Racisme environnemental et les changements climatiques

The document argues that climate change adaptation policies in Canada often ignore how structural inequalities and environmental racism increase the vulnerability of marginalized groups. Using case studies from Nova Scotia, it demonstrates how historical racism and systemic failures in education, employment, and justice create health disparities that make Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities more susceptible to climate-related hazards. It details specific instances of environmental racism, such as the pollution of Boat Harbour and the forced relocation of Africville, and calls for health equity through disaggregated data, increased representation, and environmental justice legislation.

• Climate change adaptation policies in Canada frequently overlook the fact that climate risks are largely socially constructed rather than purely environmental, and that these impacts are distributed inequitably across different populations.
• Structural determinants of health—including ethnicity, poverty, education, and access to clean air and water—interact with environmental racism to increase the vulnerability of racialized and marginalized groups to climate change.
• Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities face significant structural health disparities, including higher poverty rates and unemployment. In East and North Preston, 38.9% and 40% of families live in poverty, respectively, while the unemployment rate for Mi’kmaqs on reserves was 24.6% in 2006 compared to 9.1% for the general Nova Scotian population.
• Environmental racism is evidenced by the disproportionate placement of polluting industries and waste sites near marginalized communities. Examples include the Sydney tar ponds, where cancer rates are 45% higher than the Nova Scotia average, and Boat Harbour, which ranks third in Canada for cancer rates per person due to pulp and paper mill effluents.
• The community of Africville experienced extreme systemic neglect and environmental racism, where the City of Halifax collected taxes but provided no basic infrastructure (such as paved roads or water supply) and intentionally zoned the area for undesirable facilities, including a landfill and slaughterhouses, before forcibly relocating residents in 1970.
• To achieve health equity and climate resilience, the author recommends that Canadian health and environment ministries collect disaggregated data on Indigenous and Black communities, increase representation of these groups in policy-making, adopt an environmental justice law, and include health equity impact assessments in environmental approvals.

APA

Waldron, I. R. G. (2021). Racisme environnemental et les changements climatiques. Canadian Climate Institute. https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/racisme-environnemental-et-les-changements-climatiques/

Chicago

Waldron, I. R. G. Racisme environnemental et les changements climatiques. Canadian Climate Institute, 2021. https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/racisme-environnemental-et-les-changements-climatiques/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Waldron |first1=I. R. G. |title=Racisme environnemental et les changements climatiques |publisher=Canadian Climate Institute |date=22 July 2021 |url=https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/racisme-environnemental-et-les-changements-climatiques/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{waldron2021racisme, author = {Waldron, I. R. G.}, title = {{Racisme environnemental et les changements climatiques}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/racisme-environnemental-et-les-changements-climatiques/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }