Environmental Justice Perspective Research Articles

Linkages among socio-economic status, green space accessibility, and health outcomes: An environmental justice perspective in Australia

Green space accessibility is a crucial environmental justice issue, which is influenced by socio-economic factors and may lead to disparate health outcomes among individuals. While numerous scholars have examined the association between green space accessibility and socio-economic status or health separately, research on the pathways linking these three dimensions remains relatively sparse. Using Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1) data from eight Australian capital cities, this study explores the pathways from socio-economic status to green space accessibility and subsequently to diverse health outcomes. The findings indicate the limited green space accessibility in some socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, particularly among ethnic minorities and in larger cities. Additionally, a significant association is observed between increased green space accessibility and reduced chronic diseases in the national capital and major global cities. Regarding spatial proximity, the study suggests that green spaces do not need to be immediately adjacent to residential areas but can be planned within reasonable walking distances to confer significant health benefits. These findings can inform the development of equitable green space planning policies and contribute to improved human health.

Extreme temperatures, air pollution and mental health: a critical review from an environmental justice perspective

Extreme temperatures, air pollution and mental health: a critical review from an environmental justice perspective

(Dis)connection between curriculum, pedagogy and learners’ lived experience in Nepal’s secondary schools: an environmental (in)justice perspective

This paper offers a novel analysis of how Nepal is delivering its commitment to secondary education provision that is advancing environmental sustainability, tracing a trajectory that begins with national policies relating to environmental sustainability and incorporating the national curriculum framework, textbooks, pedagogies used in classrooms, and learner experiences and anticipated actions. We consider Nepal’s education about and for environmental sustainability in the context of theories of environmental justice, and question if and how secondary provision might promote the behavioural change that Nepal recognises is vital for environmental sustainability. Qualitative data were generated through policy analysis, critical content analysis of secondary-level curriculum and textbooks, classroom observations, semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers and 4 headteachers, and a range of in-person activities with 24 students in purposively selected four community secondary schools in the three diverse locations across Nepal. The results illuminate pronounced disconnections across modalities that indicate incoherence and unresolved debates in the underlying narrative of what environmental sustainability is and the role of education in addressing it. Our findings suggest that learners’ ideas, opinions, thinking and experiences should be encouraged and celebrated in the classroom to aid learners in translating conceptual learning into practical, sustainable behaviours, as well as to contribute to environmental justice. The findings appeal to the concerned stakeholders for their consideration of future policy and programme development that promotes environmental justice through education and establishes a connection between classroom learning and students’ lived experiences through a participatory approach, collaboration, and critical and creative thinking.

Urban Green Space and Human Health: an Environmental Justice Perspective

Urban Green Space and Human Health: an Environmental Justice Perspective

The Impact of Air Pollution from Industrial Fires in Urban Settings: Monitoring, Modelling, Health, and Environmental Justice Perspectives

Industrial fires at facilities including waste management sites, warehouses, factories, chemical works, and fuel storage depots are relatively frequent occurrences. Often, these fires occur adjacent to urban communities and result in ground-level airborne pollutant concentrations that are well above guideline values. Land, water, livestock, and crops may also be contaminated by the emissions and by firefighting activities. Moreover, impacted communities tend to have a higher proportion of minority ethnic populations as well as individuals with underlying health vulnerabilities and those of lower socio-economic status. Nevertheless, this is an aspect of air quality that is under-researched, and so this review aims to highlight the public health hazards associated with industrial fires and the need for an effective, coordinated, public health response. We also review the range of monitoring techniques that have been utilised in such fires and highlight the role of dispersion modelling in predicting plume trajectories and in estimating population exposure. We recommend establishing 1 h guideline values for particulate matter to facilitate timely public health interventions, and we highlight the need to review regulatory and technical controls for sites prone to fires, particularly in the waste sector.

Waste picking in the age of COVID-19: an environmental justice perspective

All over the world, waste and its disposal are becoming a more prominent issue, as landfills swell up and growing evidence points to its contribution to climate change and environmental degradation. In the developing world, waste pickers sort through solid waste and sell it to vendors, who will recycle the product into something consumable. The work they do is vital to climate change mitigation, as well as urban cleanliness. In a way, waste pickers, especially in India, are vehicles of environmental justice, but they are often discriminated against and subjected to inhumane working conditions. In this environment, the pandemic hit, making waste pickers’ already precarious life even worse. This paper attempts to fill the gap in the academic literature by compiling a systemized literature review of the impacts of COVID-19 on waste-pickers’ lives using an environmental justice perspective. The review also uses a Feminist Political Ecology perspective to illuminate the double jeopardy that female waste pickers face in the era of COVID-19, which academia often ignores. Ultimately, this paper shows that COVID-19 exacerbated the preexisting injustices that the waste picker community face and created an immense burden on women. This paper will show that it is important to notice the differentiation between female and male waste picker challenges, especially at the crux of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper has important policy implications as well as research considerations for both environmental justice and feminist political ecology scholars.

Promotion of environmental public health and environmental justice in communities affected by large and long lasting industrial contamination: methods applied and lessons learned from the case study of Porto Torres (Italy).

Communities affected by large scale and long lasting industrial contamination are often keen to understand whether their health has been impaired by such contamination. This requires answers that integrate environmental public health and environmental justice perspectives. At these sites, exposure scenarios from environmental contamination over time by multiple chemicals, often involving different environmental matrices, are complex and challenging to reconstruct. An approach for describing the health of such communities in association with environmental contamination is presented, with the methods applied across the three domains of environmental contamination, population exposure and toxicology, environmental and social epidemiology, and environmental public health communication. The approach is described with examples from its application to the case study of Porto Torres, a town with a substantial industrially conditioned evolution. Activities in the field of environmental contamination, population exposure and toxicology focus on the collection and systematization of available contamination data, the identification of priority pollutants based on their toxicological profiles, the qualitative assessment of the likelihood of exposure for the population to priority pollutants and their known health effects. Environmental and social epidemiology methods are applied to describe the health profiles and socioeconomic conditions of the local population, taking into account multiple health outcomes from local information systems and considering specific diseases based on exposure and toxicological assessments. The environmental public health communication methods are directed to produce a communication plan and for its implementation through interaction with local institutional and social actors. The interpretation of health profiles benefits from a transdisciplinary analysis of the results. The proposed approach combines the needs of environmental public health and environmental justice allowing the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge to define recommendations for reducing and/or preventing hazardous environmental exposures and adverse health effects, stimulating the interactions between stakeholders, and making the study results more accessible to citizens.

Environmental (in)justice and the post-political

Food production plays a crucial role for challenging the escalating environmental breakdown. It is also a fertile ground for analysing environmental (in)justice and its components of recognition and participation in environmental decision-making. Scholars of environmental justice have paid limited attention to the post-political and its implications for the ability to challenge the ecologically destructive status quo. This article innovatively combines environmental justice perspective with the literature on the post-political condition, using the case study of pig farming intensification in rural Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has been driving policy to encourage growth and intensify its meat production, resulting in a sharp rise of intensive farms. The resulting pollution have and continue generating environmental justice concerns. Using qualitative data from a 2-month fieldwork in November-December 2018, the article shows that local community’s ideas around how farming should be organised were not recognised. Their participation in environmental decision-making was also reduced to an empty ritual; formal inclusion did not translate into a genuine impact on the decision-making outcome. In the post-political landscape, environmental justice concerns become harder to address; environmental decision-making becomes a means of serving the operations of capitalism, stifling disputes around the neoliberal growth agenda, and precluding possibilities for a meaningful change of the ecologically destructive status quo.

The Spatial–Racial Patterns of U.S. Dam Removals Since 2010

Dam removal in the United States has grown exponentially, yet we do not know whether the pattern of such removals comports with principles of environmental justice. This exploratory study investigates the spatial pattern of dam removals across the United States to ascertain whether there were any geographic areas where the probability of removal was correlated with the racial or ethnic composition of the environs. We analyze dam removals since 2010 using national data on existing dams, removed dams, and demographics. We estimate multivariate probability models of dam removal stratified by census region and dam ownership to pinpoint contexts where significant spatial-racial patterns occur that cannot be attributed to dam characteristics. Our exploration reveals only a few such contexts. After controlling for dam purpose, construction type, age, and height, the probability of a dam being removed since 2010 is positively associated with the proportion of nearby White residents for dams owned by local or state governments in the South. The probability of removal is negatively associated with the proportion of nearby White residents for dams owned privately or by state or local governments in the West. Future case studies should probe these contexts of clear spatial–racial patterns from an environmental justice perspective.

Indian Constitutional Perspective of Environmental Justice: an Analytical Study with Reference to PIL and Precedents

The problem of environmental pollution has assumed massive and grave proportions over the decades. It has been left to the courts in India to go behind the letter of the law into the spirit of the law to find out the plausible solutions for the problem though evolution of the law of public nuisance into environmental law. Though the implementation of statutory provisions, as also by embracing various international doctrines, the Supreme Court of India as well as various High Courts have tried time and again to develop environment-friendly justice in India through the recognition of the principle of Sustainable Development. However, the actions of the judiciary had been under attacks from other organs of the State alleging that the judiciary is transgressing its boundaries and stepping into the realms of the executive and the legislature. This paper is an effort to trace the environmental justice in India and to find out whether judicial activism can actually lead to sustainable development.

Critical Environmental Injustice: A Case Study Approach to Understanding Disproportionate Exposure to Toxic Emissions.

Public health research and environmental health research, specifically, have focused on toxic exposure-encompassing individuals or communities that are disproportionately exposed to contaminants that are harmful or potentially harmful to them. Yet, little research has applied critical environmental justice theory-characterized by the idea that marginalized communities need to be treated as indispensable rather than disposable-to the study of toxic exposure. To fill this gap, the current paper offers a case study approach applying critical environmental justice theory to the study of disproportionate and unequal exposure to toxic contaminants. This case study is of Kettleman City, a rural, unincorporated community in the heart of California's Central Valley (USA). This community experiences the co-location of environmental hazards, including residing at the intersection of two major highways and hosting a class I hazardous-waste landfill, which is one of the few licensed to accept PCBs. PCBs are a contaminant that has been linked with several adverse health outcomes, including cancers and low birthweight. Residents may also experience poor air quality from proximity to the highways. This case highlights the uneven distribution of pollution and environmental degradation that may be shouldered by the community, along with their experiences of adverse health and social impacts. This analysis reveals the importance of incorporating a critical environmental justice perspective to unpack experiences of not only disproportionate exposure but also disproportionate procedural and recognitional inequality. This research highlights the untapped potential of environmental justice to catalyze exposure science in challenging the unequal distribution of contaminants.

Health Disparities in the Aftermath of Flood Events: A Review of Physical and Mental Health Outcomes with Methodological Considerations in the USA.

This review applies an environmental justice perspective to synthesize knowledge of flood-related health disparities across demographic groups in the USA. The primary aim is to examine differential impacts on physical and mental health outcomes while also assessing methodological considerations such as flood exposure metrics, baseline health metrics, and community engagement. In our review (n = 27), 65% and 72% of studies identified racial, ethnic, or socio-economic disparities in physical and mental health outcomes post-flooding, respectively. The majority of racial/ethnic disparities were based on Black race, while most socio-economic disparities were based on lower household income. Forty-two percent of studies lacked flood exposure metrics, but often identified disparities. Common flood exposure metrics included self-reported flooding, flood risk models, and satellite-based observations. Seventy percent of studies lacked baseline health measurements or suitable alternatives, and only 19% incorporated community engagement into their research design. The literature consistently finds that both physical and mental health burdens following flooding are unequally shared across racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups. These findings emphasize the need for disaster risk reduction policies that address underlying vulnerabilities to flooding, unequal exposure to flooding, and progressive funding for recovery efforts. Findings also underscore the importance of methodological enhancements to facilitate precise assessments of flood exposure and health outcomes.

Energy Access in Mountain Arba Hill, Jango Village From The Perspective of Community Environmental Justice

Environmental justice from the perspective of public participation in the development of natural resources is a national program where the government is starting to switch from fossil energy to green energy, which means that in the future the government will no longer hope for energy such as coal, oil and gas, etc. This is a very strategic step taken by the government. Centralized policies are the antithesis of the increasing pressure to decentralize regional government, including regarding the management of natural resources (SDA) in the mining and oil and gas sectors, To ensure that this program runs well, of course the community is involved in monitoring it. Community participation in sustainable development is indeed weak, including in terms of policy making, even though the laws and regulations also stipulate that the community has rights as explained in the Aarhus Convention, where parties have an obligation to guarantee the rights of access to information, community participation in decision making, and access to justice in environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of the convention. Then in Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, it is intended, among other things, 1) to provide information to the government, 2) to increase the public's willingness to accept government decisions. 3) Helps with legal protection. and 4) Democratize decision making. From the above basis, it further strengthens the community so that it can participate actively in the development of natural resources in this country.

Energy Access in the Village of Gunung Arba, Jango Village from the Perspective of Environmental Justice in Central Lombok District Community

Environmental justice from the perspective of public participation in the development of natural resources is a national program where the government is starting to switch from fossil energy to green energy, which means that in the future the government will no longer hope for energy such as coal, oil and gas, etc. This is a very strategic step taken by the government. Centralized is the antithesis of the increasing pressure to decentralize regional government, including regarding the management of natural resources (SDA) policies in the mining and oil and gas sectors, To ensure that this program runs well, of course the community is involved in monitoring it. Community participation in sustainable development is indeed weak, including in terms of policy making, even though the laws and regulations also stipulate that the community has rights as explained in the Aarhus Convention, where parties have an obligation to guarantee the right of access to information, community participation in decision making, and access to justice in environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of the convention. Then in Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, it is intended, among other things, 1) to provide information to the government, 2) to increase the public's willingness to accept government decisions. 3) Helps with legal protection. and 4) Democratize decision making. From the above basis, it further strengthens the community so that it can participate actively in the development of natural resources in this country.

Conflicting perspectives on ecosystem conservation in a cultivated floodplain: The role of science and the challenge of pluralism in decision‐making in Lac Saint‐Pierre (Quebec, Canada)

AbstractBy generating and explaining facts, science holds an important role in environmental policy decision‐making. However, scientific knowledge is often framed as objective and neutral in policy debates, which can be challenged by stakeholders who have a different view of the issue. To counter this situation, we propose a novel scientific approach to analyze problems that are highly contested and seem difficult to resolve, that is, wicked problems. Our study combined post‐normal science and environmental justice perspectives to shed light on a wicked problem—the largely unsuccessful efforts to rehabilitate yellow perch stocks in Lac Saint‐Pierre (LSP), Quebec, Canada. The combination of these two perspectives allows us to investigate the causes of the decrease of yellow perch stocks and the social and institutional barriers to rehabilitation—which can only be overcome if the injustice perceived by different stakeholders is overcome. Our study presents an approach that addresses uncertainties, integrates various knowledge forms, reassesses decision‐making procedures, and highlights inequalities within a specified territory. The research also underlines the importance of the qualitative dimension in the development of knowledge and the need to address equity in the development of environmental policies.

Social and Environmental Justice: Land and Housing in Chicana Literatur

This article analyzes the novels The House on Mango Street (Cisneros, 1984), So Far from God (Castillo, 1993) and Under the Feet of Jesus (Viramontes, 1995) and the drama Heroes and Saints (Moraga, 1994) from the perspective of social and environmental justice, tak- ing into account Cherríe Moraga’s concept of Land, in which home plays a primary role. The sense of justice in these works emerges from an oppressed landscape in which the environment, the homes and the bodies of the protagonists reflect the damage done to the environment and to human beings. The analysis of the above-mentioned literary works shows how different Chicana authors advocate the achievement of concepts such as social and environmental justice, while at the same time denouncing the impossibility of Chicanos achieving the desired American Dream.

Fertility in indigenous communities: An environmental justice perspective

Fertility in indigenous communities: An environmental justice perspective

Palm Oil Plantation Expansion from an Environmental Justice Perspective

This study alims to alnswer the ecologicall impalcts due to the expalnsion of oil pallm plalntaltions alnd how the distribution of benefits alnd risks from the existence of oil pallm plalntaltions from aln environmentall justice perspective. Als the malinstaly commodity of the Indonesialn stalte, oil pallm certalinly brings malny benefits, especiallly for people who alre involved in oil pallm plalntaltion alctivities. The high demalnd for Crude Pallm Oil exports hals calused the expalnsion of plalntaltion lalnd to increalse, so thalt environmentall dalmalge continues to occur. Environmentall dalmalge caluses ecosystems become unballalnced alnd oil pallm plalntaltions thalt alre monoculture, so thalt it caln caluse al loss of diversity in aln ecosystem. The benefits of al heallthy alnd decent life will be difficult for the present alnd future generaltions to feel.

The impact of air pollution on neurocognitive development: Adverse effects and health disparities.

Air pollution is recognized as a major public health concern. The number of deaths related to ambient air pollution has increased in recent years and is projected to continue rising. Additionally, both short- and long-term air pollution exposure has been linked with deleterious effects on neurocognitive function and development. While air pollution poses as a threat to everyone, people of color and individuals of lower socioeconomic status are often exposed to elevated levels of air pollution as a function of systemic racism and classism. Further, given additional disparities in access to healthcare and other compounding stressors, adverse effects of air pollution on neurocognitive health are exacerbated among individuals who hold marginalized identities-making effects both less likely to be detected and treated. This review examines evidence of the effects of air pollution on neurocognitive development across the lifespan and incorporates an environmental justice perspective to highlight disparities in air pollution exposure across race and socioeconomic status. Last, upon the reviewed evidence, limitations of past research and recommendations for policy are discussed.

Implications of Citizen Lawsuits for Forest and Land Fires in Central Kalimantan Province from the Perspective of Environmental Justice

Forest and land fires in Central Kalimantan Province in 2015 caused a lot of losses in the aspects of health and the economy. Therefore, the community filed a citizen lawsuit at the Palangkaraya District Court in 2016, suing the Indonesian President, various Ministers, the Governor, and the Legislative House of Central Kalimantan. From the first level to the cassation level, the plaintiffs won the case. But then, a judicial review was carried out and the Supreme Court granted it. So, the Government was free from any charges. This research used a socio-legal research method with a case study approach. Decision No. 980 PK/PDT/2022 which granted the Substantial Government Review had not created justice for the community and the environment, even though it aimed to maximize benefits for the community. The lawsuit filed by civil society in the case of forest fires in Central Kalimantan in 2015 against the government was a citizen lawsuit. The community’s demands through the lawsuit aimed to uphold and protect the environment and ecocracy principles. Thus, the Supreme Court decision is considered to fail in representing the principle of substantive justice.