Climate Justice and Responsibility

Overview

In lesson 14 of 24 in Auckland: Sustainable New Home, students examine climate change as an issue of fairness, not only an environmental issue. Using an accessible data set and structured discussion, they identify who contributes to climate change, who is affected, and what responsibilities different groups may have. The lesson supports speaking and listening for English language learners, including Pasefika and Bengali learners.

Learning intentions

• WALT explain why climate change is also an issue of fairness and responsibility.
• WALT interpret accessible data about contribution and impact.
• WALT discuss different perspectives using evidence and respectful turn-taking.
• WALT use the concepts cause, impact, responsibility and equity accurately.

Success criteria

• I can identify who contributes to climate change and who is affected.
• I can explain why impacts may be unfairly distributed.
• I can suggest responsibilities for individuals, communities, businesses and governments.
• I can use evidence and discussion stems to explain my view.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences Years 9–10: analysing data and sources, making decisions, and evaluating significant challenges.
• Social Sciences Years 9–10: understanding how societies function and change, including New Zealand’s place in a globalised world.
• Social Sciences Years 9–10: exploring inequality, ethics, power, governance and human rights.
• Social Sciences practices: communicating views using evidence, logic, social science concepts and conventions.

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook and prior learning. Teacher displays an image of a flooded Auckland street beside an image representing high-emission consumption and asks, “Is it fair that everyone experiences climate change in the same way?” Open with the hook and lesson question. Students complete a silent think, then share one idea with a partner. Invite students to connect to earlier learning about Auckland’s growth, housing and sustainability.

2. 8–18 min · Explicit teaching. Teacher introduces and explains four concepts on the concept teaching slides:

• Cause: an action or condition that contributes to climate change.
• Impact: an effect experienced by people, places or environments.
• Responsibility: a duty to prevent harm, respond to harm or repair harm.
• Equity: fairness that recognises people have different needs, experiences and levels of power.

Model one example: “High emissions from some industries are a cause; flooding can be an impact; governments and businesses may have responsibilities; support may need to be greater for communities facing greater risk.” Students add a brief definition or symbol for each term to the climate justice data and discussion sheet.

3. 18–32 min · Data investigation. Teacher distributes the climate justice data and discussion sheet and reads the data aloud while students work in pairs. The accessible data set compares approximate shares of global greenhouse-gas emissions and climate impacts:

• The highest-emitting countries and industries contribute a large share of emissions.
• Many lower-emitting communities experience serious risks from flooding, heat, food insecurity or displacement.
• Within a city, households with fewer resources may have less ability to move, insure homes, cool houses or recover after an extreme event.

Students highlight one contribution and one impact, then answer: “What pattern do you notice?” and “Why might this be an equity issue?” Teacher checks that students distinguish evidence from opinion and supports unfamiliar vocabulary with visuals and gestures.

4. 32–47 min · Responsibility sort and preparation. In groups of five, students use the responsibility scenarios on the climate justice data and discussion sheet. Assign roles: facilitator, evidence finder, vocabulary helper, reporter and participation monitor. Groups consider a proposed Auckland response, such as improving public transport, relocating homes from high-risk areas, requiring lower-emission buildings or supporting affected families. They decide which responsibilities belong to individuals, whānau, businesses, local government, central government and international organisations. Students prepare one claim and one piece of evidence.

5. 47–61 min · Structured discussion. Teacher displays the discussion protocol and sentence stems and establishes respectful discussion expectations: listen to understand, challenge ideas rather than people, and allow processing time. Groups share their claim in a carousel or whole-class discussion. Students use stems such as:

• “The evidence suggests…”
• “This may be unfair because…”
• “I agree with ___ because…”
• “Another group with responsibility could be…”
• “A possible limit to this argument is…”

Teacher records contributions under who contributes, who is affected and who has responsibility. Encourage students to use “some”, “many” and “may” rather than making claims about all people in a group.

6. 61–70 min · Individual synthesis and exit check. Students complete the final section of the climate justice data and discussion sheet: “Climate change is an issue of fairness because…” followed by one evidence-based explanation and one responsibility. Finish with the success criteria exit ticket slips if available, or collect the worksheet’s exit response. Preview that the next lesson will apply these ideas to decisions about Auckland as a sustainable new home.

Resources

• the climate justice lesson deck
• the climate justice data and discussion sheet
• Projector or interactive display
• Board and markers
• Highlighters or coloured pencils
• A timer for paired and group discussion
• Optional bilingual dictionaries or translation tools
• Optional the success criteria exit ticket slips

Assessment

• During explicit teaching, ask students to explain the difference between cause, impact, responsibility and equity using a new example.
• During pair and group work, listen for accurate interpretation of the data, evidence-based claims and equitable participation; question students who confuse “being affected” with “causing”.
• Collect the written synthesis or exit ticket. Look for identification of contribution and impact, a clear explanation of fairness, and a justified responsibility.

Differentiation

• Provide visual icons and colour coding for cause, impact, responsibility and equity. Keep the four words visible throughout the lesson.
• Support English language learners with the sentence stems, partner rehearsal, teacher modelling, pronunciation practice and permission to record ideas first in a home language or mixed language. Pair students thoughtfully for speaking and listening practice.
• Offer a reduced data table, read-aloud access, enlarged text and a choice of drawing, oral recording or writing for students with literacy, processing or vision needs.
• Use structured group roles and a participation monitor so quieter students have a supported speaking turn; do not require personal experiences of climate impacts.
• For advanced learners, evaluate two competing claims, such as “individuals are mainly responsible” and “governments and businesses are mainly responsible”. Students must identify the strongest evidence for each claim, explain a limitation, and reach a justified conclusion.

Extension

• Students rank the responsibilities of individuals, whānau, businesses, local government and central government, then justify whether responsibility should be equal or proportionate to contribution, power and ability to act.
• Students write a short recommendation for Auckland’s sustainable new home that addresses both emissions reduction and climate equity.