Social Issues connected with Climate (In)justice: the Case of Emilia-Romagna Region

This work aims to foster a deeper understanding of the ramifications of climate (in)justice, drawing particular attention to the prevailing growing trend of social inequalities and adverse climate events even in developed countries (such as Italy, Spain or United States). Global warming, rising sea levels, and flooding have a universal impact on all regions of the world; climate change is not solely an environmental issue but poses a significant threat to the social sphere – including essential rights and welfare of individuals and communities globally. Climate changes indicate a new front in injustice and can contribute to the escalation of all current inequities, such as social disparities and economic vulnerability, i.e., the access to clean water, food security and the increased displacement (Levy and Patz, 2015; McKinney and Fulkerson, 2015; Imperatore and Leonardi, 2023). Hence, the rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948), i.e., the right to security and the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, are threatened by the environmental and social impacts of climate change (Levy and Patz, 2015). The right to subsistence and the general circumstances for a dignified life are threatened by negative externalities and go beyond survival (Szabó, G., 2015; Imperatore and Leonardi, 2023). Historically, developing countries have been the most vulnerable to climate change, often bearing the brunt of extreme weather events, suffering a disproportionate share of the consequences of climate change and diseases resulting from other ecological alterations (Maestri, 2016; Schapper, 2018; Stapleton, 2019). This vulnerability can be attributed by several causes, such as political immaturity, poor adaptive capability, reliance on agriculture- based economies, and a lack of resilient infrastructures (Ayala-Carcedo and González-Barros, 2005; Keohane, 2019). On the other hand, industrialized countries are the main emitters of GHG - the Pentagon is the largest GHG emitter in the world, and in 2020, the richest 1% of people were accountable for twice as much as half of the lowest emitters worldwide (Moore, 2024). However, there is sufficient evidence that climate change-related environmental disasters are enhancing in recent years. It is worth noting that these have been most evident in developed countries. In recent years, in fact, it has become apparent that even developed countries have suffered great damage, i.e., increasing numbers of hurricanes and wildfires in America, flooding in Northern Italy or Valencia in Spain. Figure 1: Countries with the most natural disasters in 2023 (source: Statista; Galan, 2025) Figure 2: Area burned by wildfires in Spain from 2009 to 2024 (in hectares) (source: Statista; Burgueño Salas, 2025) As observed in Figure 1, the United States had 25 natural disasters in 2023, followed by China and India, each of which had 17 disasters in the same year. Floods were the most frequent (Galan, 2025). Figure 2 shows the area burned by wildfires in Spain and highlights that more than 306,000 hectares had been destroyed in 2022 (Burgueño Salas, 2024). Moving from these premises, the purpose of this work is to critically analyze how climate change is not only a 'problem' of developing nations (see Conti, 2024 for the debate about the developing theories), but its environmental and social effects are also particularly visible in the so-called Global North in recent years. The region of Emilia-Romagna, located in the Northern Italy, could exemplifies this aspect. As stated in the 2024 Periodic Report on the Risk Posed to the Italian Population by Landslides and Floods, the number of people evacuated and made homeless by flooding in this region – from January to December 2024 - has exceeded 250 (Bianchi and Salvati, 2024). An analysis of the construction sites following the May 2023 flood in Emilia-Romagna reveals that a significant number of these sites are still in the planning stage, while others are still ongoing, particularly along the riverbanks and in the municipalities of Bologna and Ravenna (Regione Emilia-Romagna, 2024). As a consequence, the Italian government proposed to allocate substantial funds for the reconstruction of the area, recognizing that the region has a higher risk factor than the national average (Regione Emilia-Romagna, 2025). Therefore, the pursued objective is to illustrate how climate inequalities also manifest within the most affluent countries. A structured research approach is used to accomplish this goal, and it consists of the following stages: the first step will be to discuss the term "climate injustice" by identifying and analyzing important sources, such as academic research, scientific reports, and the so-called "grey literature” (the bibliometric analysis will be based on the ProKnow-C (Knowledge Development Process-Constructivist) of Lacerda, Ensslin and Ensslin (2012); second, an analysis will be made of the ways in which climatic vulnerabilities tend to converge or diverge. Furthermore, the methodology also entails identifying important research gaps, critically assessing data, and choosing pertinent databases and keywords. By addressing environmental and social impacts, our work seeks to offer a more comprehensive understanding of climate injustice. To date, academics focus their research to adverse climate impacts particularly on developing nations. Our analysis contributes to an ongoing discourse; however, it seeks to offer a novel and critical perspective. The presented case study of Emilia-Romagna supports the thesis, offering an alternative perspective on the dynamics of inequality and climate impacts in developed countries. Therefore, this study raises awareness among managers about social and climate injustice in industrialized nations. It highlights the need to spot vulnerabilities caused by climate change to guide fair business practices. As demonstrated by the Emilia-Romagna scenario, the research promotes incorporating sustainability into strategic choices aimed to reduce environmental effects and alleviate vulnerabilities. Ultimately, the study advances managerial practice by offering different perspectives for developing socially conscious and climate- resilient organizational strategies. Eventually, future study directions will be provided to further compare the effects of climate change in developed and developing nations, with an emphasis on enduring disparities in vulnerability and adaptation capacity.