The idea for JustEarth: A Coalition for Environmental Justice was prompted by discussion at a Status of Women session of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association, held at the annual congress, York University, 31 May 2006. Lynn McDonald commented that every womens issue that she had worked on had gotten better over time, sometimes greatly so, while every environmental issue she had worked on had gotten worse. She argued for making the environment, and especially climate change, an issue, else we achieve perfect equality, but you get asthma from the air and cancer from the water.Equal mortality rates are not the object! Margrit Eichler agreed that women, and women in sociology, should make this a priority (her address as president of the association, focused on the environment). Alicja Muszynski, chair of the session, agreed to take the concerns to the annual general meeting of the association as an initiative of the Status of Women Committee.

There was considerable support for action and people began to sign up for an email list.

Drs Eichler, McDonald and Muszynski became a drafting committee, to read over the summer of 2006 on a declaration . Lynn McDonald informally consulted many people about it (especially academics of other disciplines, former Parliamentarians and environmental activists and experts).

A Citizen's Guide to a Climate Change Action Plan became available in March 2007. We encourage people to take it to their MPs or provincial representatives to promote a serious response to the crisis. Click here to view the guide.

The drafting committee sees the next stages as:

1. Obtaining a good number of signatures to the declaration.

2. Encouraging people to take the Citizens Guide to a Climate Change Action Plan to their MPs or provincial representatives.

3. The establishment of action groups to promote a serious action plan.

4. Building of the website, adding resources to it.

5. encouraging organizations in all domains of society to promote the needed rethinking by holding think-ins or town hall meetings, geared to produce proposals for political, economic and cultural change.

The drafting committee consists of:

Dr Lynn McDonald, University Professor Emerita, Dept. of Sociology, University of Guelph

Dr Margrit Eichler, FRSC, Dept. of Sociology, OISE, University of Toronto

Dr Alicja Muszynski, Dept. of Sociology, University of Waterloo, and chair, Status of Women Committee, Canadian Sociology Association

Contact Information

info@justearth.net