What is Environmental Justice?

When considering environmental justice, it is imperative to understand that some groups have always been more vulnerable to the burdens of environmental crises throughout history. Low-income communities, minority communities, indigenous populations, and countries directly affected by climate crisis are among the most vulnerable segments, feeling environmental injustice more than others. These groups are impacted by environmental issues disproportionately, including natural disasters as well as increased waste, air pollution, deforestation, and depletion of water resources.

You can follow Environmental Justice Program of Center for Spatial Justice for more information on environmental justice.

Industrialization and imperialism are two big historical processes which laid the foundations of global environmental injustice.

Beginning in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution has accelerated fossil fuel utilization, thus increasing carbon emissions to the atmosphere. This process, however, did not affect the whole world equally. Industrialized countries based their economic growth on resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas, while the colonized regions received the most damage from this process. Natural resources in Africa, Asia, and Latin America were exploited by the industrialized Europe and North America, and this caused deterioration of local ecosystems and loss of habitat for communities.

Industrialized countries have polluted the atmosphere with intense carbon emissions throughout history, however, the ones who pay the price for the climate crisis today are the countries who had little contribution to industrialization. Therefore, environmental justice has to deal with not only the present day’s inequalities, but also those created by the past.

Climate change affects the whole world, but its impacts are not distributed equally. Events such as droughts, extreme weather events, and rising sea levels due to global temperature rise are occurring today, and these events cause the most damage to the developing countries and small island states. Big, industrialized countries release the most carbon into the atmosphere while countries who are the least responsible for these emissions pay the highest price.

Developed countries are able to make infrastructure investments to mitigate the destructive impacts of climate change while developing countries are not able to afford these kinds of investments.

For example, the Netherlands builds giant damns and barriers against rising sea levels while millions of people in Bangladesh live under the threat of flooding.

This points to a deep injustice in the fight against climate change on a global scale.

We know that low-income communities living in the vicinity of industrial zones and waste facilities are more vulnerable to environmental damage. Most of the time, they are obliged to live in the areas where environmental risks are high due to economic reasons. Problems, such as air pollution, water pollution, and toxic waste, create unhealthy living conditions.

Also, access to green areas creates a great inequality. High income neighborhoods have more of parks, forest areas and clean air sources while low-income areas have higher rate of concretion. This is an example of how environmental injustice shows itself in urban planning.

Climate change also affects migration movements. People are forced to leave the regions they reside in due to problems such as drought, water scarcity, rising sea levels. Climate change-based migration is increasing, particularly in Africa and South Asia. These people, however, are usually obliged to work at low wage jobs without security in the countries where they immigrate, and they also face xenophobia and discrimination.

This shows that environmental crises are not only ecologic issues, but also social problems.

For more information about climate migration, you can check out our article here.​

Economic growth has always been considered as the key indicator of development. This growth, however, occurs by ignoring environmental costs most of the time.

As global production increased, carbon emissions increased, deforestation increased, biological diversity decreased, and water resources reached the point of depletion. Particularly developing countries prioritized economic growth by keeping nature conservation measures in the background in their rapid industrialization processes. This approach, however, deepens issues in the long run, including air pollution, water crises, and climate change, thus threatens social welfare. Today, sustainable development models aim to balance economic growth with environmental responsibilities. Green transformation, however, is an expensive process, and adequate funds and access to technology are still big obstacles for developing countries.

Many communities fight against environmental injustices on local and global scales. The Flint water crisis in the USA was a public battle to prevent lead mixing into the potable water. Local people play a pioneering role in environmental justice movements.

Various agreements and policies are developed at the international level to ensure environmental justice. The Paris Climate Agreement, the European Green Deal, and the United Nations’ environmental rights declaration are among the significant steps taken in this process. These agreements, however, usually remain on paper, and their applicability becomes controversial.

The private sector can also be an important player in ensuring environmental justice. Increasing green investments, reducing carbon emissions, and adopting eco-friendly production processes are critical for sustainable policies.

Green economy aims to head towards sustainable energy resources and eco-friendly production processes by getting away from fossil fuels. This transformation, however, does not create equal opportunities for everybody. Concepts, such as renewable energy, circular economy, and carbon neutral production, are mostly shaped by developed countries. These countries have the financial sources and technological infrastructure required for transitioning to a green economy while developing countries still depend on the old industrial systems. Furthermore, millions of people working in sectors such as oil or coal are faced with the risk of unemployment as global energy transformation speeds up.

​Check out our blog post for further details on green economy.

In order to ensure a fair transition process for the green economy, the workers depending on fossil fuels should be included in the new sectors, developing countries should have increased access to investments, and the rights of local communities should be protected in areas such as mining. Otherwise, the green economy can turn into a transformation process, in which only the ones with economic power win, and disadvantageous groups are even more excluded.

As individuals, we can contribute to ensuring environmental justice. Making conscious choices as consumers, supporting fair trade goods, and developing sustainable habits are important steps. Furthermore, supporting leaders and initiatives, who support environment policies, can encourage a collective change.

​Individual contributions can turn into a collective movement by participating in local environment organizations, supporting petitions, and strengthening movements which advocate environmental justice. Small actions can open up the way for social change.

Environmental justice is not only a matter of the environment, but also a part of ensuring social justice. And, on the other hand, environmental crises do not only involve nature, but they are also issues that deepen social injustices. Therefore, the fight for environmental justice should be considered together with economic and political transformations.

​A more just and habitable world can be possible when collective movements are combined with political will and individual actions. A future in which environmental rights are ensured equally for everybody can only be built by taking joint action.