Table of Contents
Overview #
Environmental justice is the principle that all people, regardless of race, income, gender, or background, have the right to a healthy environment. It addresses the unfair distribution of environmental harms — such as pollution and toxic waste — and ensures that marginalized communities are not disproportionately burdened.
The movement emerged from grassroots struggles, particularly in the United States, and has since become a global framework for linking environmental issues with human rights, inequality, and social justice.
Origins of the Concept #
- 1980s United States: African American communities in North Carolina opposed hazardous waste dumps in their neighborhoods, sparking the term “environmental racism.”
- Civil rights + environmental movements merged to demand justice in both ecological and social terms.
- The concept has since expanded globally, resonating with Indigenous rights, land struggles, and anti-colonial movements.
Key Issues #
- Air & Water Pollution: Low-income and minority communities often live near industrial sites, highways, or contaminated water sources.
- Land Use & Extraction: Mining, oil drilling, and deforestation frequently target Indigenous territories.
- Climate Inequalities: Those least responsible for emissions suffer the greatest climate impacts.
- Waste & Toxics: Hazardous waste, e-waste, and landfill siting disproportionately affect marginalized populations.
Marginalized Communities & Impacts #
- Indigenous peoples: Displacement, loss of land, destruction of sacred sites.
- Urban poor: Higher exposure to air pollution and heat islands.
- Global South: Faces more severe climate damages, despite contributing least to historical emissions.
Movements & Advocacy #
- United States: Environmental Justice movement shaped federal policy (e.g., 1994 Executive Order on EJ).
- Indigenous-led struggles: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
- Global South activism: Campaigns against toxic waste dumping in West Africa, and resistance to extractive industries in Latin America.
- Climate justice networks: Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion, and grassroots coalitions.
Case Studies #
- Flint Water Crisis (USA): Lead-contaminated water disproportionately affected African American residents.
- Niger Delta (Nigeria): Oil spills have destroyed ecosystems and livelihoods.
- Brazilian Amazon: Indigenous peoples resisting illegal logging and land grabbing.
Critiques & Challenges #
- Risk of tokenism in policy responses.
- Balancing local needs with global environmental agendas.
- Structural inequality limits how justice can be implemented.
Further Reading #
- Robert Bullard, Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality (1990).
- David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice.
- Reports by organizations like the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
