To understand environmental justice, it helps to first look at environmental injustice. Environmental injustice (or environmental inequality) is the unequal distribution of the negative environmental consequences burdened on certain demographics (1).

To understand environmental justice, first look at environmental injustice.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies (2).” 

Having grown into a global movement, the United Nations expanded on this definition: the climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem loss, and pollution crises are “inextricably linked to the protection and fulfillment of human rights and sustainable development. (3)”

The environmental justice movement began as a reaction to the placement of pollution sources in low-income areas and communities of color. The rich history of the movement traces its roots to the early 1960s when Latino farm workers organized for (among other things) protection from harmful pesticides on  farm fields in the U.S. (4).

Since then, statistical and demographic analyses have clearly shown that low-income areas and communities of color are overwhelmingly burdened with toxic landfills, polluting industrial plants, excessive truck and rail traffic and other pollution sources. Injustices can occur on a global scale as well, as wealthier nations rely on less wealthy countries to carry the burden of pollution through resource extraction and shifting solid and electronic waste through international trade (5).

The environmental justice movement has sought to remedy this injustice through organized action. A few of the early key moments include:

• 1967 Houston, Texas: African-American students took to the streets of to oppose a city garbage dump in their community that had claimed the lives of two children (6).
• 1968 West Harlem, New York City: Residents fought unsuccessfully against the siting of a sewage treatment plant in their community. 
• 1982 Warren County, North Carolina: The poor, overwhelmingly black county became the focus of national attention when residents took action with a sit-in against the state’s decision to dump 6,000 truckloads of soil laced with toxic PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in a landfill near residential zones. Six weeks of marches and nonviolent street protests followed, and more than 500 people were arrested. The battle was lost, but the media attention inspired others who experienced similar injustice (7). 
• 2014 Flint, Michigan: Flint switched its water source Detroit River and Lake Huron to the Flint River from April until October 2014. At the request of concerned citizens who noticed a change in water taste and color, water was independently tested in homes, documenting lead levels at 13,200 ppb; 5,000 ppb is considered hazardous (8). Citizen activism played a pivotal role in bringing attention to the crisis, eventually leading to a $641 million settlement, though accountability remains limited. The Flint water crisis exposed how systemic neglect disproportionately affects low-income, predominantly Black communities. 
• 2017 Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North Dakota: From April 2016 until February 2017, protests took place in southern North Dakota opposing the proposed creation of an oil pipeline - the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) running near lands held by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (9). The pipeline runs under Lake Oahe, a reservoir providing the tribe with drinking water. Authorities used force to end the protests, leading to at least 17 hospitalizations. Though the pipeline is operational, it was temporarily shut down in July 2020; it was soon reopened following appeals. Courts ordered an environmental review. The crisis over the pipeline drew national opposition and awareness of the controversy (10).

The 1982 Warren County sit-in prompted the U.S. General Accounting Office to conduct the 1983 study titled “Siting of Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation with Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities.” 

"Three out of four landfills were in communities with black residents comprising at least 26 percent of the population and whose family incomes were below the poverty level."

The study found that three out of four hazardous waste landfills were in communities with black residents comprising at least 26 percent of the population and whose family incomes were below the poverty level (11).

“Toxic Waste in the United States” energizes the movement

The first national U.S. study looking into race, class and the environment was published in 1987, titled “Toxic Waste in the United States.” This study galvanized the growing environmental justice movement, noting that: 

• The socioeconomic status of residents plays an important role in the location of hazardous waste sites but is not the foremost factor.
• The residents' race was the single most important factor in determining where toxic waste facilities were cited in the U.S. 
• The siting of these facilities in communities of color was the intentional result of local, state and federal land-use policies. 
• Statistically, it was determined with 99.99 percent confidence that the pattern of hazardous waste facilities being sited in minority communities is intentional (12). 

"It was determined with confidence that the pattern of siting toxic facilities in minority communities is intentional."

What’s meant by the term “environmental racism?”

Environmental racism refers to the fact that, controlling for all other factors, race is the single most important determinant of who bears the burden of society’s pollution.

One remarkable study done in the U.S. found that people of color are exposed to 38 percent more outdoor nitrogen dioxide (produced by vehicle exhaust and power plants) than whites. Published in 2014, the study looked at differences in pollution exposure by multiple categories, including race, income and education. While income plays a role, it’s not as pertinent as many assume (13). 

"Low-income whites are exposed to less pollution than even the highest-income blacks, Asians, and Hispanics."

Both race and income matter, but race matters more than income," says Julian Marshall, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Minnesota. "And that's a really important point, because when you start talking about differences by race people say, 'Oh, that's just income (14).'" The study also reveals that, in large urban areas, low-income whites are exposed to less pollution than even the highest-income blacks, Asians, and Hispanics.

"Both race and income matter, but race matters more." - Julian Marshall, University of Minnesota"

From activism to policy: Environmental Justice by Order

In 1994, President Clinton’s Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice required that all federal agencies "make achieving environmental justice part of their mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations."

"Environmental justice progressed from a reactionary movement to a preemptive requirement of policy planning."

It was the first major federal action on environmental justice in the U.S. The landmark Order lacks specific requirements, but it did serve to bring legitimacy and attention to the environmental justice movement. The Order also inspired regulatory and policy actions by states to include environmental justice considerations in decision making (15). 

With this Order, environmental justice progressed from a reactionary movement to a preemptive requirement of policy planning.

"Currently, the 1994 Executive Order on Environmental Justice is considered part of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

Currently, the 1994 Executive Order on Environmental Justice is considered part of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance. The responsibility to uphold environmental justice sits with the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights, with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) serving a coordinating function. This leaves enforcement in the hands of the EPA, which some critics say has proven ineffective to moving environmental justice forward (16).

An interesting suggestion to remedy this situation is reframing the legal aspect of environmental injustice as an issue of unequal protection under the law. This would shift the role of legally addressing the underenforcement of existing environmental laws from the EPA to the Justice Department. 

"Communities could turn to the DOJ and claim unequal protection under the law."

When environmental laws are not properly enforced in areas where minority communities live, it puts them at risk. In these cases, minority communities could turn to the federal DoJ and have their grievances addressed as unequal protection under the law (17).

In 2021, President Biden launched Executive Order 14008, or Justice40. The order mandates that a minimum of 40% of certain federal investment benefits must be given to disadvantaged communities. The Environmental Protection Agency is required, under the mandate, to support clean water, superfund, brownfield, and diesel emissions reductions programs. 

Thinking locally and globally

Environmental justice is a worldwide concern. Communities throughout the world are embracing environmental justice as they begin to understand its deep global context. Global problems include industrialized nations exporting toxic waste to poorer, developing nations. Pesticides pollute rivers that flow into neighboring countries. Air pollution from incinerators crosses borders to affect any communities or nations downwind (18).

Members of minority groups and indigenous people bear a greater burden of the health problems that result from higher exposure to waste, air pollution, and extreme weather events caused by climate change. Exposure to waste and air pollution can occur due to unsafe or unhealthy work conditions where no regulations exist (or are unenforced) for poor workers, or in neighborhoods that are dangerously close to toxic materials and polluted roadways (19).

In 2024, the British government apologized for the death of 9-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who died from exposure to air pollution (20). Like far too many children living in low-income communities, she was exposed to dangerous levels of vehicle emissions as her community was positioned near heavily trafficked roadways. She develop severe asthma and experienced seizures due from air pollution.

Her mother, Rosamund, fought to reopen the coroner’s inquest into Ella’s death, and Britain’s High Court found in 2020 that air pollution was a contributing factor. The British government has promised to pass legislation bringing the country’s air pollution in line with the World Health Organization’s air quality standards.

How can I help the environmental justice movement?

Community-based groups play an important role throughout the world in leading the effort to achieve environmental justice. These groups identify local issues and mobilize local action. But every individual can also have an impact by joining in the effort to fight environmental racism and work for environmental justice for all. Here are a few ideas:

• Get informed on pollution. Stay informed on what your city’s air quality looks like in real-time, and how your city’s air pollution ranks among other major cities. You can also help raise awareness of air quality issues by learning about the issues that affected your part of the world last year with the annual World Air Quality Report.
• Be an informed voter. Take a stand on environmental racism by researching candidates’ positions on environmental protection and supporting those who want to protect the environment for everyone, regardless of race or economic status. 
• Support local community-based environmental justice organizations. Consider giving of your time, talents and pocketbook to help support local community groups that are defending environmental justice. Consider volunteering and joining the movement for clean air by providing your community with air quality data. 
• Keep up to date with environmental justice cases. Visit Global Atlas of Environmental Justice and learn about environmental justice case studies currently happening anywhere in the world (21).
• Give kids a chance to breathe. Another way to make a difference is by supporting IQAir’s Clean Air for Kids. Poor classroom air quality affects the health of students and can impact academic performance and average daily attendance. Clean Air for Kids provides air filtration to schools in areas disproportionately affected by air pollution.
• Tell your representatives how you feel. Write to elected representatives and officials who represent you where you live to tell them how you feel about legislation advancing environmental justice.
• Become part of the solution. Buy less, consume less, and shop consciously. Buy products that are made responsibly and with a minimum of environmental damage. Research companies’ environmental justice policies and reputation before buying.
• Support clean air justice. By sharing data, adding communities to the air quality map, and deploying air quality sensors for communities, organizations can help communities most impacted by air pollution.

The Takeaway

Pollution does not discriminate who it affects. However, the evidence indicates that the burden of our collective pollution is unequally carried. When our most vulnerable communities are protected, everyone benefits. If we start there, a healthier future for all is achievable.