ENJUST Conference Review 20.-22. November 2024 in Hamburg

Environmental Justice in the Age of Planetary Peril: Concepts, Agencies, Mobilizations

EnJust Conference 2024 delved into a key tension of current sustainability and climate politics: the juxtaposition between the perceived urgency for immediate techno-managerial interventions to combat environmental degradation and climate change, and the increasing proliferation and mobilization of social movements and their claims for justice. As such, climate policies and decarbonization efforts, like energy transitions, are predominantly embedded in discourses of technological solutionism, security, and neoliberal governance that could foster forms of post-fossil extractivism and green colonialism, thereby exacerbating the marginalization and neglect of justice concerns. Nevertheless, justice claims are becoming increasingly visible, both politically and academically, as movements intensify their struggles for socioecological (and technologically just) transformations and develop new institutional strategies to enable alternative sustainabilities. In line with this, the conference intended to critically interrogate the adequacy of environmental justice

conceptualizations in the face of multiple planetary threats, especially pertaining to the worsening impacts of climate change. In this regard, there are calls for a more comprehensive inclusion of non human agencies and planetary forces in justice conceptualizations and legal frameworks, such as “planetary justice” or “earth system law”. In addition, postcolonial scholars call for a profound decolonization of environmental justice, emphasizing the need for greater epistemic and ontological

plurality within respective studies and climate action.

This my first conference I have been at since being a PhD researcher. People from the ENJUST network were so welcoming, that I felt comfortable right from the beginning. It was a great mix of people all ages, all genders and research backgrounds, however, only a handful of people coming from the Global South. I really enjoyed their case studies from e.g. Bangladesh, India or Mexico. Researchers from the Global North did also introduce their Case Studies from e.g. Brasil, Mexico, or the Phillipines. Somewhat I always feel uncomfortable listening to case studies from the Global South by white researchers. Eventhough they often critically explain their standing in the research project and highlight the crucial role of local peoples' knowledge and experience, it remains a discussion point for me. How can we as white researchers approach case studies from a post colonial lens without ignoring or neglecting the results of colonisation and racism? How giving people a voice that current political and scientific actors still do not listen to? How can white researchers go to the Global South while being payed and supported by their universities and governments while local stakeholders give their time and resources for free? How can the hegemonial knowledge production system be broken? How to overcome the power structures of science that unfold in those case studies? This was one of my main questions that I took from the conference.

I really enjoyed the presentations with a strong theoretical background, especially the epistemic climate justice framework from Miranda Fricker. I got introduced to it at the conference, and can already see me using Fricker's insights on knowledge production for my thesis. I love scientific theories and framework and I am always keen to learn how other disciplines approach their case studies and how they frame perspectives of climate justice. Intersectionality is one of the most important framings of climate justice research. It its, however, not at all clear how scholars apply it in practice. Its a rather complex task that requires human resources and a critical scientific training. I would have liked to hear more about strategies for applying intersectional climate justice. I think I might have to do that myself on the next ENJUST conference. :)

Last but not least, the session "feminist perspectives on climate justice" was exciting as all three presenters used different angles, theories and geographical settings for their research. Really a pleasure to listen to. The binary understanding of gender was still very present and I wished for a more critical angle on gender itself in the justice debate. Nonetheless, it is great to see that (some) scientists are aware of the differences of resistence and exposure among women and men.

Thanks to everyone to update me on the current debates in climate justice research. The organisation of the conference was impressing. Location and food were perfect and there were always people around for questions. The conference was FOR FREE so young researchers could participate as well. It was a wonderful and learning experience for me.

See you 2026!