5 min. read
Last updated Feb 20, 2025
Introduction
The last few decades mark a catalytic shift in the influence that community leaders and environmental justice (EJ) advocates have in shaping national policy and civil investments in equitable climate solutions. Initiatives like Justice40 and major funding packages such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act directed billions of dollars to help address EJ challenges. These major policy initiatives build on decades of EJ organizing by movement advocates who have made the case that EJ must be a strong foundation of climate solutions.
Within a shifting political landscape, however, climate-focused agencies, legal protections, and funding are at risk. This is even more true for EJ, as the new administration puts EJ into the crosshairs of its programmatic roll-backs, puts EJ staff on leave, attempts to freeze federal spending for major climate initiatives, and eliminates the Justice40 initiative through executive orders.
Right now, the United States is at a pivotal moment for climate and equity. In the face of these headwinds, the private sector has the opportunity—and the responsibility—to support community priorities and advance environmental justice to drive equitable climate action.
What is environmental justice?
Environmental justice (EJ) has roots in the civil rights movements of the 1960s, emerging as a response to environmental racism and the disproportionate pollution burden in low-income communities of color. After decades of community organizing and leadership focused on pollution exposure, environmental justice presents a critical framework for how to approach climate change mitigation. EJ focuses on changing the material impacts of pollution, climate vulnerability, and systemic inequality for low-income communities, communities of color, Indigenous peoples, and/or other communities living on the frontlines of the climate crisis. From climate resilience to carbon dioxide removal, it is imperative that climate action strategies prioritize these communities and redirect resources to deliver just and equitable outcomes.
Equitable climate action: going beyond carbon
Taking equitable climate action means going beyond carbon impacts to dedicate resources and build relationships and agreements with frontline communities—the communities who have contributed the least to climate change yet are the most vulnerable to its impacts. Private sector prioritization of EJ at this critical inflection point can support EJ and frontline communities to implement climate solutions and catalyze a just transition. Failure to do so is not just bad for business, it's bad for people and the planet. Improper incorporation and implementation of EJ principles may result in climate intervention projects being unsuccessful.
Thousands of private sector organizations are working towards science-based targets for emissions reductions in the transition to a net-zero economy. In the US specifically, 65% of companies that Carbon Direct surveyed who have taken climate action have done so within the past five years. These organizations recognize that climate action ensures the future of their business as investors look to responsible investment opportunities and evaluate financially material risks posed by climate change. From a corporate social responsibility perspective, they recognize the positive outcomes that climate action contributes to local ecosystems and communities, like enhanced resilience, ecosystem health, and community wellbeing.
As companies build their climate action plans for 2025 and beyond, they should consider the following steps within current business focus areas that can advance equitable climate action: renewable energy and electrical grid interconnection, embodied decarbonization, and carbon removal project development and procurement.
Renewable energy and interconnection queues
Achieving meaningful EJ outcomes will require the fast, focused, and fair phase-down of fossil fuels and the scaling-up of renewable energy. Renewable energy is critical to climate change mitigation and global decarbonization. In the absence of global or national policy requirements, the private sector has the opportunity to prioritize EJ through clean and renewable energy development and electrification, as well as electricity optimization of grid interconnection queues.
Frontline communities tend to live in areas where there is a high concentration of fossil fuel energy plants. Given the current electricity mix and reliance on fossil fuels to meet demand, this increase in emissions could have negative health and environmental effects on frontline communities. This is a rising imperative as global computing needs continue to increase exponentially with the rapid scale-up of AI. Currently, the US houses approximately half of the world’s data centers. While EJ advocates and the 'responsible AI' movement have voiced concerns around the rapid growth of AI-focused data centers, technology companies are continuing to invest heavily in them, including both low- and high-emitting energy sources to provide data centers with electricity. By incorporating EJ principles into power procurement plans, including data center implementation, private sector companies can promote participatory design processes and maximize AI applications to address problems facing frontline communities.
Alongside renewable energy deployment, the private sector has a major opportunity to leverage its resources, knowledge, and expertise to contribute to accelerating the interconnection queue. Efficiency gains and renewable energy projects continue to reduce the portion of fossil fuels in the energy mix. However, as more project developers invest in solar, wind, and battery projects, the wait time for being allowed to connect to the electric grid has grown to several years, delaying clean electricity from being used and prolonging some fossil-fuel-based generation. Part of the solution is using new machine learning, AI, and software tools to speed up the interconnection review process. Companies that have expertise in these areas should dedicate resources to solving emerging problems to help build a more just, equitable, and clean energy future.
Most importantly, private sector organizations need to be creative, dedicated, and intentional about the resources they already have at their disposal. Corporate investment in renewable energy and electrification can maximize EJ outcomes. For example, private sector organizations can contribute resources to bolster policies from state and local governments directed to frontline communities that combine electrification with targeted pollution reduction, resulting in a “double win” for environmental and climate pollution.
Pollution reduction in manufacturing and construction
In addition to renewable energy and electricity optimization, sustainable manufacturing and construction are critical to climate change mitigation and resilience.
The private sector has the opportunity now to catalyze emissions reductions by investing in new low-carbon materials, supporting workforce development, and advocating for permits that will allow the necessary facilities to be built in support of this transition. Some US-based companies are doing this today, helping to reduce the emissions from one of the hardest-to-abate—and largest emitting—sectors of the economy.
Alongside pure emissions reductions, EJ is particularly important when it comes to these harder-to-abate sectors due to site selection and pollution. Historically, companies built manufacturing facilities in low-income communities and communities of color. Before the ability to electrify, these industrial processes generated substantial pollution—specifically, criteria air pollutants and hazardous air pollutants like ozone and particulate matter. These facilities and their pollutants create a disproportionate impact on frontline communities and lead to serious, long-term impacts on community health and wellbeing. To maximize EJ and support positive health for frontline communities, industrial goods manufacturers should transition to low-carbon production techniques and major purchasers should invest in these materials to advance equitable climate action.
In addition to harm reduction, companies reforming industrial processes have several opportunities to support community and ecosystem benefits. These include:
Addressing cumulative impacts and health disparities through ecological restoration, community air monitoring, and pollution remediation.
Investing in local job training and education programs for young people—led by community organizations and EJ leaders—that center youth leadership and their contributions to low-carbon solutions.
Evaluating new facility siting with rigorous EJ analyses and ensuring that EJ considerations meaningfully influence project design and operations.
While decarbonizing industrial processes offers clear environmental benefits, the financial costs of adopting low-carbon materials and practices can be a barrier for smaller firms. Larger corporations can use their purchasing power to create demand for sustainable alternatives, driving economies of scale that make these solutions more affordable.
Carbon removal project development and procurement
To reach the global climate change mitigation targets outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), over one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be required annually by 2030, and up to 10 billion tonnes by 2050. More importantly, negative emissions on the net-zero pathway are essential to minimize significant harm and avoid the worst climate impact scenarios, which will hit vulnerable communities the hardest.
Carbon removal pathways, like reforestation, direct air capture, and biochar, are essential to achieving net-zero emissions. These projects also have the potential to deliver EJ co-benefits, such as improving air quality, restoring degraded ecosystems, and creating economic opportunities in marginalized areas.
However, carbon removal must be developed intentionally to avoid reinforcing existing inequalities. With the continued and rapid scale-up of carbon removal projects, companies will need to invest in projects that integrate EJ across the carbon removal project development lifecycle. For communities, this will unlock powerful socioeconomic and ecological benefits. For developers and buyers of carbon removal credits, prioritizing investments in projects with strong EJ dimensions will help ensure high-quality and durable carbon removal. With strong community support, suppliers mitigate risks that could stall project development.
Companies investing in and procuring carbon removal credits should encourage projects to do the following:
Evaluate the EJ and human dimensions of projects with rigorous analyses using geospatial indicators and best-in-class review methods.
Implement robust and equitable community engagement plans that both prioritize frontline communities while including decision-points for project redesign based on community feedback.
Develop comprehensive community benefits plans (CBPs) that reflect grounded community priorities, and not just the goals of the developer or project proponent.
These strategies for operationalizing EJ principles will help enhance equitable carbon removal as companies take action to achieve their climate commitments.
Moreover, when carbon removal buyers consider procuring from nature-based solutions, they should examine the co-benefits of these projects that also have strong EJ dimensions. Projects like reforestation, wetland restoration, and regenerative agriculture can sequester carbon while delivering co-benefits like biodiversity conservation and flood prevention. These solutions often align with Indigenous knowledge systems and can strengthen partnerships with Tribal nations and Indigenous peoples as a part of equitable climate action plans.
Learn more: Catalyzing a just transition to net-zero with nature-based solutions ->
Rethinking the “bottom line” through an EJ lens
Looking ahead, the new federal administration will pose significant challenges for both EJ and climate action. Private sector organizations have a profound opportunity to advance EJ in the looming policy gap by centering frontline communities in their climate action plans. By rethinking the “bottom line” to incorporate justice and sustainability, businesses can drive transformative change as they continue to make progress toward achieving net zero. Renewable energy deployment and electricity optimization, pollution reduction in manufacturing and construction, and responsible carbon removal development and procurement can help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change while also building a lasting, resilient, and low-carbon economy. As stewards of innovation and capital, companies can choose to align their actions with EJ principles, and ensure that they equitably distribute benefits of the new green economy.
With the increased frequency and intensity of climate disasters around the world, private sector leadership lies in recognizing that equitable climate action is not a cost—it is a long-term investment.
