Climate Change and Environmental Justice: What is the role of social workers to promote change?

The impacts of climate change on the world is overwhelming. The increase in droughts harm food production and human health. Flooding has led to the spread of disease and damages to ecosystems and infrastructure. Climate change impacts are seen throughout every aspect of the world we live in. However, climate change impacts are uneven across the country and the world. The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare has proposed 12 Grand Challenges for the social work profession to address, which includes to “create social responses to a changing environment.” Due to the impacts of climate change, social workers must be equipped to tackle climate change and to engage in strategies to promote environmental justice. This interactive webinar, informative in nature, explores definitions related to climate change, environmental justice, and climate grief. We will identify the role that social workers play in the environmental justice movement, including ways it can be addressed at all levels of practice.