the man asks why God did not save him, only to be told that God had sent the radio message, the boat and the helicopter. The story ends with God asking the man, ‘What are you doing here?’
Dr Otto’s message feels a similar one- what are we doing here? We have had the scientific information for decades, we have failed to act and now we are casting around looking for someone to blame- while the colonial fossil narrative goes into overdrive, deflecting any challenge of accountability. ‘We could have and should have learned from these events, especially as we’ve known for years that advancing climate change could make weather phenomena more extreme.’
We have created an extremely unequal world. We have allowed dominant narratives to manipulate us, while political and social constructs continue to keep us repressed.
It is time for the colonial fossil narrative to be broken, so that we can reclaim equality and justice.
This is not simply a book about more frequent extreme weather. Instead, ‘This book is about the weather and climate, but it’s also about poverty, sexism, racism, arrogance, ignorance and power.’
By titling the book ‘Climate Injustice’, Dr Otto logical starts by defining what climate justice is and then highlights examples from around the world where the disparity in power and the disparity in responsibility occur. ‘Climate justice means protecting the rights of those most at risk by sharing the burdens of climate change and its effects fairly and across all sections of society.’
When we have powerful Global North leaders who try to tell us that actually there is no fire, that the impacts we witness are ‘fake news’ and reduce their countries’ ability to act in positive directions, it is at this point that we must come to realise that it is their system which is under threat. It is their voices and their narratives that need to be minimised and a new story and a new ideology needs to emerge- one which listens to those who are impacted now by the climate crisis and one which amplifies their experiences. ‘We need constructive, powerful narratives that help us to dismantle traditional, institutionalized, structural inequality, rather than reinforcing it through the consequences of climate change’
Dr Otto leads us on a global tour and explores how climate change is killing the disadvantaged across the world and how existing political, cultural and social constructs are factoring into the impact. She challenges her readers to understand that colonialism and racism are hiding behind climate change. As a white male in the Global North, I questioned whether we needed yet another voice from my demographic to talk about the Global South and its problems through a review- the last thing the Global South needs is yet another ‘white saviour’. However, silence is even more dangerous.
As a result, we do need to talk and we do need to listen. We need to be a ‘we’. Social action can be a powerful tool to challenge and overcome a dominant narrative of injustice. And Otto emphasises that this has happened frequently in the past and therefore the capacity for this to happen again is within our choice. ‘Extremely powerful narratives have been changed throughout history.’
As Otto notes, ‘Similarly, climate change is no asteroid. It is a human-caused reality that escalates the inequality and injustice in our society. An injustice we consider so normal that often we don’t even talk about it. But we need to start talking. And we need to focus the debate on improving peoples’ lives here and now. To talk about climate change is, then, to talk about inequality and injustice- and about the system in which we live.’
Dismantling ‘colonial fossil narratives’
There is an early challenge in ‘Climate Injustice’, which asks the simplest of questions- How many deaths are we happy to live with? Identifying who they ‘we’ are in this question and understanding that it’s largely the Global North who are standing idly by while the death rate continues to grow elsewhere, aided and abetted by a ‘Colonial fossil narrative’, which serves a rich, powerful few, who are rarely, if ever, challenged over their role.
The inequality quickly becomes apparent, or as Otto frames the issue, ‘We aren’t all in the same boat, especially when it’s on fire.’
Why do extreme weather events in Pakistan receive less media attention and less ‘on the ground’ disaster management, than extreme weather events in Western Europe. In part, owing to the perception that it isn’t ‘us’ yet. Otto argues that this is owing to the ‘Colonialism Meets Capitalism’ embedded conflict. ‘While extreme weather in Europe makes headlines for weeks on end- not always the right ones- reports on weather extremes in Africa are practically nonexistent.’
As Dr Otto reminds us, ‘The formula is frighteningly simple: the richer we are and the more privileged our lives, the less susceptible we are to the physical consequences of global warming. To put it another way, those with the least suffer the most from the consequences of climate change.’
Climate justice concerns everyone.
It is this injustice, this well established and created imbalance of power and visibility, that Dr Otto explores in her book and argues that this structure is also one which needs to be addressed. ‘[W]e won’t be able to manage climate change unless we eliminate the historic dynamic of injustice, of domination and dependence, between the countries of the Global North and the Global South.’ She further makes the point that we can ‘unlearn’ the injustice and see it for what is- a strut to prop up an elite way of life. ‘Injustice is learned, and that means it can be unlearned.’
This focus on managing the hidden causes of climate change echoes strongly in the text, as Otto makes the point forcefully that we have all entered a new world. A world which could have been avoided and therefore untold suffering could have been avoided. ‘With warming of 1.2℃ (2.16℉), the Earth is warmer today than ever before in the history of human civilization- warmer than any world humanity has ever known.’
What are we doing here?
As I read this book, the parable of the drowning man resounded powerfully. The man who chooses not to heed repeated warnings that his house and his town is going to flood, because he believes God will save him. Various versions of this story exist, updated to reflect a more modern world, with radio messages, boats and helicopters coming to save the man. The end of the story remains the same- facing God in Heaven the man asks why God did not save him, only to be told that God had sent the radio message, the boat and the helicopter. The story ends with God asking the man, ‘What are you doing here?’
Dr Otto’s message feels a similar one- what are we doing here? We have had the scientific information for decades, we have failed to act and now we are casting around looking for someone to blame- while the colonial fossil narrative goes into overdrive, deflecting any challenge of accountability. ‘We could have and should have learned from these events, especially as we’ve known for years that advancing climate change could make weather phenomena more extreme.’
We have created an extremely unequal world. We have allowed dominant narratives to manipulate us, while political and social constructs continue to keep us repressed.
It is time for the colonial fossil narrative to be broken, so that we can reclaim equality and justice.
November 28, 2025
“Climate Injustice: Why We Need to Fight Global Inequity to Combat Climate Change” (Friederike Otto, 2025) looks beyond science and examines aspects of injustice and inequity relevant to anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Otto is a climate scientist who uses attribution science to determine the extent to which AGW has altered the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events. The degree of risk posed by extreme weather events to populations is influenced by the nature or severity of the event itself, the degree of exposure of people to the event, and the vulnerability of those exposed. Otto reviews social, political, and economic inequities which influence the effects of AGW on people. She reasons that these inequities are “colonial-fossil”(“colonial” refers to colonialism and “fossil” refers to fossil fuels) legacies which must be addressed to bring justice to vulnerable populations. Socially vulnerable (those who are poor or homeless) or geographically vulnerable (the Global South) populations will bear the brunt of the effects of AGW. Those effects include heat, drought, fires, and flooding - each are analyzed using examples of specific occurrences and personal testimonies of people affected. Effective action against climate injustice will increase once discourse progresses beyond science (tipping points and environmental adversity) and discussion of personal or societal sacrifices. Those are sometimes construed as an attack on traditional colonial-fossil values and culture which have been long ingrained in society and are currently propagated by fossil fuel industry allies to hinder AGW mitigation. Otto suggests focusing on the agency we have to tackle climate change together to ensure a higher quality of life and better health. This book is well written - highly recommend!
December 3, 2025
A very powerful and nuanced book, Climate Injustice seeks to understand climate change as part of other human actions, namely colonialism and exploitation.
Otto works on attribution science, the field of trying to determine what role global warming plays in natural disasters, and this thread is a fascinating one throughout the book. She doesn't offer a simple view; instead, she teases out causal factors for fires and floods, assessing their relative importance. Her conclusion: "the climate crisis is shaped largely by inequality and the still-undisputed dominance of patriarchal and colonial structures, which also prevent the serious pursuit of climate protection." (8). The term she generates to describe that combination of factors is "colonial-fossil narrative."
Otto uses this model to analyze various disasters around the world, finding ways by which elites enrich and protect themselves at the expense of marginalized populations. This leads to interesting observations, like skepticism about mass international climate migration, because would-be migrants lack the resources and end up moving within their nation. (131)
Climate Injustice is clearly written and organized. Recommended.
Otto works on attribution science, the field of trying to determine what role global warming plays in natural disasters, and this thread is a fascinating one throughout the book. She doesn't offer a simple view; instead, she teases out causal factors for fires and floods, assessing their relative importance. Her conclusion: "the climate crisis is shaped largely by inequality and the still-undisputed dominance of patriarchal and colonial structures, which also prevent the serious pursuit of climate protection." (8). The term she generates to describe that combination of factors is "colonial-fossil narrative."
Otto uses this model to analyze various disasters around the world, finding ways by which elites enrich and protect themselves at the expense of marginalized populations. This leads to interesting observations, like skepticism about mass international climate migration, because would-be migrants lack the resources and end up moving within their nation. (131)
Climate Injustice is clearly written and organized. Recommended.
May 28, 2025
4 stars
I enjoyed this book and the stance it takes on climate change being a social issue relating to what the author calls a "colonial-fossil" narrative. In my opinion, thinking of climate change as a social issue instead of a scientific one is a more productive way of considering solutions. I liked how each chapter used a case study of a different event/disaster made worse by climate change and used that as a jumping off point to discuss various aspects of climate injustice, like poverty and colonialism. My favorite chapters were the ones on North American heat waves, fires in the Brazilian Amazon, and floods in Pakistan (which was really just a jumping off point to talk about loss and damage). I think there was a slight lack of cohesion, but that does mean it's possible to just read each chapter as a standalone essay.
I enjoyed this book and the stance it takes on climate change being a social issue relating to what the author calls a "colonial-fossil" narrative. In my opinion, thinking of climate change as a social issue instead of a scientific one is a more productive way of considering solutions. I liked how each chapter used a case study of a different event/disaster made worse by climate change and used that as a jumping off point to discuss various aspects of climate injustice, like poverty and colonialism. My favorite chapters were the ones on North American heat waves, fires in the Brazilian Amazon, and floods in Pakistan (which was really just a jumping off point to talk about loss and damage). I think there was a slight lack of cohesion, but that does mean it's possible to just read each chapter as a standalone essay.
December 21, 2024
This was a very informative read on the impact of climate change on those most vulnerable to it. Mixing science and sociology Friededike Otto uses a plethora of climate disasters to highlight the impact of climate injustice. Stories like the ones Otto uses throughout the book are especially important in today's world and should be read by everyone.
August 23, 2025
Would really recommend this to see how the (physical) science of climate change is intrically connected with issues of health and injustice. Somehow, many people see these as separate, Otto shows they're not. Also gives you a good insight into how attribution science works, connecting individual weather events such as a heatwave or flood to climaet.
September 22, 2025
Very good argument that addressing climate change effectively is really about climate justice. The human race will likely survive a climate change, but there are although many people who will suffer and die. The suffering will be overwhelmingly be felt by the poor.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews