Biopolitics of climate injustice: The unequal and compounding impacts of climate and housing crises on indoor environmental quality and health

In this talk, I first introduce the concept of biopolitics of climate injustice, which refers to how bodies become sites where climate injustice is not only experienced, but unequally distributed – with those already facing multiple forms of marginalization bearing the heaviest burdens. I then explore how these dynamics manifest indoors, particularly in low-income housing where residents are left without adequate protection against climate-induced hazards like heatwaves and wildfires. Drawing on preliminary observations from an interdisciplinary, trans-sectoral study monitoring indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and household energy insecurity through sensors, surveys, and wearable fitness trackers, I investigate how these environmental conditions impact health. This talk aims to reveal the structural forces driving climate vulnerability and advocates for justice-oriented policy solutions that address the interconnected and escalating threats of climate change and housing insecurity.

Dr. Liv Yoon, Assistant Professor, UBC School of Kinesiology Her research is at the intersection of climate change, social inequities, and health, with a focus on community engagement and participatory methods. Her PhD training in social sciences and socio-cultural kinesiology informs her to think about bodies in sociopolitical contexts, provoking thought about how some bodies are considered more ‘dispensable’, and in turn, rendered more vulnerable to climate-related risks and pollution. Her research considers taking climate change as an opportunity to challenge the status quo and promote structural changes that alleviate social inequities that both led to, and are exacerbated by, the climate crisis.