Climate Regulation and Reparations Should Focus on Fair Conditions for Pregnant People and Children

Reproductive justice and climate justice are two fights of the same nature. In Kenya, Maasai women known as Team Lioness patrol the vast plains at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro on Feb. 29, 2024. (Tony Karumba / AFP via Getty Images) The climate crisis is already quietly killing millions. It, along with other ecological crises, is set to potentially kill a billion humans and countless nonhumans—those least responsible for causing it. But here is a truth you will rarely hear: The death count predictions are premised on the current reproductive rights models, the ones that caused the crisis to begin with. Those models treat the act of having children as based on parental autonomy rather than child equity—or the concept of all children having fair, prosperous living conditions. That means expectant mothers are not entitled to particular planning resources, the ones that would ensure birth and development conditions consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Changing to the latter model through initiatives like birth equity reparations that enable delay, investment and even relocation could save countless lives. Similar to the concept of child equity, birth equity means ensuring fair, humane and comfortable conditions for those...