Climate impacts or hazards, stemming from events like heat waves, floods and drought pose challenges for all Washington communities, now and in the future. However, the degree to which communities will experience these climate change-related hazards is not the same. 

The result of a unique collaboration among community organizations and researchers, this report aims to support ongoing discussions regarding the climate change-related hazards facing communities in Washington, with a special emphasis on communities of color, indigenous peoples and communities with lower incomes. It clarifies how communities may be exposed differently to climate-related hazards and how factors like race/ethnicity, wealth, income, level of education and health status affect the ability to cope with climate impacts, or related harms.

We hope this work will serve policymakers, community-based organizations, researchers and funders as a source of knowledge and community insight, a collection of resources and as a catalyst for future research efforts.

FULL REPORT TWO-PAGE GRAPHIC SUMMARY

Project Background

Equity is increasingly being adopted as a guiding principle for climate preparedness planning. Recent legislation aimed at reducing carbon pollution has aimed to also mitigate the disproportionate effects of climate change on people of color, indigenous peoples and communities with lower incomes. For climate policies and programs to effectively address existing or future inequities faced by these Washington state communities, there needs to be credible information about who is at risk in Washington state from climate impacts, and why. This report provides the first look at these issues in Washington state; we hope it catalyzes much-needed work in this area.

The Approach

Community listening sessions helped identify the ways that community members perceive
climate risks, providing critical input to the structure and content of this report. Listening sessions were conducted by various community-based organizations that work in collaboration with Front and Centered. These organizations work in, and with, communities who have been identified as disproportionately vulnerable to environmental harm, including: communities of color, indigenous peoples, communities with lower incomes, immigrants and refugees and linguistically isolated groups.

Acknowledgements

The research and writing team is greatly appreciative of input received from the Front and Centered Steering Committee, UW faculty and the community members who hosted and participated in the Listening Sessions. This input proved central to this report.

This collaborative project was made possible with support from Seattle Foundation, whose mission is to ignite powerful, rewarding philanthropy to make Greater Seattle a stronger, more vibrant community for all.

Seattle Foundation Website

Learn more about our partners by visiting their websites: 

Front and Centered 

UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Urban@UW