UNRAVELING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE by Rufaro Matsika
Environmental and climate justice is based on the fact
that much of the worldwide burden of environmental ill health falls disproportionately on poorer peoples. There is also substantial evidence that much environmental damage internationally is the result of the actions of richer nations or richer groups within nations (Global North), with major impacts on poorer nations and poorer groups within nations (Global South). It is becoming clear also that poorer peoples experience multiple environmental harms, and that these may have a cumulative effect. The question is it then fair for the global north to demand the global south to reduce its emissions whilst they are still undergoing development even though they are the ones producing the majority of the greenhouse gases and developed through fossil fuel emissions? My answer is we all have to be responsible and practice sustainable development regardless of who was responsible, but the global north should have the curtesy and obligation of helping or assisting the global south
in having a just transition to renewable energy. The world is becoming more urbanized, and cities are the epicenter for many of the local issues of environmental damage and environmental harm. It is increasingly evident that cities are one of the main generators of climate change, and that the actions of people in cities in the rich world are deeply linked to the well-being of the overall ecosystem and of people worldwide (Stephens, 2007). Environmental justice is a concept that links the environmental health science to debates around rights, justice and equity. It fundamentally deals with the distribution of environmental goods and harms and looks at who bears those harms and who is responsible for creating those harms, in both a practical sense but also in terms of policy decisions. It is a radical environmental health movement that has evolved from civil society groups, angered at what they perceive as the `unjust’ distribution of environmental resources for health and, conversely the `unjust’ distribution of environmental harms. The movement now includes a collaboration of non-governmental organizations with environmental scientists, public health professionals, and lawyers, all working on the issue of the distributions of environmental harms and the rights of everyone to a healthy environment.
Environmental injustice explained in one picture, the world’s richest 10% have carbon footprints 60 times higher than the poorest 10%. +60% of carbon emissions are emitted by the richest 10% whilst the 50% poorest produce only 10% and the remaining 30% is produced by the middle income (Oxfam, 2013)
