Centering environmental justice in United States (U.S.) National Climate Assessments (NCAs): a historical and contemporary analysis
Abstract Since 1990, the U.S. Global Change Research Program has published five cross-sectoral National Climate Assessment (NCA) reports. Federal, state, and local governments, policymakers, and the public employ NCAs to analyze climate risks, impacts, and adaptation and mitigation options. This article surveys the NCA landscape and makes the case for centering environmental justice (EJ) to inform actionable, relevant, and accessible climate change science and responses. Case studies of NCA1 through NCA5, released during the Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden presidential administrations, examine the roles of EJ, the conceptual integration of transdisciplinary research efforts, and data equity considerations. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to “center” EJ into climate assessments.
Authors
- Beth Rose Middleton Manning
- Megan Mills‐Novoa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1780-9266)
- Julie Maldonado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8165-4396)
- Michael Méndez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0660-9410)
- Cynthia Golembeski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0749-5566)
- Tisha Holmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4754-9060)
- Linda Estelí Méndez‐Barrientos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8759-6908)
- Leo Goldsmith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7443-5275)
- J. Mijin Cha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8834-6767)
- Louise Bedsworth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7310-3548)
- Sameer H. Shah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1309-0039)
Institutions
- The New School (US)
- Florida State University (US)
- University of Denver (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Yale University (US)
- Institute of Livelihood Research and Training (IN)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Climatic Change
- Published
- 2025-04-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-03924-5
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.40
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Carnegie Corporation of New York
- National Center for Atmospheric Research