The poor are in the frontlines of society's struggle with climate change. For one, they are the first to be affected and the most to suffer through displacement, livelihood losses, and even death during typhoons, droughts, and other crises. They are the first to be blamed for pollution in waterways, for refusing to relocate from danger zones, among many other ills, due to narrow notions on their behavior. They are the first to be ignored when it is convenient to ignore the environment. 

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But the marginalized are also society's first line of defense against climate change. Indigenous peoples protect forest ecosystems which sequester tons of carbon every year. Artisanal fishers defend municipal waters from abusive fishing. Women take on the burden of unpaid home care work, including managing household waste. They watch over watersheds, defend endangered species, create green enclaves in cities, and are in the crosshairs of the powerful whom they cross paths with in the process. Society owes them a lot. How might we pay back to the poor by empowering them to protect the earth's bounty and to subsist in the process?