Climate change hits women harder What is climate justice? Climate justice is a term that acknowledges those most responsible for burning fossil fuels are least hurt by their effects on the climate. It covers differences in age, wealth and race, as well as gender, sexuality and disability. It also includes policies protecting workers reliant on fossil fuel industries from the switch to clean energy. "We're all in this climate crisis, but we're not all in it together," wrote Georgetown University philosopher Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò in DW newsletter Undercurrent in March. Each year, rich countries like the US emit about 10 times as much carbon dioxide as poorer ones like India, and about 20 times as much as a country like Nigeria. The imbalance of emissions is skewed even further because industrialized countries have been polluting the planet for longer.