amenities such as bottled water and air conditioning (Leatherman 2005). This chapter sketches the contours of what can be described as the international ...
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CHAPTER 13 INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
BUILDING THE NATURAL ASSETS OF
THE WORLD'S POOR
Krista Harper and S. Ravi Rajan
Introduction
A Romani woman in her kitchen garden in Hungary.
Photo credit: Krista Harper.
Across the globe, vibrant social movements are emerging that link together issues of resource access, social security, environmental risks and disaster vulnerability. Although all people suffer the effects of pollution, global warming and resource exploitation, poor people are especially vulnerable since they live closer to the margin of survival and are less able to afford cushions from environmental ills. Moreover, as in the case of the United States described by Manuel Pastor in this volume, poor commtmities often face disproportionately heavy burdens from envirorunental degradation. Increasingly, low-income urban and rural communities around the world are organizing to fight for environmental justice - that is, for more equitable access to natural resources and environmental quality, including clean air and water. These new environmental movements connect sources and sinks; North and South; ecology and equity; and asset building and hazard vulnerability. They have begun to articulate new ideas about the quality of life, and the meaning of development and modernization. There is mounting recognition that environmental pollution and natural resource degradation are not simply 'quality of life' issues primarily of concern to middle-class people of the global North. In cities of both the North and the South, residents of poor neighbourhoods often are most exposed to air fouled by car exhaust, diesel fumes, and deliberate and
accidental industrial emISSIOns. As urban growth accelerates worldwide, neighbourhoods struggle for. access to green space, public transportation, sanitation, and clean water and air. Poor communities have the least access to these public goods. Some researchers estimate that as much as one fifth of developing countries' disease burdens can be attributed to environmental pollution vectors such as poor water quality, lack of sanitation facilities and exposure to industrial wastes (Blacksmith Institute 2000, 2). In rural areas, the poor are often Q10st dependent on natural resources from fisheries to forests, rivers to rang~l;iid,s, for their immediate subsistence and survival. Research on environmental inequalities has identified three reasons why poor communities are often disproportionately affected by pollution and environmental deterioration:
I) Siting: Poor neighbourhoods are more likely to have environmental hazards and pollution dumped on them, especially if their residents belong to historically disenfranchised racial ethnic groups (Bullard 1994).
2) Moue-in: In some instances, the poor are compelled by economic circumstances to move to more polluted or degraded areas where property values are lower, a process sometimes called 'market dynamics' (Been 1999). 3) Vulnerabili.!J: Even if exposure to environmental hazards were the same across the entire population, the poor would be hurt more by virtue of their inferior access to good nutrition, health care, insurance and private amenities such as bottled water and air conditioning (Leatherman 2005).
redistribution, internalization of benefits and appropriation - is a valuable tool for understanding community strategies for securing ecologically sustainable livelihoods. We conclude with some thoughts on what external agencies and catalysts can do to support these efforts.
The EnvirOlunent and Inequality aInong Countries Environmental inequalities exist between the industrialized countries of the 'global North' and the deVeloping countries of the 'global South'. Many countries of the former 'Second World' (eastern Europe and the fonner Soviet Union) face environmental t1u'eats similar to those in the global South. The global North exploits the ecology ofpoorer countries in three main ways:
• •
•
as a source of raw materials; as 4 sink where the North can dispose of pollution and negative environmental 'side effects'; through 'coercive conservation' that aims to preserve wild ecosystems and biodiversity without consideration for the human communities living in or near these habitats.
Figure 13.1: Environmental Inequalities among Countries of the Global North
and South
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This chapter sketches the contours of what can be described as the international 'environmental justice' movement. We begin by exploring the dimensions of environmental inequity among countries, between the nations of the global South and North. We then explore environmental injustice within countries of the South. Because of the sheer scale of this subject tlle literally countless dramas being played out across the globe - we do not attempt to be comprehensive, but instead use typical examples to draw out some common features of such movements. In particular, we explore the relationship between environmental injustice and the social attributes of age, race, ethnicity, class and gender. Against this backdrop, we explore what communities are doing across the world to combat environmental contamination and resource depletion. We suggest that the 'natural assets' approach based on investment,
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