While going “green” and protecting the environment through sustainability are prevalent terms in today’s media, there is little focus on environmental justice and equity. Currently, multinational corporations are depending on unsustainable forms of production to earn enormous profits. Climate Change is disproportionately affecting low-income people and people of color, resulting in horrific tragedies that are occuring at an intense, frequent pace. The only way to achieve sustainability is to connect it with environmental justice and equity. 

The first way to do this is to lobby for a shift in overall organizational culture. Governmental organizations, from national to local, are often led by people with existing privilege and power. Our current system is designed to protect power. They are typically White, older, and financially secure. This creates a culture of white supremacy and oppression, even if it is not intentional. There are barriers in place that prevent members of marginalized communities from making decisions and take advantage of resources and opportunities.     

According to a 2010 article written by Julian Aygeman, et. al., countries with more equal income distribution, greater civil liberties, political rights, and higher literacy levels tend to have a much higher environmental quality than countries with large inequalities and power distribution. Two major events in 2020 that brought the critical need for environmental justice more visible to the public eye include the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. 

COVID-19 highlighted extreme threats of health inequity, economic insecurity, environmental injustice, and collective trauma to Black Americans, people of color, and immigrants, according to a 2020 article written by Marlene Watson, et. al. The article went on to state, “The current healthcare systems, therefore, reflect the underlying worldview and beliefs of the historically dominant White culture, setting the stage for how people of color are treated, defined, or what constitutes the “natural” or taken for granted behaviors and attitudes. The United States’ emphasis on rugged individualism hints Accepted Article that being White is better, making the structures of power and privilege invisible.”

The Black Lives Matter movement is closely related to environmental injustice. In a 2016 article written by David N. Pellow from the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of California, he quoted Keith Ellison and Van Jones, “Environmental injustices are taking Black lives— that’s why our fight for equality has to include climate and environmental justice too.” This year, following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other Black individuals, the Black Lives Matter Protests are spotlighting environmental racism and are raising a political opportunity for equity. 

I believe the second most important way to reach environmental justice is to analyze indigenous philosophies. Rather than regarding the Earth as a resource or property, Indigenous people consider the Earth as alive and saturated with spirit. As one example, water is considered to be living, with rights of its own. It is not only regarded as a commodity. Environmental justice and the climate crisis, for Indigenous people, are directly tied to imperialism, capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism; and they have looked at it this way since the Europeans arrived five centuries ago. From these experiences, they have developed knowledge on how to navigate and survive disastrous environmental change. Their knowledge and traditions reflect a deeper understanding of relationships between human and non human entities, according to a 2020 article by McGregor, D. et. al.   

To achieve environmental justice, equity needs to be prioritized, as it is inextricably linked to actions involving the environment and sustainability. We need to bring Indigenous voices in from the margins and displace the centrality of humans as the only source of value. Government at all levels needs to integrate environmental justice programs into sustainable development policies. COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement made societal inequities visible. We need frameworks that advocate for social justice based care for the marginalized populations. It is important to come to the realization that people are interconnected with the Earth, and we need to come together to protect it. 

Written by Kimberly O’Hanlon
Essay for GEOG300: Sustainability for the Common Good
Instructor: Dr. Kelsey Emard
December 8th, 2020

Written December 8th, 2020