Frontline, Fence Line, and Shoreline Communities
by Taku Chinogwenya
Who is affected by climate change?
We are all affected by climate change in our environment in different ways. This article looks at three types of communities that are affected disproportionately by the impacts of climate change, namely frontline communities, fence line communities and shoreline communities. When looking at environmental justice, it is essential to know who the vulnerable members of the community are and how best they can be assisted.
Frontline communities
Frontline communities are communities that are affected by climate change and environmental issues at higher rates than other communities.[1] They would often have contributed the least to the causes and are often incapable of resolving the resultant issues because of financial constraints, lack of political power to implement change or because of their marginalized and vulnerable status in society. This disproportionate impact of climate change usually affects communities of people of color and indigenous communities. This is often referred to as environmental racial. People of low income are also disproportionately affected. Here we can see the intersection of various social justice issues such as race and economic justice. It also affects the future generations that have not played a part in causing the climate crisis but will have to face the impacts of a devastated, sick and destroyed earth. They may not be able to enjoy the same resources and beauty that nature has to offer because of our irresponsible acts.
Many African countries are being subjected to incessant floods, droughts and famines that have been fueled by El Niño which is a natural climate pattern originating in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.[2] Although this is affecting most parts of the world, it is disproportionately impacting African countries as they do not have the resources to deal with the crisis. El Niño has resulted in high temperatures and low rainfall especially in Southern Africa. The hotter it is, the more moisture is pulled from the ground which in turn dries up the ground so even when it does rain, the dried-out ground is unable to absorb the moisture causing flooding.[3] Often when it rains, there is excessive rain called “rain bombs”.
Global warming and climate change have worsened the impact and severity of El Niño. Fossil fuels have been by far the biggest contributor to this climate crisis as they account for over 75% of all global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions.[4] Most of these fossil fuels are used in the petrochemical industries including plastics manufacturing, in the transport sector and in generating electricity. The highest number of these industries are in first world countries including the United States.
Southern Africa is an example of a frontline community as it is responsible for only a small aspect of climate change but it has been especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. One of the countries in Southern Africa that has been getting the brunt of the climate change impacts is Mozambique. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. Almost 46% of the population is living in poverty living on less than US$2 a day. It is ranked 183 out of 193 countries in the most recent UNDP’s Human Development Index which evaluates the life expectancy, access to education and Gross National Income in a country.[5] This country also accounts for 0.07%. of global emissions compared to the US which contributes about 11% of the global emissions.[6] Mozambique has been hit by two devastating cyclones in the past two years, cyclone Idai and cyclone Freddy which have both caused several casualties and mass destruction to infrastructure, displacements and severe food shortages.[7]
On March 23, 2024, Malawi’s president declared a state of disaster over drought in 23 of its 28 districts. Malawi has declared a state of disaster for the fourth consecutive year.[8] A month before Malawi declared a state of disaster, Zambia declared a state of disaster. Zimbabwe followed suit a few weeks later declaring a state of disaster caused by the same drought. The extreme weather and climate change has resulted in the food supply and water supply being largely reduced by the dry spell that has been associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon. To recover from these incidents of drought, the countries each need roughly $200 million dollars which they cannot get without humanitarian assistance.[9] This shows how disproportional the impacts of the climate crisis are on countries that have contributed very little to the causes of climate change and global warming but seem to get the brunt of the repercussions.
Fence line communities
Fence line communities are also frontline communities and are often referred to as “sacrifice zones”. These communities are at the border of the highly polluting facilities, for example, fossil fuel infrastructure industrial parks and petrochemical industrial parks, large manufacturing plants and waste disposal sites.[10] The name fence line comes from how these communities are often separated from the industrial park or pollutant facility by a chain link fence. It also comes from how these facilities are hidden in plain sight and often the existence of closed down facilities is not disclosed to the new inhabitants of a community even though these facilities continue to have harmful impacts on the community and the environment. These fence line communities are also often communities of color or of low income who cannot protect themselves from the impacts of the pollution from these facilities and who cannot move to areas that are not in the direct line of pollution. Air pollution, noise pollution and water pollution are rampant in these communities.[11] These communities are also the victims of major health issues including, but not limited to, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses and cancer. The longer they are exposed to the pollutants, the more they are at risk of getting sick.[12]
One of the areas mostly affected by this phenomenon in the United States is Louisiana where there is an 85 mile stretch between the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area. This area is where 25% of the country’s petrochemical industries are and also has the highest concentration of chemical plants in the western hemisphere![13] It has been dubbed “cancer alley” because of high rates of cancer in people living in the area. Poverty and illiteracy are also high in the region. The people reap little to no positive impacts from living in these sacrifice zones.
Another example is that of communities where landfills are filled with trash. Most of this trash is from communities other than the community that is being subjected to that pollution. There are countries that receive imports of mixed plastic waste. These imports of trash will most likely be dumped in low-income communities and/or communities of vulnerable and marginalized people. People in these communities do not have a safe space to commune and play. They are often subjected to cuts, gastrointestinal diseases and respiratory illnesses because of their proximity to these landfills and waste dumpsites.
Shoreline communities
Shoreline communities are communities by the shore that are also disproportionately impacted by climate change, especially those that are already vulnerable due to social or economic factors. These frontline communities face constant threats of flooding because of rising sea levels, high tide flooding and severe storms that have been caused by climate change.[14] The risk of coastal storms increases as sea levels rise. Homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure are often destroyed during these occurrences. Saltwater intrusion has also been affecting these coastal areas. Once the sea level rises, the groundwater sources increasingly become saline (salty), affecting the water supply of people as well as affecting agricultural production because of increased soil salinity.[15] Human casualties often also occur when people are swept by the floods. Water borne diseases such as typhoid fever and cholera and vector borne diseases such as malaria and dengue are also responsible for many human casualties. There is little access to health care once the flooding occurs as everything is swept away and destroyed.
In order to protect themselves from the flooding that occurs ever so often, several shoreline communities have had to build elevated buildings and construct barriers to protect themselves from flooding. These are not long lasting solutions and some communities have been forced to relocate entirely as a large of portion of their land has become inhabitable.[16] Members of the Isle de Jean Charles Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, an indigenous Indian community has had to resettle inland after losing 98% of their tribal lands to rising sea levels in Louisiana.[17] The financial costs of relocation are enormous and so is the loss of their cultural heritage. What happens to shoreline communities in poorer communities and countries where relocation may be financially impossible?
Communities all around are affected by climate change but there are communities that have it worse than others and often they have played a limited role in the root causes of the climate crisis. Often these communities do not have the resources to take preventative or mitigatory measures when they face the often-deadly impacts of climate change. It is easy to look aside and say that it does not affect me but it does! As Christians, we are called to love our neighbor. Loving our neighbor means that we care about the plight of others. Take a stand for your neighbor. Let us fight climate change together and stand in solidarity with those disproportionately impacted by climate change. Let us hold the people responsible for perpetuating the use and funding of fossil fuels when other renewable sources of energy are available and affordable accountable. Let us push our governments and international communities to invest in climate finance and disaster preparedness efforts especially in frontline communities to help them overcome the disproportionate impacts of climate change they are facing. Let us hold our governments and policy makers accountable. Let us adopt environmentally friendly habits. Let us fight for environmental justice!
[1]Gabrielle Gundry, “What is a frontline community”, Care about climate, February 11, 2021,
https://www.careaboutclimate.org/blog/what-is-a-frontline-community .
[2] Sarah Dean, “Tens of millions facing hunger and water shortages as extreme drought and floods sweep southern Africa,” CNN, April 4, 2024,
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/04/climate/southern-africa-hunger-drought-floods-climate-intl/index.html.
[3] Ibid.
[4] United Nations, “Causes and Effects of Climate Change,” https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change#:~:text=Fossil%20fuels%20%E2%80%93%20coal%2C%20oil%20and,they%20trap%20the%20sun's%20heat.
[5] United Nations Development Program, “Human Development Insights,” Human Development Reports, (2024), https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks.
[6] European Commission, “Emissions of all world countries,” EDGAR- Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (2023).
https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2023#emissions_table.
[7] Sarah Dean, “Tens of millions facing hunger and water shortages as extreme drought and floods sweep southern Africa.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Peter J. Fos et al ,“Health Status in Fence-Line Communities: The Impact of Air Pollution,” International Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 2, no. 3 (September 2021): 1, https://sph.lsuhsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Fenceline-communities-and-AIr-Pollution.pdf.
[11] Ibid, 1.
[12] Ibid, 2.
[13] Ibid, 2.
[14] United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Change Impacts on Coasts,” November 16, 2023, https://www.epa.gov/climateimpacts/climate-change-impacts-coasts#:~:text=Many%20Indigenous%20peoples%20are%20among,Northwest%2C%20as%20well%20as%20Alaska.&text=Many%20Tribes%20are%20proactively%20planning%20for%20adaptation.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.