ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE SUSTAINABILITY: The New Frontier of Social Justice

The “environmental" core of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) addresses the ecological, conservation, and climate aspects of global sustainable development until 2030. Often, the Goals within this subset are considered to exclusively focus on physical, chemical, biological, and other life science-oriented aspects. However, they are much more holistic and transdisciplinary in their approach than traditional sector programs could be. Consequently, this chapter highlights some of the most important social and societal dimensions of SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 - including themes such as water, sanitation, and hygiene; urbanization, air quality, waste, and transport; mobilizing for mitigation and the Green Climate Fund; tourism, etc. Moreover, the environmental SDGs address key social development issues such as resilience and adaptive capacity; protecting the poor and vulnerable; inclusion, empowerment, and participation. As the human and social dimensions of global environmental change and the climate and sustainability crisis are becoming more visible, the need for policies and interventions addressing these interlinked challenges using the frameworks and instruments of social development and social work is critically important. Therefore, the role of evidence-based approaches to a more intersectional intervention logic and underpinning research involving social and behavioral scientists from a variety of disciplines is key if the goal is the effectiveness and sustainability of SDG implementation at the interface of environmental change and social resilience and justice.