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The University of Maryland has launched the Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub, a new initiative aimed at accelerating climate action and addressing legacy environmental racism in the region.
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The initiative is being funded by a $2.2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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The Climate Action Hub will work to identify and promote policies and practices that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote climate resilience in the Mid-Atlantic region, with a focus on environmental justice.
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The Hub will engage with stakeholders across the region, including policymakers, businesses, and community groups, to build support for climate action and drive the adoption of effective solutions.
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The Hub’s work will focus on key areas such as transportation, energy, and building design, and will seek to ensure that climate solutions are equitable and inclusive, benefiting all communities in the region.
By MarylandToday (University of Maryland) | February 07, 2023
A $2.2 million grant will help launch a University of Maryland-led initiative to address the effects of environmental racism and climate change across the mid-Atlantic region, providing financial and training support and advocating for policy changes.
The Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub (MATCH) will build connections across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania, targeting communities that are disproportionately experiencing the negative effects of climate change because of historic disenfranchisement, coupled with proximity to environmental hazards and underlying social, economic and geographic vulnerabilities.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, MATCH is led by the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH), directed by Professor Sacoby Wilson in the School of Public Health.
“Communities of color and low-wealth populations in the mid-Atlantic are exposed to more traffic-related air pollution, emissions from incinerators and power plants, agricultural contaminants, landfills, brownfields and other toxic environments that harm health,” Wilson said. “But through MATCH, we are going to leverage resources that will help frontline and fenceline communities take action to address these injustices.”…
Climate and environmental justice concerns don’t observe jurisdictional boundaries, but they share some common themes: the need to empower people with the tools to collect scientific data and evidence to support organizing for healthier communities, to share best practices to be effective in these struggles and the recognition that it will take a collective effort and regional approach.
Read more from MarylandToday (University of Maryland).
